Wednesday is Lensday: Cookie Party Edition

I’ve been to several parties this week. A party/reception, a cookie party, and tonight, a dirty santa/white elephant party. Then tomorrow I am going to a local Twitter party! I don’t know a lot of the Lex twitterites, but it will be nice to meet up and mingle, as well as hang out with my friend Chris. This week is going by sooooo fast. Christmas will be here before I know it. I actually am getting together with the fam this weekend, so that should be swell. I haven’t packed a single gift. I’m having a feeling it might be a gift bag Christmas! The sad thing is that I haven’t even gotten my decorations out period for the holidays. I’m just not in the mood this season. Maybe that’s a bah humbug on my part, but there’s been a lot going on! It’s hard to do everything. I live in an apartment and I never get visitors. So, the
lights would be for my enjoyment only. I think it does help put me in the mood, but it’s also another thing to do.

Well, I thought I would share a few quick photos from the cookie party I went to on Monday night!

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This is my friend Donna Bush, who hosted the cookie party. She’s one of the craftiest and most talented ladies I know! At work, I call her Donna-Mom. She takes care of me and is so very thoughtful. She’s a very special friend in my life. I wanted to do something special for her, so I picked out the material and got my mom to embroider up Donna’s gingerbread men that she had designed for a project at work (as seen here). She was super excited! My mom also made cute little potholders, too. Donna can do just about anything crafty, so it was nice to have something made for her that she couldn’t do hersef!

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Check out this absolutely adorable snowman she crafted up in the kitchen. I think the outside was cream cheese-frosted, but inside was beer cheese! It was way too cute to eat, but we did!

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Carrying on the snowball theme, she made these awesome snowmen buckeyes. I swear, she could work for Kraft Foods on those crafty recipe designs!

the food was awesome!
All of the food was so awesome! Everything Donna cooks is to die for!

cookie party presentation!
Everyone presents their cookies in different ways…some turn out super elaborate. There’s a winner for best presentation, but without a doubt, it always ends up to someone who uses an animated stuffed animal!

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All the cookies were laid out for judging.

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Judging is tough, but someone has to do it! Donna’s husband Barrie and her son John came armed with water in their glasses to cleanse their palette and do the job!

Carey's the cookie winner!
And the winner was Carey’s Oreo Balls! Here she is wearing the traditional winning garb…the gingerbread apron and santa hat complete with the Martha award pin…because her cookies were a good thing!

The 7/11 game
Of course, we had to play the 7-11 game! It’s a tradition!

silly bunch
Here’s everyone who attended. We sure are a silly bunch! It’s a great party and Donna is an awesome hostess! It’s really a nice way to unwind and enjoy the season!

Have you ever attended a cookie party or thought about hosting one? I’d love to hear what you did. We play a lot of different games (ornament pass, minister’s cat, etc) and Donna always tries to come up with something new each year. She puts a lot of work into it. It’s always such a blast!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

bachelorette party idea and a shoutout!

dana and the kiss frame

So, this is going to be a fast and furious post. That’s what I always say and it ends up being a novel. Ha! Anyway, I didn’t succeed in my Wednesday/Lensday post tonight. Just missed it and it is now Thursday, but I guess that is ok. I need a break from the norm every now and then.

So, I wanted to show a pic of my friend Dana, the Bachelorette (not to be confused with Trista or Diana or anyone of those reality show fembots). We had, as I previously mentioned in my earlier posts this week, a great time in Louisville filled with lots of hijinks! Bachelorette parties are one of those times where you just whoop it up! I wanted to express that sentiment in a frame for my friend that I concocted on the fly from a basic frame with a matte. It was so quick and easy. You just take out the matte board, get the other bachelorette party ladies to kiss and sign, write a fun phrase, decorate, and flip it back into the frame and voila…an instant keepsake! Of course, a pic of all of us from the night…one like this cute one, will go in there to be a memory of our wild and crazy time!

the girls

We really did have a fun time. These are all of the great girlfriends I made through Tasha (the one in the middle). Tasha used to work with me. She just got a new job with an established non-profit in the area and her career path in marketing is looking bright, so yay Chica (that’s our term of endearment for each other). I will be sad; however, that I don’t get the Panera perks (the job she is leaving, where she was a main manager).

Oh, and here’s a photo I took of Tasha that I thought was moody and made her look exceptionally beautiful. She doesn’t even have to try!

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Well, off to bed. I’m so excited. I have off tomorrow. I think I’m going to organize my craft stuff and do some chores. I’m sure since this will pretty much consume me, a post will follow.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008

A Bachelorette Weekend

I prepared for, went to, and am now recouping from a Bachelorette party I went to this weekend. All I can say is WHOO!

I actually took my camera, but left the charger at home, so I don’t have any cool pics to show, but I took plenty on the other girls cameras, just haven’t seen them yet. But in a way it is good that I didn’t have that camera, sometimes I get so caught up taking pictures that I don’t enjoy the moment.

We went bead shopping (I’m making the bridesmaids necklaces), took a pre-festivity nap in our hotel suite at the Galt House, ate at the Spaghetti factory, and enjoyed some funny bachelorette games in the hotel room. Of course, hijinks ensued and everyone had a great time. At some point, I had to be the mootherly voice (who would have thought??), but it all turned out for the best (Except we did get a knock on the door from hotel security). Whoops!

I actually did a couple of random “craft” projects on the fly for this event and when I get the pics back, will post one of the ideas that I think was somewhat clever on my part. I think it will be something a lot of other people might want to do for their soon-to-be wedded friend, so stay tuned for that one!!

I don’t know if I am just getting older or tired of the whole club/bar scene, not that I was ever it’s biggest fan, but I tried, but wasn’t totally feeling it. The girls I went with are a hoot, but they were much more into being silly than I was. It didn’t help that my shoes were killing me. I knew they would, but I guess that is the price you pay for making your legs look good. Ha! While my friends were dancing up on the bar (it was a bachelorette party after all), I mainly observed people. I’m not too bored by it at all…I actually find it amusing just to people watch. In those clubs, you see people in their highs and lows. The way people put themselves out there just amazes me and seeing some of the things they do and wear is fascinating! You would think that a 300 pound woman would not want to pour herself into a dress 3 sizes too small for her, but she does and wears it proudly! And it amazes me how raunchy some people can be in public. There are really now limits to what people will do when intoxicated. I don’t know, it’s never been much of an appeal to me to get wasted, do stupid things and not remember them later, and then wake up the next day feeling like you are going to die. I think it is your choice to decidehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif what you want out of life, but that’s not something I feel is something I need to do. I’m so much happier dancing and being silly with my friends while drinking a diet coke.

Well, I just took a 3+ hour nap and I need to go back to bed to get rested for the work week tomorrow. I think I’m seriously going to see if I can take off Thursday of this week too, cause I need a break. Maybe a nice 4 day weekend would be good for me, at least I’m hoping…

Oh, and I posted my patriotic poster drink charms at Instructables and it was the featured project on their home page on Saturday. I think it got 500 hits or so on it. Whoo hoo! I was excited, so check it out over there. Their project format is really great and there are all kinds of really cool things to learn on there!

Until next time swellions!

Alexa