This post was sponsored by Kroger. All opinions expressed in the post are my own and not those of Kroger.
Do you ever receive a last minute call from your husband and he tells you that he forgot guests were coming over tonight? Or maybe you committed to hosting wine night at your house a few weeks ago and it totally slipped your mind until you are on your way home from work and your girlfriend texts you “see you soon!” You have about 20 minutes to get home and have little to no time to throw something together to welcome your guests! What do you do?
I’ll tell you what I do!
If you have been to my house for a birthday party, small dinner party or are in my husbands fantasy football league 🙂 than you already know there will be a cheese platter waiting for you! I love cheese, my husband loves cheese, I mean who doesn’t love cheese?!
A cheese platter is always my go to when we have people coming over. Now as a mama, I really try to find ways to shorten all of my tasks. That is why I am loving that Cracker Barrel recently came out with these new cheese cubes for entertaining!
These Cracker Barrel cheese cubes save me so much time since they are already cut up into cubes for me. I literally just open the bag and toss them onto a pretty tray with crackers and fruit. Voila, just like that it looks like I spent so much time on this cheese tray and we are ready for guests. Our favorite flavors are the vermont sharp white with gouda mix and the extra sharp yellow cheese. Yum!
The resealable bags are great in case you don’t need to use the whole bag and we always have the 2 oz bag on hand for easy snacking. Baby Weaver gets so happy when I let him hold this bag himself. But, like the label warning says to do, we always keep an eye on him and cut each cube in half to make it easier and safer for him to eat!
If baby Weaver and our guests approve this cheese, that’s a win in my book!
If you haven’t tried them yet, make sure to pick them up at Kroger to try out at your next dinner party and let me know what you all think!
I’m going to be honest. When I graduated high school and college all I really wanted was cash. Well, let me rephrase that. All I needed was cash LOL. Cash to eat, cash to buy some books, cash to put gas in my car to get to class and work.
Thankfully my parents, aunties, uncles and older brothers were able to provide your girl with some moola to put in the bank but of course if you are just graduating yourself you don’t have all the monies to gift your friends so today I am rounding up some great grad gift ideas that are fun, meaningful and all under $100!
Single Serve Coffee Maker | For all the late nights studying | There are $70 name brand ones but this $15 single serve coffee maker had over 1,100 5 star reviews and it’s cute too 🙂
Piggy Bank | Maybe throw some change in there while you are at it | We all know every penny counts. Especially if you are living that laundry mat life.
Portable Charging Bank | Because thinking back on that college life, my phone and laptop were always on low battery. Help your new college student out by giving them a powerful portable charging bank. Even now I love my portable charger. Especially when traveling for work.
A Nice Duffel Bag | If they have landed a job where they will be traveling a nice luggage set would be a good idea but if your high school graduate is headed off to college a few hours away the duffel bag is a great option for them to throw in their trunk for their weekend trips home
Fujifilm Instax | Such a cute gift idea to help the capture those memories!
Echo Dot | “Alexa, Do I have to finish college” or “Alexa, how do I cook Top Ramen noodles” | This $40 gift can help answer all of your grad’s questions when you are not there
I cannot believe our baby boy is already 2 years old! Like HOW?! Sometimes I wish time would just slow down for a bit because I am seriously loving this age SO much.
Our hearts are so full after being able to celebrate another birthday with our sweet friends and family but this year was extra special because baby Weaver’s Papa & Lola (my Mom and Dad) were in town for his actual birthday and his birthday party. My Dad being the amazing cook he is, made 90% of the food and my Mom was up late with me the night before the birthday party setting up all the decorations. Having them in town from California along with our closest friends and family is what really made this birthday so special. I am so grateful.
Seriously Dad of the year coming out in this outfit!! He did that all on his own you guys! He honestly wasn’t even into my theme at first but clearly it rubbed off on him! 🙂
This year we decided to do a carnival theme and I when I say we, I mean me 🙂 but I am so glad we did 🙂 It was actually super easy to find the carnival decorations and my friends at Sky High Party Rentals really helped bring the party together with the perfect carousel bounce house and backyard carnival games!
Bounce House, Carnival Games & Balloon Artist
So many of our friends asked if I based the theme of the party around the carousel bounce house and the answer is no! Haha! But I am thankful that Sky High Party Rentals has the most amazing, unique bounce houses that really helped take our carnival party theme to the next level! Last year, we did a Candy Shop party theme and Sky High Rentals ended up having a candy land bounce house! I mean how perfect! You can check that post out here.
This year I had my mind set on the carnival theme but I figured any color bounce house would go with my theme and when I started searching the Sky High Party Rentals website I saw the carousel one and almost fell out of my chair, it was so perfect! Not only do they do bounce houses but we also were able to rent the carnival games, balloon artist, table and chairs through them too! It is a one stop shop for all you busy party planning mama’s out there! They also rent out popcorn, snow cone and cotton candy machines which also would have been perfect with our carnival theme but I told Brandon I didn’t want to go overboard. After boxes and boxes of decor he asked “your definition of overboard is 5 times beyond a normal person’s overboard, just saying”.. LOL I guess I can’t disagree..but anyway I cannot say enough good things about Sky High Rentals. They have such a great variety of party rentals and they also have really great service which is the most important. We have used them for 2 years now and they always deliver earlier than planned which is awesome because I hate setting up last minute and feeling frazzled as guests arrive.
Decorations
Carnival Banner | Directional Sign Cardboard Stand Up (super easy to assemble) | Plates | Napkins | Prize Wheel Game (this was such a cute decoration item but if you are going to truly use it as a game I would not recommend it. All of the tiny yellow pieces broke off by the end of the afternoon) | Treat Stand Holder | Tablecloth (both them in stripes and teal) | Table Skirt | Ferris Wheel Cupcake Holder (also another cute decor item but I wouldn’t recommend putting anything heavy on them.) Maybe I just didn’t put it together correctly but mine could not withstand holding cupcakes lol. I ended up putting small bags of cotton candy in the caddy’s and that worked fine. |Hats (that I forgot to pass out lol) Popcorn Containers (filled them with fresh flowers) | Cupcake Stand | Birthday Banner
Food
To me, food is basically the most important thing about a gathering aside from the birthday celebrant! I’m so happy the chef of the family, my Dad, wanted to cook everything for the party! We had all of our favorite Filipino dishes; fried rice, chicken pancit, lumpia and my personal fave chicken tocino. We also had chips, Chic-fil-A nuggets and cheese and crackers. After the party my Dad told me he ended up frying 500 lumpia’s and there were only like 7 left so needless to say I think that was a crowd favorite!
Dessert
Well, let’s just say we had a sweet treat about everywhere you turned. Our mama friends were thanking me all week for the candy that their kids left with LOL. I also bought sprinkle covered donut holes from the grocery store and plain cupcakes and topped them off with animal crackers. Getting them store bought and adding the animal crackers for the custom touch was such a great, less expensive option to stay on theme with the cupcakes. You could also get inexpensive carnival themes cupcake toppers like these.
Birthday Cake
I know technically this should fall under the dessert section of the blog post but this beauty of a cake deserves a section of its own. Ummm….HELLO how cute is it?! Gali’s Goodies is local to Pasadena residents and pastry chefs are Cindy’s aunt and cousin . I sent over my Pinterest inspiration and her aunt killed it! I mean look at that marshmellow popcorn detail! But wait, the inside of the cake ya’ll! NEAPOLITAN! What?! It was as delicious as it was cute! I would highly recommend her. I know i will be ordering from her again. Like I’m really trying to find any reason to get another cake made, haha! She’s also reasonably priced! Check out her Facebook page here and their Instagram page here.
Thank you all for letting me share our sweet boy’s special day with you. And a trillion thank you’s to our sweet friends and family who came to celebrate our sweet 2 year old!!
I know a few of you were wanting to do a carnival theme party too and had some questions about where we got everything so I hope I covered it all in today’s post. If I missed anything please feel free to comment below or email me, info@roselynweaver.com.
Hey loves! It’s so crazy because I feel like January was moving so slowly and then bam! here we are in the month of April! We have had a lot of things happening over here and although I feel like I chat with you guys daily over social media I haven’t gotten to share many life updates with you in a while so I figured I’d take some time to share with you all today!
Hey friends! Recently I have been getting messages asking for advice and tips for people entering into the workforce right after college. Maybe it’s because graduation season is quickly approaching or maybe it’s because I have been sharing a little more about my 8-5 career! Either way I love sharing tips on this topic so today I am sharing 5 powerful interview tips that will totally prepare you to nail your next (or first) job interview!
Outfit Details: Top: Shein and similar Amazon one here | Blazer: Express | Pants: Express | Heels: DSW |Handbag: DSW
Powerful Interview Tips
Make sure you research the company you are interviewing with – you don’t have to be an expert by any means but you should know some high level facts. For example, 3 things I like to know before interviewing with a company are:
When and how the company started- Researching information such as this will open up so much knowledge. Referencing some of these facts during your interview will really show the interviewer you did your homework.
The company’s mission and values- knowing a company’s mission and values should be a reason you want to work for them. Becoming familiar with this will allow you to speak to your knowledge about the company as well as give you the opportunity to talk about how your personality and work ethic align with those values and mission.
How much the company has grown in the past xxx years. Researching this could also help you talk about why you are interested in working for their company. The possibilities of your career growth for example.
Be truthful but smart when explaining why you are interviewing for a new job– This won’t apply if you are a new graduate on the hunt for your first job but if you are leaving one company for another, really think thoroughly about how you will answer the interview question, “why are you seeking another job opportunity?”. If it’s because you see the potential of more professional growth with the new company versus your current company, great. But if it’s because you are currently working in an environment where you feel like your co-workers are not “team players” or just don’t work as hard as you do and you don’t want to be around that anymore? Be careful on how you word that. Although it may be true, trust me I’ve been there, but you don’t want to come off as a complainer and you definitely don’t want to have the interviewer thinking, “what if it’s you that’s the problem?”. In all honesty, I have definitely thought that when interviewing candidates.
Study your resume- this may sound silly but I have interviewed quite a few people that when I asked about a past job it was like they didn’t totally remember what they did there. I can understand how you may have forgotten things about a position that you worked at 4 years ago but when you are stepping into an interview be prepared to talk about how you thrived and/or grew professionally in each position you have held.
Use examples to answer the obvious interview questions. – I’ve had a few off the wall interview questions like “what items are in your trunk right now?” but if you have sat through an interview or 2 in your life you will know that there is a 99.9% chance you will be asked: “What are your weaknesses?”, “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” and “What would you consider your greatest strength?”
What are your weaknesses? – I feel like this question is a trap, haha but I always ask it and I have always been asked it when being interviewed. My best advice is to provide an example of when you realized your weakness (this proves self awareness) and then provide an example of how you overcame that weakness (this shows problem solving skills and the motivation to want to better yourself). For example, instead of just saying “I’m a perfectionist” you can describe a time when you took a little longer on a project because you wanted it “just right” but how that made you realize you were holding up the people who were waiting for you to complete their part of the project. Explain how you were still able to meet deadlines but realize that your “weakness” may affect other people. Talk about how you have improved this weakness by giving yourself an allotted timeline to complete the project and really utilizing your attention to detail to ensure your work is done right the first time.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? – This would be a great opportunity to give an example on the research you have done on the company. Maybe the department you are applying for has grown tremendously in the past 5 years and you see that as potential for your professional growth. Try to be specific as possible as to what you are wanting in each year. For example, year 1, I forsee myself training and working diligently to becoming an expert in my role. Year 2 and 3 I would like to take full advantage of working closely with my colleagues to understand what each manages and to understand the processes as a whole. Year 4 and 5 become certified in xxx and be considered for xxx role within the company. This is a generic example but you really want to show that you do have a goal for your professional career and you are telling them that even though you do want to grow and promote, that you want to do it within the company.
Follow up and thank them – most likely the interviewer is going to be interviewing other people. Making a lasting impression during your interview is important but that might not last if you are the only one who didn’t send a thank you card or email. Things to say in your follow up:
Thank them – thank them for their time and giving you the opportunity to meet with them face to face.
Reference something that was said during the interview – maybe it was something personal you guys talked about (bonus points!) like how you both were dog lovers or bonded over how you both have kids the same age. Giving the interviewer that feel good feeling again will score you major brownie points!
Re-iterate – re-iterate why you think you will be a great fit for the company and the open position.
I really hope this blog post on interview tips was helpful! If there any questions, please feel free to comment below or email me! info@roselynweaver.com.
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