5 Steps to NYE

1. A dress: This Michael Kors number is on sale and perfect for NYE! Gold, sequins, go big or go home for New Years. Everyone else will be shiny and glittery with you, so pick a dress you love for this fun night!

2. A photobooth: Choose a dynamic backdrop, set up a camera and add in a few props to spice up the photos--your iPhone and Instagram can do all the heavy lifting! A set like this from the Confetti System is festive and fun!

3. A playlist: Pick your favorite current tunes, or find a good Pandora or Spotify playlist. Add in old school tunes like the Beach Boys through 90's with the Backstreet Boys to a little top 40! There'll be a song in there for everyone AND tons of dancing to be done!

4. A drink: Something bubbly is normally the ticket, but why not create your own signature cocktail to enjoy? It can catch on just in time to ring in 2013!

5. A crew: A true New Years is entirely incomplete if you don't have people to celebrate it with! Grab your crowd, and even if you stay in and watch the ball drop, you're still starting the new year in the best of company!

Although I won't be in SC for the big night, I'll be celebrating just as heartily with a crew from home!

xxKatie

Would You Like to Chai It?

It's no secret that I often need a pickmeup during the day. Sometimes it's a snack, sometimes it's just a beloved ice cold Diet Coke, but other times I need a little something more. Enter: Starbucks Iced Chai

I'm actually drinking one as I type!

However, this little number can have a bit of a pricetag. While it's necessary sometimes, other times I can't just swing $4 unnecessarily for a drink that's gone in 5 minutes and sometimes, quite frankly, has a bit too much ice. (Take that Starbucks!)

So, I've started to make my own! Not how you'd think though. I don't really like the Chai concentrate that Starbucks sells, so instead I got the Walmart kind:

Often times, they even sell it in TWO-PACKS!

So basically the way it works is that you put ice in a big cup (or Tervis Water Bottle if you're me...to-go...obviously!) add as much chai juice as you want--I do about a 1:1 ratio--and then top it off with milk. SO EASY right?!

Yes, so easy. And cheap. One box of chai concentrate runs you about $4 and makes about 6 drinks when you add the milk in with it. Not a bad deal right. Usually too, the twofer pack is around $7! That's more than 10 drinks plus the cost of milk and you will still run WAY less than anything Starbucks could come up with!

Do you chai? What's your go-to drink? (Sorry for all those coffee lovers, that's just not my game!)

xxKatie

Year of Birthdays

You're probably asking yourself, "Well, isn't every year the year of the birthdays?" Well yes, but this year I'm a junior which means the birthday that everyone gets the most excited about in college: turning 21! I often get questions about what to get for your friends for their 21st birthdays! Here are some of my suggestions:

Customized shot glasses: I got these for three guy friends last year and they all loved them! They all got 2 glasses: 1 personalized with their monograms and 1 personalized with something funny between us!

A season of their favorite show or a DVD of their favorite movie! This is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser!

Monogrammed Wine Glasses from The Cooler Girl (a fabulous friend of mine!)

Food gift cards! I know gift cards have a bit of an impersonal stigma associated with them, but give them a book of coupons and say you're taking them to the specific place. Need a reason to take this certain someone on a date? ...Sounds like a perfect plan to me!

The Bubbly! This gives you a fun reason to toast (or roast!) your friends at their birthday bash!

Local concert tickets! A bunch of my friends have birthdays the week before THIS GUY comes to town. Too bad I don't give away ANY birthday surprises! I do expect to see y'all all there though!

I saw this concoction on Pinterest a few days ago and it sparked my idea for this post! Too funny! Seems like something a Grandma might do!

What did you give your friends for their 21st birthday? Anything fun? 

xxKatie

Drink Recipe: Wild Berry Iced Tea

So I'm completely stealing this recipe from a woman I work with. She introduced it to me and since I tried it I can't get enough!

For this wildberry iced tea, all you do is combine 2 kinds of tea bags, sweeten to taste and add accoutrements as you wish.

Take one bag (or more if you're brewing a pitcher or larger amount) of Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger and one bag of a Green Tea of choice (I just used Celestial Seasonings too because they were close on the grocery store shelf).

+

And let it steep for 5-10 minutes. It will be a peachy-pink color and have a very light scent. It is VERY refreshing as is, but with a sprig of mint or a lemon it really does the trick!

It has gotten SO HOT here in Annapolis, we're breaking records left and right. The last thing I want is a soda and I get sick of boring old water so this really does the trick!

Once you're done steeping, let it fully cool and throw it over some ice in your favorite BIG ol' iced tea tumbler!

My three faves!

What are your go-to summer drinks?

xxKatie

Pink and Green Party Supplies!

How sweet is this set? My birthday isn't for nearly 6 months, but I LOVE this spread! How fun would this be for the big 2-0?

This chip bowl comes in both pink and green, how festive!? I think I might have to get one of these just for fun...and it's only $5.99! I can't get over what a good deal that is!

I love this pink and orange set, but I'm definitely and P&G girl at heart! 

I would love to pop these guys into cupcakes!! Imagine a Funfetti cupcake, white icing and one of these big sparklers on top!!

These great Target cup sets would be so much fun to have at a party! Everyone would have cute drinks!

But what's a fun drink without a drink umbrella:

Pink sugar-rimmed glasses would make any drink yummy! This is one that would take some extra prep, but would be so cute as part of a big party display! I remember during rush last year, one of the sororities made a pink lemonade drink that was pretty sour (on purpose) and had delish green coarse sugar that rimmed their martini glasses. I would so LOVE to copy that sometime!

Party Hats!!!!...or an alternative:

Crowns! At Lifeguard Press, we actually ran out of birthday crows at one point during the year! (hopefully it won't happen again when my birthday comes around!) I make crowns for my friends when it's their birthdays. They're pink with glitter from Michael's and I use white puffy paint to put their names on them! They really tend to be a hit!

All this party planning makes me want to have one! I'd love to see some pictures from P&G parties that you've hosted or been to! Shoot me an email if you've got any at letsbepreppy@gmail.com!!

xxKatie