Girls' Night In...

I've been told plenty of times that I should quit my day job and become an event planner. This statement came up most often while I was in the throes of wedding planning and everyone seemed to be charmed by my organization and clear vision of what I wanted our wedding to be. But it is safe to say that just about any event I host, whether it's a dinner party with the parents or an open house for my Pampered Chef business, I do my best to make it fun and festive.

This coming weekend, I have a Girls' Night In planned, and I couldn't be more excited. Partly just because it's the first opportunity since my husband and I got married that he'll be out of the house overnight and I can do whatever I please. Now I love my husband very much, but let's face it ladies - sometimes, we girls just like to have fun without the men. So I'm fully embracing the opportunity to make this rare event as indulgently girly as possible. And what screams girly more than delicious desserts accented with the perfectly pink decor.

The dining room table will be my canvas where I'll focus the bulk of my decorating. Since we're planning on a chickflick night, I figured what goes better with movies than candy, so I wanted to somehow incorporate a candy-bar theme into my centerpiece while still keeping the overall look shabby chic, springy and grown-up. Thanks to a quick stop by Home Goods - my most favorite store in the world - I found 3 perfectly mismatched apothecary jars with lids - one tall and slender, one similarly tall, but wider, and one short and fat. I plan to fill these with fun goodies like Twizzlers, M&M's and Starburst.

 I also found two placemats made with this beautiful pink rose pattern and accented with coordinating striped fabric on one edge. By abutting the placemats against each other lengthwise - striped accent on the farthest edges - I effectively created an adorable and inexpensive (each placemat was only $2.99) runner.

I knew I had to have something else under the runner though to soften the rest of the table, so I found 2 yards of this darling sheer white polka-dotted tulle at Joann's to use as my underlay. Finally, I needed to add some actual flowers to the spread, so I found some life-like miniature daisies and some pink lavender-looking flowers in the silk flower section of Joann's to intersperse among the base of the apothecary jars. After I made this purchase, I was just dying to get home and see it all together. My fingers are just itching to get started...

And now for the best part - the menu. Because Saturday is in fact May 5 (aka Cinco de Mayo) it was necessary to work in some Spanish flare into the evening, so we'll be enjoying margaritas (one of my specialties as a bartender in a past life) and five-layer dip among other delicious snacks. But the sweet treats are the real stars of the evening. I decided to play on grown-up verses whimsical desserts and introduce the two, so I'm making a New York Style cheesecake with cherry topping (grown-up) and also assembling a brownie sundae buffet of sorts. Tell me that doesn't sound like fun! I haven't had a brownie sundae since....well maybe like a month or to ago...but not to the extremes I'm going to for this party. I'm pulling out all the stops for this brownie buffet - we're talking sprinkles, crumbled oreos, candy, fudge sauce and of course whipped cream. You can admit you're jealous....right after you wipe the drool from your lip.

So...yes...I'll admit I am a huge fan of party planning even if it's something as simple as a girls' night with 4 or 5 of my favorite ladies. Because making a big deal out of the little things makes it all the more fun.