A Sunday Night Soiree

First of all, can we all agree that every weekend should be a three-day weekend? 

(Happy Memorial Day, by the way!)

I think the fact that I knew there was one extra day to laze around or do whatever I wanted made me want to be more productive for the first half of the weekend. And let me tell you, after a marathon cleaning spree on Saturday to get ready for a little fiesta we had last night, it sure felt good to spend today playing tennis, reading, and munching on lots of leftover snacks. 

Since we are so lucky to have a patio and a backyard at the Brodie Abode, I had been picturing our first backyard party since the day we moved in. I was blowin' up my Pinterest with decor inspirations, writing ideas down on whatever piece of paper or post-it note I had handy, and mentally planning a menu that would wow our guests without a grill. All we needed were some friends. 

Well, I am happy to announce that nine months later, we have friends (many of which are fellow Penn Staters).  Memorial Day weekend seemed like a fabulous time to inaugurate the patio. 

(And we may or may not have toasted with Jello shots to having friends.)

The great thing about having just had a wedding AND being a packrat=lots of stuff to decorate with. Not to mention getting to use all of those serving plates and platters that we registered for and rarely use!

Planning a party can definitely get expensive, but we kept the costs relatively cheap by shopping at Trader Joe's for wine and beer, providing the main dish and asking people to bring sides and desserts, and, of course, finding ways to use the stuff that we already have laying around. 

Despite a sudden rainstorm which made the party quickly move inside during a heated round of Catchphrase, it was so much fun to finally bring some of our friends together. We even had an appearance from Georgia who came bearing a case of Yuengling. 

I hope you all had fun this weekend whatever you were doing and I can't wait to catch up on everyones blogs this week!

Now if you'll excuse, I'm going to go cry about going back to work tomorrow.