A Slab Good-Bye

I'm realizing that I'm not really a fan of growing up :( Especially when growing up means that friends graduate and move away. Erin and J.J. finished school in December and have left for Texas for the summer and then they will be going to school in Iowa. Yeah for them, boo for me. Before they left we wanted Allisyn and Addie to have one more chance to play and to see each other so we met for lunch at a newer (I think that it's actually been there for a year or two now but it was my first time going) place called Slab Pizza. It was really good and I would highly recommend it. There were so many different choices and it was hard to narrow it down so Brea and I got two different kinds- The Chicken Club and Rosemary-Potato Bacon and shared (they were both super yummy!). 

It was fun to watch the girls play, they were both ready for naps by the end but they were certainly having fun chasing each other in circles around the table. 

Jamie even returned from her mission a couple days before so she joined us to get as much Erin and Allisyn time as possible.

The Chicken Club....I may or may not have recreated it a couple of times at work this past week :)

The Rosemary-Potato Bacon...I thought that it sounded a little strange at first but it was really good.

They were really good size pieces. Because the place was right by campus Darrell came down and joined us for lunch as well.

Addie and Allisyn were so funny, Addie would lead and Allisyn would follow (along with my water bottle, both Alli and Addie love it for some reason and seem to think that it is theirs).

It's hard to believe that we have been friends for 5 years now, my how the time has flown!

Cuteness!

For Erin's Birthday I wanted to give her something that she would like and that she might have given up since having Allisyn. I gave her a couple of ideas and asked if she had other ideas, she picked to have her hair done by Brea. My job (along with Darrell) was to distract babies and take pictures. Somehow most of my pictures ended up being of baby cuteness instead of Erin and her hair but there are a few mixed here and there :)

(Erin wrote about her hair along with before and after pictures here)

The first strand that we pulled out of the foils and boy did it look blonde!

My Favorite Things

(I know, I know...I'm really behind :D)

I read about this party a couple of months ago and knew that I wanted to have one...it sounded so much fun and I loved the idea, Sonia suggested that I use my birthday as an excuse (but if we're being honest who needs an excuse for a party? ;D).

Here are the basics of the idea: each person picks a favorite (can be anything...lotion, candy, recipe, gift card, etc.) and brings five of the same thing. I put a $5 limit on each favorite but you could pick whatever you want to. When they arrive at the party they write their name on five separate slips of paper and put them in a bowl. When the time comes everyone draws five pieces of paper (with five different names on them), you then give one of your favorite to each of the names that you drew. At the end of the party you go home with five new favorites.

Part of Mom's favorites...she loves cards so she made a pack of cards for her thing.

My favorites in my chair and ready to go (because I love to bake I made a baking kit---muffin pan, cute pink and polka-dotty (both favorites too!) muffin liners and sprinkles).

I made salt scrubs as the party favor.

We played the word game...you couldn't say the word "like" (do you realize how hard that is?), every time you said it you had to give a penny to the person that "caught" you. At the end of the party the person with the most pennies received a prize.

Two of my favorite colors! All lined up pretty and ready to go.

This year I had everyone also bring a favorite dessert...because I'm always trying new recipes I have many favorites. I made cookie cups and filled them with a cream cheese pastry filling and then topped them with a strawberry pastry filling.

We started the party with lots of talking (of course what kind of girl talking would be without talking?)

Irene (from Trafalga) and I.

Libbey, Mom, and I

Our family is really good at the silly pictures :)

Anna, I, Janet, and Candace...my roommates from last year (I found out like five seconds before or after this picture that Candace had gotten engaged!)

Filling out the papers with their names.

Kimmy

Brea getting some of the really yummy drink

Leah and I

To fill some of the time we played catch phrase (with lots of candy as the prize)... playing catch phrase without being able to say "like" is really really hard--try is sometime!

After the games came desserts!

A classic Anna and Candace

Our New Favorites!

Brea and Kimmy

Libbey

Mom

Candace

Anna

Irene

Janet

Erin

Charissa

Leah

I loved the variety in favorites that were given/received...

Brea/Kimmy (Caramel Apples--yumm!)--Irene, Charissa, Mom, Anna, and Leah

Libbey (Be Active Kits--water-bottle, gloves, chapstick and I'm not sure what else)--Erin, Anna, Janet, Charissa, Leah

Mom (Card Kits)--Janet, Libbey, Candace, Irene, Kimmy/Brea

Candace (Easter egg full of Change)--Erin, Mom, Kimmy/Brea, Janet, Beth

Janet (Cinnamon Cheerios)--Libbey, Leah, Irene, Candace, Erin

Anna (Playing Cards)--Janet, Libbey, Erin, Beth, Mom

Irene (Nail Polish)--Charissa, Candace, Beth, Leah, Kimmy/Brea

Erin (Cross Stitch Kits)--Mom, Charissa, Kimmy/Brea, Janet, Beth

Charissa--Libbey (Red Vines), Anna (Spatulas), Mom (Loofa), Erin (Candle), Candace (Silly Putty)

Leah (Pretzel Turtle Kits)--Charissa, Anna, Beth, Irene, Kimmy/Brea

Beth (Cupcake Kits)--Leah, Libbey, Candace, Irene, Anna

I really enjoyed this party and I plan on making this an annual thing every year sometime in October. I do think that I will switch it up every year and I will change what the favorite food that people bring is (Soup, Salad, Casserole, Appetizer, etc.). I think that it would be fun to see what different people enjoy.

Thanks to all those that came this year I hope that you had fun and that I will get to see you again next year!