#REDBOOKparty

Earlier this year I signed up with a website called House Party, http://www.houseparty.com/. According to their website: "House Party makes it easy to have a party in your own home and get exclusive access to awesome products for you and your friends. We provide the fun, you provide food, your friends and feedback and promise to have an amazing time.

Our parties are sponsored by the brands you love. By hosting, you and your guests get to try their products and receive an incredible Party Pack chock full of goodies! You don’t pay anything or sell anything. It’s a no-pressure party. Just tell us what you and your guests think. Check out current parties »

But it’s more than just you and your friends who are having a blast. Thousands of other hosts and guests from across the US are also having an amazing time, on the same day. Your party just went from event to epic!"

I was lucky enough to be selected to host a #REDBOOKparty. What is a #REDBOOKparty? It is a fun Happy Hour (our hours in our case) sponsored by L'Oreal Paris and Redbook Magazine through House Party. Although the party is sponsored by these great companies (and yes, I received free products to share), the thoughts presented here are my own.

After being selected, the website invites through HouseParty.com went out. Luckily friends were available. So the party planning began. The conversation taking place by those that were also hosting included some confusion about what might be arriving in our party packages. Party packages were scheduled to arrive 5 days before the party would take place. Um have you read my blog? 5 days before friends arrive. Yeah I cannot plan one of MY PARTIES with only 5 days to plan. So I needed to put something in place before the party pack arrived. The brainstorming began. Hmmm a party hosted by L'Oreal Paris and Redbook... red, beauty, beautiful, French, Paris, happy hour, wine, Got it! We'll have a french picnic theme for our #REDBOOKparty. 

This made party planning pretty easy. Labor Day and summer clearance sales provided some great inspiration. I found dollar store red gingham table cloths. Perfect. I grabbed green cloths also. Covered my tables with the green cloths and folded the gingham over them as if they were picnic blankets on the green grass. Summer Sales at The Christmas Tree Shop brought me mini wooden baskets. They looked perfect. I also found red and white check paper lines. I had a stack of white doilies. So each of my friends got a basket to fill with picnic selections.

FeteAvecMoi

For a few years now I have had a wonderful picnic blanket. It folds up and velcros closed. I spread it out on our living room floor. I grabbed every red pillow I could find (a former color scheme in our apartment). And a few brown ones and covered them with red clothing, blankets, etc. The pillow on the left is covered with a red dress that doesn't fit me. But it fit my pillow lol. 

FeteAvecMoi

I planned a buffet table with cheeses galore, mortadella, salame, cappy, hummus, tazhiki, and more. A friend was kind enough to hook me up with some great fresh bread solutions. I had to be at a family event in the morning in another state. So it was amazing to have someone help with this. Thanks, Chris! 

FeteAvecMoi

Luckily my House Party - Party Package did arrive in time though. I found red gift bags at the dollar store and organized all the wonderful goodies from L'Oreal and Redbook. What great free goodies for my friends to try! Thank you, House Party!

I gathered every basket I could find.

FeteAvecMoi

Setup a beauty bar area for friends to come try the new Revitalift Miracle Blur creams. There is both an instant eye smoother and a skin smoother. Must say both are great! We had fun trying them out for the first time. One friend shrieked, "Is this available in stored yet?" after trying it. Love that! Another was excited that there were coupons to go buy bigger versions. Another friend tried the cream and did a double take as she saw results quickly.

It always amazes me how much fun my friends and I have when we gather in a relaxed atmosphere. Next thing I knew it was after midnight. For my neighbors sake, we had to wind things down. We can sit and gab together for hours without any party perks. Add party perks like those included from House Party and well time flies...

A few more photos:

(Before and afters are only cropped not digitally enhanced)

Have you tried the Revitalift Miracle Blur Smoothers? What did you think? I'd love to hear your impressions of either the products we previewed or my party planning.