Last Sunday, after a long drive home from Summer Fest, Foster and I woke up early and started getting ready for my Thirty-One party. I was ecstatic to host a party for my dear friend Amy. I had promised to over a year ago, but we had both been busy and our schedules never seemed to mesh. Back then she had volunteered that if I threw a party, she would donate some of her commission to Roses from Rosalynn. You cannot even begin to imagine how much this meant to me! She has followed my story and has been such a source of support over the past year, and to have her offer that meant the world to me.
We had about 7 women attend, including three girls I went to middle school and high school with. All four of us are pregnant, due within 2-3 weeks of each other! Amy is also pregnant, and she is about 8 weeks behind me! There were a total of 6 pregnant women at the party!! Crazy huh? I think this actually helped with the sales, because Thirty-One has some amazing kid/baby items to purchase. Although I am hesitant to buy anything, I just couldn't help purchasing these adorable bloomers with "Avaleen Rose" stitched on the bottom!!
It was so amazing that how a few of us had not seen each other in years, but yet it felt like no time had passed at all. It felt like old times, and that we were all just as close as we had once been! I am hoping that we are all able to start getting together more often, especially since all of our babies are due so close together!
I wish I had taken pictures, I am not quite sure why I didn't. I was probably just too worried about all the food and stuff that I forgot about my camera. I made 2 homemade bruchetta. The first had fresh mozzarella, bruchetta mix and drizzled with balsamic glaze, the second was brie with pesto cold pesto sauce and a walnut to top it off. I had mini egg rolls, lots of cookies, and "spa water". "Spa water" is the water that they serve at spas that have the fruit in it, infusing the water with just a hint of flavor. I put watermelon, strawberries, and oranges in the water...it was AWESOME!! I really wish I had taken pictures!
Overall, with the party and online purchases, I believe we had around $600 worth of purchases (I am figuring that out by the amount of free stuff I received as a hostess). Everyone was so generous! The only thing I would do differently is post on here and facebook a little earlier, b/c there were so many people who wanted to make purchases, but didn't get paid till the day after we closed the party. If I had given more of a heads up, maybe they would have purchased with the previous paycheck. Oh, and take photos!!
Thank you to all who attended and supported me AND Amy! I cannot begin to express my appreciation to what your generosity will do for the families who benefit from Roses from Rosalynn.
