Happy Housewarming!

David and I had our open house/house warming party on last Saturday. 

It was the first time we had ever hosted a party like this, with so many people, that we were planning and prepping for ourselves. I was secretly (or not so secretly) super nervous in the morning that no one would come; like a child before their birthday party. 

In the end, as usual, my anxiety was all for naught. We had a great turn-out, and we didn't run out of food! Some people ragged on me (in jest) for not having enough dessert options. They're right... I didn't. Dessert is often an after-thought for me. I pay much more attention to things like cheese, dips, vegetables, drinks, etc. I'll have to make a mental note to have more desserts than just brownies and rice crispie squares next time!

I hadn't made rice crispie squares in years! 

We did some of the food prep and cleaning on Friday evening, and then spent Saturday morning getting everything else set up. 

We needed our juice jug empty for juice. There was some margarita left in there, so I took matters into my own hands! Makes cleaning much more tolerable ;)

I was proud of my meat and cheese plate. 

Pondering the existence of broccoli?

Colourful veggie platter

Sherlock patiently awaiting a piece of carrot or cucumber.

Had to get the place nice and clean! Also, notice we hung our Venice picture that David took on the wall. It just happens to compliment our new couch perfectly!

Ready for the guests to arrive! (It's really tough to do a selfie with such a large camera!)

We didn't expect any gifts or anything for our housewarming, so it was a nice surprise when some people brought things like a bottle of wine, a card, a gift card, and some herbs! I now have my own herb garden. Very exciting! Hopefully I can keep it alive!

Rosemary smells so great! And apparently smelling rosemary improves your memory(?)

We had roughly 40 people come through throughout the day. At one time though, we had about 25 people on our main floor. It didn't even feel that cramped! Loving the open floor plan at our place. {The first time I typed "place" it came out as "palace"... Maybe it is our palace...}. 

A few of our guests testing out the new couch!

My mother and HER mother! Two generations 

Nice shirt Uncle Al... Haha!

Michael and Elissa graced us with their presence. Got a rare photo of Larry too!

Jeff flaunting his peacock tail for the camera.

Sherlock was remarkably calm considering how many people were in his house!

I didn't take as many pictures of our guests as I was hoping to. Many of the photographers in the family weren't able to make it, so we're stuck with the few iPhone and candid shots that I took. 

Sherlock tuckered out after a long day of visiting

The last people left at around 7pm, and then I decided it was time for my first bubble bath in the new house. What a nice, relaxing way to end the evening! I don't know why I don't have a bath every night. 

That is not two glasses of wine. The one closest to the camera is actually a candle in a red gel made to look like wine. Note we don't have a shower curtain in there yet! We plan on making that bathroom a nautical theme. We just have to find the perfect shower curtain first. 

Sunday morning we decided to skip church (GASP). This was the one week in a few months (other than when we were away) where I wasn't involved playing bass or teaching Sunday School. We also were rather exhausted from our day before, and wanted to just have a nice relaxing morning with the two of us. 

For some reason, when David and I decide to spend time together in the evenings or on weekends, we often end up going shopping. It turns out to be an expensive habit! We went down to Morgan Crossing, and went to Winners. I picked up a pair of runners and some super cozy boots. David also got a pair of runners. We spent $150 there, but it would have been $260 if we bought these items at their retail stores. 

My clothing lot from the day! I hate shopping, but I love sales. 

Then, on our way back to the car, I saw that there was a sale at Van Heusen. I figured that we didn't have much time as we had to get to brunch, but it couldn't hurt to take a quick peek right? Wrong. We walked out of there very late for brunch, and $200 poorer. However, it is great quality clothing, and we got a lot for our money! David picked up two dress shirts, and I got a vest, three sweaters, and two necklaces. 

Throughout the day our total spending was $350. Our total savings were around $300 though. We saved almost 50%! Lots of high quality items for a (per item) affordable price! I love sales. I never ever buy anything regular price. 

After our shopping spree we rushed over to brunch at David's parent's. We scarfed down some waffles and then Shelley helped me pot my new herbs. 

We got our hands dirty potting all these babies! I had never potted my own plant before, so it was nice to have some help. I am infamous for not having a green thumb.

Don't these look cute on my little sill?

All the herbs I got include: basil, sweet basil, pesto basil, peppermint, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, sage, stevia, and thyme.

I put some (and maybe at some point all) the herbs out on our smaller patio. This faces west, so I think it will get more sunlight. Hopefully I can keep these herbs alive and use them all!

That was a busy, exhausting, but also very fun weekend. We feel so blessed to have the friends and family that we have.