Girls’ night out, watching an awards show, wearing a new dress, and walking in high heels? Not things this mama does very often! But last Sunday I teamed up with Skinnygirl® Cocktails and threw an Oscar Party to connect with some great ladies in the Quad Cities!
To help with the planning details, I took advantage of the Skinnygirl® Cocktails ‘Entertain Like A Leading Lady’ Facebook tab. Free DIY party favors such as award badges, printable ballots, luxe bottle labels, a red carpet backdrop, and recipe cards were available. What a great resource- super simple yet very classy!
No Oscar party would be complete without a red carpet (thanks, Necker’s Jewelers!), and everyone had pictures taken as they arrived. Some were a tad hesitant, but guests worked the red carpet with poses just like the celebrities! With the help of a local photographer it was easy to capture these award winning shots!
Along with the ready to serve Skinnygirl® Cocktails and Wines, I served a signature cocktail called Skinny Tangeriny (I first tasted this at a restaurant in Chicago and couldn’t wait to make it)! It was delicious, and everyone enjoyed it! To add to the ambience of the night, a local bartender joined in on the festivities and mixed the signature cocktail all night (he was so much fun)!
Skinny Tangeriny
Shake with ice:
1 part Skinnygirl® Tangerine Vodka
3 parts Pineapple Juice
Strain into glass and add:
2 parts Grapefruit Pellegrino
splash of Grenadine
Garnish with orange wedge.
No party is complete without food, and there was plenty of it! The savory table included spinach artichoke dip, tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches, veggies, and fruit. The sweet table included New York cheesecake, sugar cookie bites, vanilla cake pops, strawberry lemonade cupcakes, peanut butter cup cupcakes, and brownies. Everything was delicious, and having the event catered by two local restaurants gave me more time to find a dress!
Now about the dress… I’m not going to lie. Deciding what to wear was one of my biggest stressors. After several shopping trips, I found a Black Peplum Dress at Express along with a bracelet and earrings. I’m lucky enough to wear the same size shoes as a good friend, so I borrowed a pair of BCBGeneration heels from her closet (although I had to take them off after a few hours because my legs started cramping!).
Throughout the evening, women were whisked away by some amazing stylists to get their hair curled and makeup touched up. The pampering was unexpected and so appreciated. Many of us left with hair tips and makeup secrets straight from the professionals! (It’s the only party I ever attended where I went home looking better than I did when I arrived!)
To give back to our community, we held an accessories drive for Dress For Success® Quad Cities. Those attending the Oscar Party generously donated jewelry, shoes, bags, panty hose, makeup, and pant hangers to help local women thrive in work and life. Thanks, ladies- you rock!
The night ended with some “awards” given out for best heels, best bling, best red carpet pose, best lady in red, most dazzling ‘do, best mani, and two ladies using #likealeadinglady on social media.
Throwing an Oscar party was a little outside the box for me, but it was so much fun- what a great excuse to schedule a night out! I’m thinking we need to do this again- see you next year!
A big THANK YOU to Skinnygirl® Cocktails for fueling the night with the delicious cocktails! To see more event photos, check out the Quad City Moms Blog Facebook page!
What a fun night! I was nervous about going, but once there had a great time! Pure was the perfect location, and we were made to feel like celebrities from the moment we had our photo taken on the red carpet.
The Skinny Tangeriny was light and refreshing, and I loved that the party was held in conjunction with a great cause! Overall, a fabulous party!
I had such a fabulous time at the party! It was an amazing night! Loved seeing everyone looking their “Hollywood” best and got some helpful new makeup and hair tips. Absolutely loved the “skinny tangerinny” drink. That will definitely be my go-to cocktail for the upcoming pool party season!!! Thanks for a fun night!!
What a great time! I loved seeing all the beautiful dresses. We moms can rock it when we want to!
Especially Heather in her gorgeous red dress! My fav! Great location and giveaways. Thanks Camye and Skinny Girl for an awesome party!
I was pretty insecure about going, dressing up(which I haven’t done in a decade) and even though I knew people, just wasn’t sure how it would be. I had a WONDERFUL time! Its hard for me to break out of my comfortable shell, but when I do, I’m always pleasantly surprised! I didn’t feel judged or looked down upon-I felt welcomed, was greeted and even complimented by many. This is what I love about the moms blog events-we are women, mom’s, wanting to have fun and just enjoy each others company. It doesn’t matter what you wore, how your hair looked-it was just about having fun.
It was a really good time. We had so much fun! We can’t wait for the next one.
And I am now in love with Skinny Tangeriny!