mis·cel·la·ne·ous
–adjective

1. Consisting of members or elements of different kinds; of mixed character: a book of miscellaneous essays on American history.

2. Having various qualities, aspects, or subjects: a miscellaneous discussion.



Monday, July 18, 2011

My Name Is Jennifer, And I'm A Party-Planning-aholic

If someone creates a 12-step recovery program for party planning addicts, I really should be the first to sign up.  I’ll admit, I’m a junkie and I’ve gotten at least one friend hooked:  she too, now needs a daily dose of fete fantastic and gleefully sends me updates about her quadruple birthday summer soiree planning. 

I thought, if I can get one friend hooked, why not get more friends hooked?  So, my dear friends & readers, I have compiled a “brief” list of amazing sites for you to visit, swoon over, and be inspired by.  You will either love me, or curse my head.  Or maybe a bit of both.  When you visit these sites, you can also “like” them on Facebook.  So, the problem is, when you “like” one, several other FB friends can post on that status, and you discover even MORE great sites. 

Pretty soon you’ve “liked” dozens of blogs & sites that you never knew existed.  In the morning you hop on the computer eagerly checking FB not for your friend’s review of whatever movie they’ve seen, not for your cousin’s update on her triathlon success, not for your niece’s cryptic message about some guy who has “the hots” for her.  NOPE.  Not you.  YOU check for the latest post on a free printable, a dessert table inspiration, a DIY centerpiece and a cupcake recipe.

What starts out as a casual use soon becomes a much-needed fix.  Yep, that’s addiction.  And it is wonderful.  This is the honest truth:  The very next day after my daughter Kyla’s second birthday party, I was online researching a theme for her third birthday party.  The balloons were still up and the remnants of a good time were still lingering and I was already thinking about next year.

The following is only a sample of the amazing sites and blogs out there for party planning, cooking/baking and DIY purposes.  Please, if you happen to stumble upon one that you find noteworthy, post a comment or send me an email.  Add fuel to my fire!  So without further adieu here are some sites to get you started down your own path of creative destruction:

I call this one “party porn.”  The submissions & photos are so amazing you wonder how people can be so talented.  I look at this frequently to swoon and then realize I will never duplicate a thing posted by Amy Atlas.

 
Got Your Attention?  OK, Get Ready…

These are a little more “down to earth” and user friendly.  I’m all about the free printables that they offer on their blogs.  You don’t have to think or work at all, you just print out their hard work and talent. 

Living Locurto (Great bits of “EVERYTHING” make this site almost one-stop shopping.)

Hostess With The Mostess (affectionately known simply as HWTM on the blogosphere.)

Pizzazzerie  (Not only does she have an amazing blog she recently got an English Springer Spaniel puppy and frequently shares super-cute photos of him.)

Tomkat Studio (If she was clearly not so sweet and lovely, you’d almost hate her for her talents!)

Eye Candy Event Details (A-dorable!)

Buckets of Grace  (She has a fantastic blog AND she’s from Wisconsin!)

Polkadot Market (I purchased some things for Kyla’s second birthday from her, and she is delightful!)

How Does She (offers bits of all things useful for a fab, pulled-together event) 

If you want to design your own invites or just want some fun fonts for other stuff, fonts for peas is amazing.  I’ve downloaded tons of their fonts and nothing has ever goofed up my computer.



For Cooking and Baking these sites take the cake, pardon the over-used pun…

Even if you feel your cookie decorating skills are WAY below Glory’s (and really, whose aren’t?) you will love her beautiful photos and extremely detailed how-to’s.  Someday I hope to get up the courage to try her tips & techniques.  Until then, I just drool over her posts at Glorious Treats.

It’s tough to write humor.  It’s tough to write great recipes.  It’s tough to take great photos of food you’ve prepared.  Somehow, Kristan manages to do all of these and more.  She is downright hysterical.  You’ll love her at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. 

So are you goo-goo eyed yet?  Have you “liked” these ladies on FB yet?  Are you planning the next ten years worth of parties for your family?  Not only will you enjoy these sites you will find their authors are fun, approachable, down-to-earth real women just like us.  It’s not possible, you say?  No one could have a blog/site like any one of these listed above and be a regular person?  They are infinitely cooler than we are?  I thought that too, until I read this post by Glory. 

Lastly, if you send these great ladies a message, please tell them you read about them on this post of Ms. Elaine Kneeous. 

2 comments:

Glory said...

Thank you so much for including me in this post and including me on your blog list on your side bar! Hugs, Glory/ Glorious Treats

mom22 said...

Thank you for including me on your list :) Love your blog.