A Carnival Themed Party!

Throwing parties is one of those things that keeps me alive, as ridiculous as that may sound. I love the planning and the preparation. I love the stress the day of the party, and the relief when people come, and the happiness I get from people around me being happy.

Never did I ever think I'd end up being a party planner type of girl. In high school I was insecure and scared. I wasn't some girl who could throw a party where people would have fun and actually show up. Never. I guess now that I'm in college--almost done with college, crazily enough--I've found this confidence in myself that I didn't know I had. It comes from a lot of good friends who I'm totally myself around and who I have fun with. It comes from amazing roommates who are my best friends and my soul sisters. I thank God every single day for them in my prayers because I'm so lucky to have people like them in my life. And it comes from the fact that I really do like myself right now, and to an extent, I don't care what people think of me. Especially not as much as I did in high school.

I've realized that doing what makes me happy is the best feeling in the world, so I try not to stop myself from doing those things.

This party was a fun one. I loved planning it, down to the details of the food, games, and decorations. I had a difficult time finding any carnival-themed printables on pinterest, so I made my own using Picmonkey, and they turned out fabulous. I set up a photobooth, complete with props like hipster glasses, speech bubbles, and mustaches (as much as I am tired of the mustache trend, they make for excellent and hilarious photo booth props). People that I knew and didn't know came and went. We had loud music going with some people dancing the whole night, some of us talking and then dancing, and others just enjoying being there socializing by the fire pit, the games, the photobooth, or the concessions. I wish I had taken more pictures of them, but we had carnival games lining the wall, like a ring toss (water bottles and bracelets), a clothespin drop (trying to drop a clothespin into a thin vase), and a fortune teller (magic 8 balls). If I hadn't been hosting the party, I definitely would have done face painting too. It was a delightful night and everyone who came had a good time.

See, that's the thing about parties, is that they make other people happy. And making other people happy makes me happy. Therefore, throwing parties make me exceptionally happy. See for yourself, and next time I throw one and you're in Provo, you should definitely come. :)

*If you want any copies of the printables, feel free to email me and I will send them to you!

**And if you want to read about any of the other parties I've thrown, the links are below:

Harry Potter Party

Hunger Games Party

Halloween Party

Easter 2012

I went home for Easter and had the greatest time ever. for one thing, my outfit was wonderful! The picture below is too bright but it was a bow blouse with that cute floral skirt and also my nude heels that I always wear. Right after church we kept up the tradition of picture taking. Luckily it was nice weather so we could take photos outside. Oh and we got a family photo but it's on my dad's camera so I'll have to get that later.

Me and my cute siblings. As you can see from Gracie's face, we were facing the sun a bit too much.

I tried my hand at some photography taking pictures of all the kids (my dad took my picture)..

After we took pictures, we gathered up some costumes and videography stuff to make Cee Ryle's video for student body officer. We filmed it outside of his junior high. I must say, it turned out pretty hilarious and I'd totally give you the link except it's on the school website and you need a login to see it. When I get home this weekend, I get the copy from my sister and post it.

Also per tradition, Carina, Sidney, and I filled up Easter eggs and scattered them around the yard for the younger kids to have a fun egg hunt. They loved it of course!

Pre-hunt photo

Funny story: So when my mom and her siblings were kid, my grandparents (her parents) would always have them do funny picture poses like touching a leaf on a tree or something else interesting. So I was about to take a picture of my grandma and then jokingly and completely kidding my mom said, "Oh where's a tree so she can touch a leaf in the picture?" And then my grandma was completely serious like, "Oh yes! There's one!" So we got this leaf picture that actually turned out to be a really good picture and a beautiful one of my grandma. The whole branch holding thing doesn't look too bad here but it's still pretty funny. ;)

The lovely mothers

Me and my wonderful, amazing mom! I love this picture!

For Easter dinner we had ham and funeral potatoes, which was a real treat since we usually don't have the "traditional" Easter dinner in my house all the time. Man, was it a good meal! For dessert we made Resurrection Rolls (also a tradition) and had delicious cobbler made by my lovely aunt, Zildy. It was one of the best Easters ever, the weather was perfect and everyone was in great spirits. I love being home and being able to spend time with my family. It's always lots of fun. :)

Surprise!

Probably my all time favorite Carrie Underwood song :)

Surprise time? Here it is...just like I promised! You can also find this info at the contest page at the top.

Hey friends!

If you read this blog or even just happened upon it, then there's a good chance that you like fashion or mixing up your outfits. Well if that's the case, you've come to the right place! (see how I rhymed? oh yeah!)

Each month I'm going to hold an outfit contest based on either a theme or a picture for you to get your inspiration from. Anyone who wants to enter will have a week to do so. To enter, all you have to do is email me at {kikicbrownee at gmail dot com} and send me your picture. After the entry deadline, I'll post an album of all the entered pictures on my facebook page, where everyone will have the chance to vote for their favorite picture by "liking" it. When the voting period is up, there will be two winners, a reader favorite--chosen by whichever outfit has the most likes--and my favorite. The winners will receive a $10 gift card to Forever 21 (my favorite store) and also have their blogs featured on my site! Sound fun?

June has already started, so we have to get this thing in gear now! For the month of June your inspiration is this photograph:

photo source here

Summer is just starting and for some reason, whenever I think of summer I think of popsicles! So that's your inspiration for this month.

You have from now, June 10, to next Friday, June 17 to enter. Shoot me an email at kikicbrownee at gmail dot com (also on my contact page) with your outfit picture, name, and blog address (if you don't have a blog you can still enter). Be sure to enter by midnight of June 18th or I won't accept your entry!

The voting will start the day after that on Saturday, June 18, when the pictures will be posted on my facebook page and then you can vote for your favorite outfit! Be sure to like the page so that you can vote for your favorite outfit!

Since this started a little later in the month, the voting will be a little less than two weeks and the two winners will be announced on Friday, July 1st!

One more thing..if you decide to enter, I'd love it if you'd post one of the buttons below on your blog. Thanks!




<center><a href="http://anewoutfitaday.blogspot.com/p/contest-month.html"><img border="0" src="http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q386/browneehee/contestbutton1small.jpg"/></a></center>
<center><a href="http://anewoutfitaday.blogspot.com/p/contest-month.html"><img border="0" src="http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q386/browneehee/contestbutton2small.jpg"/></a></center>
Soo..let the contest begin! I hope I get at least a few entries...and remember this is just for fun and will be happening every month! So if you don't win one month, you might just win the next. I'm sooooo excited! If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll reply or send me an email.
I think this contest will be fun for everyone because it'll get our creativity flowing (I'll make an outfit based on the inspiration of the month too) and we'll be able to find new blogging friends and you'll be able to promote your blogs at the same time. And of course we'll have fun, which is the most important part, right? :)

A Sunny Sunday

Yesterday was a wonderful Sunday! I made my yummy chocolate chip cookies and my roommates and me made twice-baked potatoes for lunch/dinner (soooooo goood!). Then we went to the park and flew a kite, I took a little nap on my blanket, and we mostly just basked in the wonderful sunshine (and wind). Oh and I also had a cute dress on that I refashioned which just made the day THAT much better. Soooo great. :)

Lots of cookies :) and this was only about half!