Super Bowl Party with Ross Dress for Less

I asked my husband what he would like to have at his Super Bowl party, and he promptly replied with, Beer.  Ok.  What else?  Food that goes with beer.  Ok.  Anything fun and cute?  *blank stare*

So, when Ross Dress for Less asked if I would like to shop for my Super Bowl party at their store, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity for me to deviate a little from my typical cutesy parties and put on something a little more…manly.

I had a mission to look for party set-up pieces in woods and darker tones.  Ross did not disappoint.  The first thing I found were the fun nesting crates with yellow chevron.  I hesitated since yellow wasn’t one of the Super Bowl team colors this year, but they are versatile enough that they don’t distract from the theme.  I used those crates as my main inspiration and added the other pieces from there. 

The chalkboard is a really cool shutter turned on its side.  I found it hidden behind some wall décor and it fit into my theme so perfectly that I felt like I found a hidden gem!

 

Ross has a great selection of beer mugs, pilsner glasses and pint glasses.  I chose the handled mason jars because they came with lids and I knew I would use them again.  When looking for party pieces, I try to shop wise and purchase items that I can put to use around my house or for future parties.

My absolute favorite find was the wooden six-pack carrier.  Absolutely perfect for this party!  Also, the galvanized bucket was great for keeping extra drinks cold.

For food, I served a big pot of Cincinnati-style chili and a hot dog bar.  Chili is always a Super Bowl crowd pleaser. 

For party snacks I found a few of my husbands favorites in the gourmet food aisle: hot and spicy snack mix, wasabi peas, and toffee popcorn.  The selection was great and it was hard to not go overboard picking out snacks and sweets.

I loved that this party came together without the need to add a lot of extra DIY touches.  Finding perfect décor pieces and yummy snacks at Ross Dress for Less meant that I had to prep very little to put this party together.  This easy party set-up is great for those who are busy but still want to impress their guests with great party style.

What are your plans for the Super Bowl this year?  Any favorite party food recipes you’d like to share in the comments sections?  I’d love to check out your blogs!

~julee~

**A gift card was provided by Ross Dress for Less to share my shopping experience.  All opinions are my own.

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Show Off Your Shoes with Ross Dress for Less

Confession time:  I’m a girl who loves shoes.  True story, my 1st and 2nd jobs when I was a teenager were in shoe departments in retail shops, and that wasn’t a coincidence.  So when Ross Dress for Less informed me that they were having a Show Off Your Shoes shoe selfie promotion and asked if I wanted to participate, I was all up for the challenge.

It works like this: Shop at Ross and find a fabulous pair of shoes, then take a shoe selfie with those beauties.  Upload your photo to Ross’s Facebook page saying why you love your shoes, and ask your friends to vote for you.  So fun, and you’ll have a chance to win a Ross gift card!  (Click here for more details.)

So what super cute shoes did I find at Ross this week?  Well, for starters, I was blown away by the selection.  So many cute and trendy summer shoes, in so many pretty colors and styles: Flats, wedges, heels, strappy sandals, flip flops, boat shoes, sneakers – you name it, Ross had it at affordable prices.



Because the selection was so great, I had a hard time selecting a favorite pair.  I am really in need of a new pair of heels to wear with summer dresses, but I fell in love these brown oxfords with the ribbon laces.  (Despite the fact that I already have two pairs of oxfords, but who’s counting.)



Ultimately, though, I found a pair of strappy wedges that may or may not have made me whimper a little when I saw them – I have been searching for a similar style since last summer and I felt like I hit the jackpot with these babies.  Behold (but look past the haphazard pedicure – it’s been a long winter, people):



This is my shoe selfie.  Show Ross yours!  Between now and April 18th, upload your favorite Ross shoes on the Ross Dress for Less Facebook promotion page for your chance to win.  If you enter, leave your link here – I’d love to come over and see your shoes!

If you'd like to vote for my shoes, you can do so here: http://bit.ly/1gRz3n6   Thanks!

~julee~

A gift card was provided by Ross to share my shopping experience.  All opinions are 100% mine.

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Oscar Party with Ross Dress for Less

It’s quite fun to do something a little more fancy than a typical movie night for an Oscar viewing party.  We may be snuggled on the couch in our pajamas watching to see if The Academy awards our favorites the Oscar, or we may be sitting around with our best pals snarking on who’s wearing what, but Ross Dress for Less has a way of making each of us feel red carpet worthy. 

You probably know that Ross carries  top brand fashion at affordable prices, but did you also know that they have a home section full of great values, too?  By adding just a few of my own touches and baking just one dessert, I was able to shop at Ross for all of the essentials to put this  Oscar party dessert table together. 

I found a large selection of classic white dishes in all shapes and sizes at Ross.  Whether you’re serving a full dinner, hor dourves, or desserts, white dishes are the perfect base for any party table.  Investing in white party platters will save you money if you plan on entertaining frequently as they will easily adapt to any theme or occasion.  Here, I purchased a large white bowl, a beautiful scalloped edge cake stand, and a set of beveled edge salad plates perfect for serving Oscar desserts.  On the cake stand I added gold paper under the mini-cakes to coordinate with the red, black, and gold Hollywood theme.  Scrapbook paper is just one easy way to tailor white party ware to your event.

Ross had an amazing gourmet food section full of delicious sweets.  Being a great hostess doesn’t have to mean spending hours and hours in the kitchen.  To help save on time, mix a few store-bought desserts with handmade ones.  For this party, I purchased caramel corn, chocolate covered cookies, and truffles from Ross to serve along with the mini red velvet cakes that I made.  I added pop sticks to the truffles to make them party perfect, and set everything out on the new white dishes.  You’ll be stress-free, and your guests will be thinking you’ve added gourmet baker to your repertoire.

I also found a great selection of glassware at Ross.  Drinking glasses, stemware, barware – they had it all.  I snagged these great stem-less wine glasses and glass pitcher to create the perfect set for serving white sangria with berries..  To make my barware Oscar ready, I used gold metallic paint to give the glasses a personalized touch.  I couldn’t resist dressing up the pitcher in a fine bowtie.  The Oscar statue stirrers were created with the Silhouette Cameo.

Delicious food and drink, versatile serving pieces – those are just the basics of party planning.  The perfect party also has special touches and elements that are unique to the host/hostess.  For me, that was using  dizzying chevron table and wall covering, adding bowties around candles and on the table, and painting my wine glasses.  Bring your own flair to your parties and your guests – and you! – are sure to have a wonderful time!

What are your favorite party planning tips?  I’d love for you to share them with me in the comments.

Happy party planning, DIY’ers!

~julee~

 

This post was written as a collaboration with Ross Dress for Less.  A gift card was provided to share my shopping experience.  All opinions expressed are my own.

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Ferrero Rocher–25 Days Wrapped in Gold

This post was created in partnership with Ferrero Rocher as part of the 25 Days Wrapped in Gold campaign.

We have an ongoing conversation every Christmas that goes like this:

Husband:  What do you want for Christmas?

Me: I don’t care as long as there is chocolate in my stocking.

True story.

And this year I’m hoping for the chocolaty goodness of Ferrero Rocher.  Delicious, already perfectly wrapped, easy to tuck away in hanging stockings.  What could be better? 

Well, maybe winning one of the fabulous prizes from Ferrero Rocher’s 25 Days Wrapped in Gold could be better – especially when the prizes include $1000 gift cards and a trip to Italy.

Chocolate filled stockings are great, but eating chocolate on the way to Italy might be the most fabulous Christmas present ever.  Head on over to Ferrero Rocher’s Facebook page every day until December 25th to enter to win fabulous prizes!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of 48 contig.U.S & D.C., 18+ w/ valid email & Facebook acct on date of entry. Starts 12/1/13 at 9:00 am (ET) and ends 12/25/13 at 11:59 pm (ET) w/ 25 daily entry periods beginning at 9:00am (ET) and ending at 11:59 pm (ET) each day. For complete details, including entry & prizing details, see Official Rules @ http://bit.ly/1eWIYtv.

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Ross Season of Giving

From now until December 20, Ross Dress for Less is turning its Facebook page into a gift-giving headquarters, giving away a gift package or gift card everyday (Monday – Friday) on its Facebook page for the duration of The Ross Season of Giving promotion. From the outdoorsy man in your life to the hostess with the mostest – Ross’ Season of Giving has something for everyone on your list at 20-60% off department store prices. Each week, The Season of Giving will feature a different category of merchandise that Ross has to offer. Please see below for the categories of gifts they will be giving away this week and next:

· Week of December 9: Gifts for Him

· Week of December 16: Gifts for Kids

You can head over and like the Ross Facebook page  to be able to enter the promotion and maybe even win your favorite gift package!

Happy Holiday shopping!

~julee~

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Shabby Apple Dress Review

I recently had an opportunity to review this gorgeous Grand National dress from Shabby Apple.  I love Shabby Apple’s feminine vintage styles, so I paired this dress with a vintage silver choker and my favorite silver vintage clutch (passed down from my mom).  I added a lovely handmade rose quartz bracelet from Robin Chard Jewelry, and black wedge heels to complete the outfit.  A few different accessories and this dress would be perfect for this season’s holiday parties.

You can see my full review of Shabby Apple and this dress at Oh My Gosh Beck.

Do you dress up for holiday parties, or do they tend to be more casual affairs?

Happy holiday dressing and handmade accessorizing, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Travels with Gannon and Wyatt Book Review and Giveaway

 

Our family spends time each night taking turns reading aloud from my daughter’s books.  While the reading and family bonding is great, what isn’t always great are the books themselves.  We’re not typically a family of quitters, but I’ll admit that we have quit quite a few books mid-chapter when none of us could stomach going one page further.  Some kids books are really bad, people.  We have resigned ourselves to a lot of classic books because we find few new books that keep my daughter’s attention.  Her chapter books have to be either full of mystery, or full of funny.  I’m sure that’s probably pretty typical reading requirements for a lot of 10-year olds.

When I heard about the middle-school adventure book series Travels with Gannon and Wyatt written by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet, I was excited for our family to give them a read.  I had high hopes that an adventure series would keep my daughter’s attention, and I wasn’t disappointed.  The books are loosely based on real-life twin bothers Gannon and Wyatt as they set out on adventures around the world with their flight attendant mom and international businessman dad.  So far there are three books written in the series: Botswana (released May 2013), Great Bear Rainforest (released October 2013), and Egypt (to be released January 2014).

My daughter chose Great Bear Rainforest for us to read together, and she chose Botswana to read on her own.  The books are written in a journal form, alternating entries between each of the twin brothers.  The brothers’ relationship and interactions with each other are written in an endearing and humorous way such as I would expect twin brothers to act toward each other.  I loved that Great Bear Rainforest was not only educational (Did you know bears are mostly fond of salmon eggs and typically only eat the midsection of female salmon?  I didn’t!), but was also full of action and mystery.  Some nights we read a little longer than normal because we didn’t  want to wait until the next night to see what would happen next.  We each enjoyed the book and we took turns trying to guess the outcome of the mystery.

My daughter is a 5th grade advanced reader and she had no trouble reading these books herself, although a few words did come up that we had to help her pronounce or define.  For us, this only increased the educational value of the book.  We all loved Great Bear Rainforest so much and now we can’t wait to start on Travels with Gannon and Wyatte: Egypt.  If you have a reader on your Christmas list this year, I would highly recommend this book series.

Do you know an adventure reader who would love these books?  One lucky reader will win the entire Travels with Gannon and Wyatt series!  Enter via the Rafflecopter below.  Also, Travels with Gannon and Wyatt is giving away 3 Kindle Fires in November, and you can head to their Facebook page to enter to win.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Fall Fashion at Ross Dress for Less

I was invited by Ross Dress for Less to check out their Fall Fashion Event going on this month.  I am always excited to shop at Ross, but here is a confession:  I wasn’t really in the mood to shop for fall clothes.  I’ve been sort of in denial that cold weather is approaching, and while I am definitely a girl who loves her boots and cardi’s, I wasn’t quite ready to don them just yet.

    

So I went to Ross with this funky mood of not really knowing what I wanted to buy.  New jeans?  New boots?  New jacket?  A pretty new dress to wear to the office?  They had all of those things and more. 

And then something caught my eye.  A rack.  A rack of seemingly endless sweater dresses.  Warm and gorgeous and perfect for leggings and boots, glorious sweater dresses.  I grabbed a pair of black boots that was calling my name, carried eight sweater dresses into the dressing room, and I started to feel a bit giddy about dressing for fall and winter. 

I ultimately selected two dresses to purchase because one just wasn’t going to be enough to get me through the winter.  (Sadly, I had to say goodbye to those gorgeous black boots, but not without a few tears.)

One of my purchases was a cotton blend long top/tunic style dress.  I loved the colored stripes and that the material was light enough to wear when the temps were just starting to dip but not yet cold enough for a hot sweater or coat.  At Ross I tried the dress on with skinny dark denim and loved the look, but once home I paired it with black pants and my own black boots for work.

Are you a Ross Dress for Less shopper?  Have you checked out their fall styles yet?  If not, I highly encourage you do so.  It’s a great place to shop for current trends, and the prices are incredible.  Especially worth checking out if you are currently looking for fall boots, jeans, colored tights, dresses or jackets.  I found all of these items on my recent trip!  Currently Ross is holding The Great Dress Event  in stores.  Also, be sure to check out Ross Dress for Less Facebook page.  You can keep up with their current promotions and they often post giveaways you can enter.

Happy fall shopping!

~julee~

 

*A gift card was provided by Ross to share my shopping experience.  All opinions are 100% my own.

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Pie in July at Whole Foods

Pie and summer picnics just kind of go hand-in-hand, right?  Right.  I love a warm picnic with scrumptious dessert, but here’s a  confession:  pie baking isn’t really my thing.

Turns out, I would rather enjoy the delicious  fruits of someone else’s pie-making labor.  You, too?  Cool, let’s be friends.

Lucky for us, Whole Foods is celebrating Pie in July with an amazing assortment of fruit pies, cream pies, and key lime pies for only $9.99 until July 14th.  Awesome!

In a dessert line-up, I will always choose chocolate.  So when Whole Foods offered to let me sample a pie from their bakery, I chose this decadent chocolate cream pie and invited Craft E Magee over for a picnic. 

  

It was hard to make a selection, but the chocolate cream pie did not disappoint.  So yummy.

Plan a picnic for this weekend and stop by your local Whole Foods and check out their selection of $9.99 Pie in July pies.  Let someone else do the baking for a change. 

Happy pie eating!

~julee~

*A sample product was gifted by Whole Foods.  All opinions are mine.

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Firmoo Giveaway

It’s no secret that I love my Firmoo glasses, and I tell just about anyone who will listen about the fun and affordable frames that Firmoo sells.  So affordable in fact, that Firmoo offers a First Pair Free Program requiring you to pay only shipping for your first pair of glasses.  Awesome, right?

Also awesome, is Firmoo’s offer for 5 D.I.Y. Louisville readers to win a $20 E-voucher that can be used on any Classic Series frames (not including shipping).  If 50 contestants or more enter, a grand prize winner will be selected to win a pair of Classic Series frames and free shipping.  So, spread the word because the more folks that enter this awesome giveaway, the bigger the prize.  And we all love big prizes, right?

To enter, visit Firmoo and tell me in the comments which Classic Series frame you would like to win.  Follow the selections on the Rafflecopter form for more chances to enter.  I know you’ll love Firmoo glasses as much as I do!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Louisville Bloggers Meet and Greet: Recap

Put together an assortment of bloggers, yummy refreshments, and awesome swag bags and you’ve pretty much got all the makings for a fantastic blogger meet up.  At least, this was my experience last week when I partnered with my friends Emily of The Em Dash and Amanda of The Hanger to host the first Louisville Bloggers Meet and Greet.

Our event was held at a local boutique,  The Hanger, which was the perfect spot for an intimate gathering.  Amanda, owner and fellow blogger, generously rearranged her shop to accommodate our group and contributed wine and door prizes for the guests.  The girl is a rock star.

Upon arrival, bloggers were asked to sign in and grab a name badge to introduce themselves and their blogs.  Emily designed these adorable badges as well as all of the graphics used for the event.  (Emily shares her free blogger meetup printables HERE.)

Before the event, we sent a Facebook message to the guests to bring business cards to share if they had them.  It’s a great icebreaker to introduce yourself and hand over a card, and it’s a nice way to put faces with blog names.  We supplied business card key rings for everyone to keep track of the cards they collected, and had a prize for the blogger who collected the most cards at the end of the evening.  We also provided blank cards that could be used by those that needed them.

We displayed these #loublogs hashtag signs throughout the venue to easily share pictures and updates of the evening on social media.

I can’t resist an excuse to create a photo booth; I’m completely predictable like that.  Mustaches for everyone! You can download free photo booth props here.

Our swag bag sponsors were amazing!  Every sponsor is a local, small business.  Gigantic thanks to:  LindsayLou Jewelry, Revelry Gallery, Miss Happy Pink, Good Garbage, Craft E Magee, The Hanger, Em Dash Designs, MoMo’s Creations, and Heine Brothers Coffee.

Hosting a social gathering with local bloggers has been a vision of mine for a while now, and I could not have pulled off this wonderful event were it not for my amazing co-hosts and all of the bloggers who attended.  It was a wonderful evening, and I am so happy to have made friends with ladies who are sharing amazing talent and insight through their blogs.  In addition to the bloggers already mentioned, I would also like to extend a special thanks to these Louisville Bloggers for making this event a success:

Erica – Blooming In First

Sarah – The Mint Julio

Dorothy – The Louisville St. Louisian

Christine – Bluegrass Blogger

Amber – The Pretty Gritty

Carrie – My Ordinary Fairytale

Christine – A Daisy On My Toe

Niki – The Hillville

Mary Margaret – Fly Away Fox

Kristen – K D Illustration

Therese – Get Party Chic

Kirsten – The Dupont Diaries

If you would like to learn more about Louisville Bloggers, you can follow the Facebook page here.  If you are a Louisville blogger and would like to join our group, you can send a request here.

Have you organized or attended a blogger event in your city?  I would love to hear your experiences!

~julee~

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