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After the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we tend to keep things a bit more casual when it comes to hosting parties over the winter months. An easy yet elegant dinner party is kind of the way to go! (Or a rowdy game day party with lots of snacks. I’m flexible!) Today I’m walking you through my tips for setting the table for just such a dinner party. Think sweet and simple with a casual vibe that will make your friends feel right at home!

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We’ve been eating copious amounts of pickled red onions lately. On tacos, on breakfast sandwiches, on salads piled high with watermelon and feta. The reason why is simple. I started playing around and realized just how insanely easy they are to make and how they make basically everything more delicious. They might not work on chocolate cake. But then again, maybe they would! I won’t tell you how to live your life or how to eat your pickled red onions, I just have to insist that you make a jar. Five ingredients, no cooking, no fancy processes. The result is a delightfully pink onion that even non-onion lovers will love – they don’t have any spice to them at all, but they have the best crunch!

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A few of my girlfriends and I have been talking about starting a book club, but as busy working moms, it just hasn’t seemed to happen. Getting it together enough to read an assigned book in a set timeframe? It’s something that seems completely daunting, even for those of us who absolutely love to read. The solution? A modern twist on a book club party, one that is much more relaxed and takes the pressure off entirely. This isn’t your mother’s book club, friends! It’s much more fun, there’s champagne and thanks to a little inspiration from the P-touch Embellish Ribbon and Tape Printer, there are super cute details that will make your friends excited to dive into a good book!

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It’s no secret that I love a good party appetizer, and I think the best are ones that are simple to pull together that still allow guests to try out a few different things. Enter this super easy bread and oil appetizer dipping station! You know those restaurants where you get to munch on great crusty bread and delicious flavored oils while you wait for your meal? That’s totally the inspiration here. All you need is a few baguettes sliced up, olive oil and a bunch of yummy flavors to add into the mix like lemon zest, red pepper flake and minced garlic. Here I’m sharing a few of my personal favorite flavor combinations, but you should absolutely mix and match to your heart’s content using your favorite herbs and spices. To serve everything, cute little bowls for each oil concoction (I’d suggest at least two or three) and a pretty wooden board piled high with bread will do the trick.

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Do you guys know that sherbet party punch that shows up a lot at baby and bridal showers? It’s usually served up in a big punch bowl and is made with things like fruit punch and 7UP® with scoops of sherbet floating on top. The idea is that it’s delicious, non-alcoholic and you get little bits of sherbet with each sip. It’s frothy, super summery and really refreshingly fun! Have you ever had it before? It is seriously some kind of delicious and I love that it’s such a simple concept, but sure enough you’ll always look over mid-party to find an empty punch bowl. Kids love it because it’s sweet and tasty. Adults love it because it somehow makes you feel like a kid again. That’s entirely what inspired these party punch sherbet floats! When I’m having friends over, whether it be for a dinner party or evening spent on the back patio, I love serving up something fun and slightly unexpected. Then you can keep everything else simple and they’ll still experience a taste of that wow factor that makes them feel a little special, and that’s my favorite thing in the entire world. Today I’m teaming up with 7UP to share how I made these easy but totally wow-worthy floats! (Be sure to scroll down for the step-by-step recipe video, too!)

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I remember on my inaugural trip to Europe as a young teenager being completely confused by Europeans and their penchant for room temperature beverages. Or rather, being confused by their confusion with our love for icy cold beverages. I have a serious love affair with ice. The frostier the drink the better! The fancy ice cube craze running wild these days? I am so completely into it. Not only does it look so incredibly pretty, but you’re also left with a million or more flavor combinations for taking your summer lemonade and your favorite fruity cocktails to the next level. I personally like my ice cubes with fruit and herbs for even just sipping water throughout the day, but latte ice cubes and flower ice cubes and anything else you can freeze into a cube sounds pretty amazing, too! Here are 10 ideas to get you started…

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I have this odd relationship with shades of pink. See, sometimes I love pink like it’s my job. Other times, I really could leave it or take it…generally leave it. Lately I’ve been having a major pink and coral moment. It might be because I’m considering giving my desk a wash of glossy coral to …

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Are you guys sick of hearing me complain about the weather yet? Because I’m getting sick of myself. I’m not usually one to bemoan Mother Nature, but seriously. It’s pushing mid-April and yesterday I was dodging snowflakes. Snowflakes, people. All of this to say, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that I’m pinning everything bright and …

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This post was sponsored by Party Supplies Now. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that so generously help keep The Sweetest Occasion rockin’! Can we talk about party decor for a minute? Obviously you know I love me some awesome party decorations. The more colorful and festive the better in my book! So today I …

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