Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Harry Potter Party!

My roommates Elena, Clarissa and I threw a party last week and it turned out awesome! We went with a Harry Potter theme, and we were impressed with how everything turned out.

Decor 

There was so much fun decor :) And the best part was that most of it was pretty simple and inexpensive to do. Just little touches that referenced the series.
We used Christmas lights, rolled up type paper and thread to make the floating candles ceiling of the great hall

Printed off house banners

Just in case anyone needed to take care of business

Elena's basilisk warning. Yikes!





The mirror of Erised

Directions to the bathroom

This is in the pic in the corner of the sign:)

And there was a little surprise waiting in the bathroom:)
9 3/4 poster for the front door



Activities

Pin the scar on Harry Potter
Pretty simple. Like pin the tail on the donkey:)





Wanted Wizard Flyers
I had no idea how awesome these would turn out! We just cut out a poster and hung it from the ceiling with string and tape.

So Sirius. There's even a dementor!

Have you seen this wizard?

Oh, Trav:)




Sorting hat
This ended up being really fun!  People would sit on the table and put on the sorting hat. I'd take the four house color star stickers and put two in each hand. They would choose left or right and I'd only keep those two colors, one in each hand. Then they chose left or right again and I'd yell out their house like the sorting hat and stick their house sticker on them:) However, if people wanted to pick their house, I took that into consideration.;)

House stickers




Finding the horcruxes/deathly hallows
Elena hid all the horcruxes, the snitch, and the deathly hallows around the apartment as a sort of scavenger hunt.



Elena hid them in relevant places, like Tom Riddle's Diary in the bathroom. Notice the basilisk coming up the faucet.


Hufflepuff cup

Harry potter in the forest (my plant, King Julian) where he dies

Marvolo Gaunt's ring

Snitch on the ceiling

The locket in a "cave"



The movie!

We played the first and the last movies. Did I cry at the end you may ask? "Always..."

Refreshments

One of my FAVORITE parts of the party was the awesome refreshments!!! They were so magical:) Elena burned the edges of index cards and I printed in Harry P font from da font to make the super cute labels.

"Alas. Earwax."
Licorice wands

Tyce was AMAZING and found actual butterbeer. They sell it at Macy's. Who knew???

BUTTERbeer. Straight from the Flying Cauldron.:) 

Polyjuice Potion

Okay, we stretched this one a little ;)

I loved this one:)



I used this recipe for pumpkin cake for the pumpkin pasties. It was super easy and turned out wonderful:) I just added a bag of mini chocolate chips and frosted with buttercream frosting.

Magically delicious

 Oh, and of course fun people!






Harry Potter!
 
And the Guest of Honor: Hedwig

Friday, May 23, 2014

Ali and Jordan's wedding!

My old roomie got married this weekend. It was such beautiful wedding and it was so wonderful to see her and her husband so happy:)
Ali and Jordan are married!!!

Aw, I love these guys!


It was soooo pretty:)



Thursday, May 22, 2014

What is the Hardest Thing You've Ever Done?

My sister was asked this question in an interview and I've been thinking about it all week.  Thinking about what my response would be.
Like all of us, I've gone through some pretty hard stuff.  Pretty serious stuff.  But the answer I chose was not something that may seem like the hardest thing in my life on the surface, but I think it's the most true answer I have.
The hardest thing I've ever done was ending a relationship with someone I loved very much because the relationship was not going somewhere that was consistent with my values. The reason I'd say this was the hardest, is because I had to have the courage to self-inflict that pain. But I know that happiness isn't found in avoiding pain. It's found in living a life consistent with your values. :)


What's the hardest thing you've ever done?

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Leslie's Hoooome!!!!!

Sister Allen is BACK!  After 18 loooong months of waiting, she is finally home.
We were very excited as we went to the airport to meet her!



 Don't ask how, but we went to the wrong terminal!  We ran over to the correct one and seeing her standing there was such a sight for sore eyes!  It was heavenly to finally see her again and just hug her in real life. :)


Poor Les was a little sick. We're glad she made it home okay!

Reunited at laaaast!

I love my beautiful little sis. So happy to have her home:)




Things feel right again:)