Saying ‘Thank You’

Yesterday, I promised a shopping haul from my San Antonio trip. Well today you won’t be seeing it because I was sick all day yesterday and didn’t have time to take any good pictures of the cute things I bought much less take pictures of me with/in them. I have some sort of sinus infection that’s stopping me from forming a coherent thought and putting on make up. Story of my life.

Today, I wanted to share with you a cherished tradition that many people are forgetting about- the ‘thank you’ note. Who would have thought that something so simple and important would become a thing of the past? Seriously, the only time I’ve ever received a thank you is after a wedding. Notes like these shouldn’t be reserved for events like that. It should be an ordinary thing. If someone does something nice for you, then you send a note! It’s not rocket-science.

Years ago, I went to a little friend’s birthday party. She was turning 8, I think. Her party was dinosaur themed and I got her a dinosaur gift of some kind. A few weeks went by and still no thank you note. I was brought up believing that you should send these within a week of the party. Regardless, I gave her some slack (I was a very polite kid, you see). 15 years later, I’m still waiting on that thank you note. I should have known not to expect one given that the birthday girl gathered up all of her gifts after she opened them and retreated to her room to play with them… by herself.

Remembering how important it is to send thank you notes, I have quite the stash of them in my desk! I absolutely adore them and stock up whenever I see a sale. Sending these notes says so much about your class, gratitude, and overall etiquette understanding. You aren’t required to send them by any means, but those that do automatically seem more appreciative than those who don’t. Consider that next time someone gives you a gift or does something nice for you!

Peak Into my Bedroom

As I’ve slowly turned this bare-wall apartment into my unique space, I’ve taken some pretty pictures to document my success. I want to share with you a few things that are sitting around my room right now. Normally, I’d share with you my entire space but, contrary to what other life and style bloggers would like you to think, my room and my life are quite messy at times. As much as I adore pretty things like peonies, Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer, and macarons, I can promise you that my life isn’t always a “pretty thing.” This is just a little look I can offer you into my life!

Trending: Sparkles, Cute Quotes, and Gold

In typical Liz fashion, I have found an Etsy store that has the cutest prints and stationary ever! Trending right now is gold, glitter, and cute quotes so believe me when I say this store has both goin’ on! Its called Kardz Kouture by Jessica Boffo. I seriously need to know where this girl gets her inspiration and how she learned to create such adorable little things.

Eventually, I would love to open a business like this but finding out how to do it is the biggest difficulty there is. No one is going to tell you what programs they use or who their printer is and how they run their business. Why would they? You would become their competition! I know a little bit about things pertaining to this through my dad’s Etsy store . However, you can never know enough!

Anyway, I’ve included a few cute little things from Kardz Kouture that I found on her store. Be sure to tell me about any other cute Etsy stores or if you have one you think others might enjoy!

Wickedly Fabulous: A How to Guide for Hosting a Grown Up Halloween Party

Today a really awesome lady is taking over my blog with her suggestions for having a Halloween themed party! The Pretty Canary is pretty good at what she does and has found several adorable invitations from various websites that we’re sure you will love! I’ve scattered them throughout the post so take a look and write down some suggestions!

4 Weeks Prior:

A theme is very important to establish the tone of any party. It allows your guest the opportunity to find the perfect costume and send back the invites with a good idea of what to expect.

Hosting an Event: Your Halloween Planning and Organizing Checklist (seriously write this down!)

Go Venue Shopping: If you don’t have the space or even if you do, sometimes its always best to bring the party somewhere else. No clean up and all you have to do is book early and you might get a discount.

When ordering invitations, make sure you send to the printers the address of the venue so they can be printed on the back of the invitations! This is part of having good manners as a host or hostess!

Price Shop For DJ’s: The earlier you book the better. Ask tons of questions to make sure you know what you’re getting.

Don’t Forget Food: Shop at warehouses like Costco and BJ’s which will give you options and amazing deals on all of your favorite brands for literally pennies on the dollar.

Tip: If you are hosting a party with over 100+ guests not only will e-vites save you major money, but you can set up a digital guestbook on sites like Facebook which will give you a list of who have accepted or declined and those people who really haven’t made a decision yet!

3 Weeks Prior:

This is the week to start sending out invites! But where should you start looking? Well, companies like Purple Trail.com and Tickled Pink Invitations.com are offering their customers free customizations and discount codes which will help to significantly cut costs when you are ordering higher quantities! With options like coated and uncoated paper as well as 100% customization on all invitation designs, the possibilities are truly endless. Purple Trail is also offering one day priority shipping. This invitation company is my first choice for making my invitations! Did I also mention that Purple Trail starts their prices at .82 cents an Invite if you use the code: intro15.

If you don’t like the selection on Purple Trail you could also go to Tickled Pink Invitations.com. All of their invitations are sold in quantities of 10. Tickled Pink Invitations also allows you to customize your invitations but all of the designs are only available on 100 lb Matte Card Stock Paper and if you order from Tickled Pink you can save 40% today by entering the code: Tickled40 and like Purple Trail, your invitations will be shipped out within the week.

2 Weeks Prior:

Confirm who will be in attendance even if they sent an RSVP so you can order party favors from retailer giants like Party City, which is offering free shipping on Halloween orders of $65+ if you use the code: FreeShip65 or $10 off on orders of $75+ if you use the code: SAVENOW

Check out Party City.com for their Chills and Thrills Halloween Party Guide theme ideas for adults. They help with costumes as well as color scheme and Decorations. My favorite ideas featured on the website where the Gothic Glam Party and the Spooky Haunted Mansion!

If you still haven’t found the perfect favors by now, Beaucoup is offering up to 25% off site wide on everything!

For the more adventurous DIYer’s:

HGTV, Target, and Martha Stewart have videos and tutorials on Youtube and also on their websites on how to make favors and anything else you need to make your party spookier.

1Week Prior:

Refer back to your original checklist.

Favors should be prepared and accessible, decorations, food, music and venues should be booked and paid for.

Day Of Party:

Complete Last Minute Task Before Guest Arrive 

Decorate

Finish Prepping Food

Let DJ or live Music set up

Guest Arrival

and then PARTY!

XO,

The Pretty Canary

Pretty Little Things: Stationary

I love getting letters! When I was away at college, my mom would send me little letters just saying how much she missed me (she would also include a little cash for my favorite Starbucks drink). My grandma would also send me cards and little notes on birthdays and holidays. Anyway, the stationary of an individual doesn’t seem to be as important as it used to be. “Snail mail” isn’t used to deliver a message like it was years ago. A part of me would like to bring that lovely tradition back to the light.

Apart from my own stockpile of stationary and notecards, I took some time the other day to find a few examples of stationary and notecards to share with all of you. I went to Target and found some I liked there but the prices were all $4.50 and up, which I thought was a little high for notecards. I went to Marshall’s after that and found that most notecards were under $4.00! These are a few of my favorites that I found:

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on stationary or notes to send to people. It really is all about presentation, which if done correctly can be inexpensive and chic. Take a look at these notecards below by Ashley Brooke Designs. They each retail for around $18 for a total of 10 notecards!

I love Ashley’s designs and she inspires me so much, but for right now her work is just a little too pricey for my budget. However, investing in a few inexpensive ones that are designed well and don’t have anything written in them that seems “cheap” is a great way to make up for the money you didn’t spend and still have some class. FYI when I say “cheap” I mean things like “Happy birthday, now where’s the food?” with a picture of a bored looking person on the front. That’s rude and classless.

Have you ever seen cards like that? Please share below, I’d be interesting in seeing the horrible cards out there!

Stay classy!