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A few months ago, near the beginning of my pregnancy, I had the pleasure of visiting our local Dream Dinners for a blogger dining experience. I had a great time at the event, getting to make the meals was super easy and it was a ton of fun seeing blogging friends and catching up while making the meals. The whole time I couldn’t help but think how the event would have been perfect for a baby shower or baby sprinkle.

The Dream Dinners Experience

When you sign up for the Dream Dinners experience you get the opportunity to pick a date to visit the store, a variety of dishes (the menu changes each month) and number of servings. On the date of your visit you get to join others in prepping your meals. At the end of the two hours you’ll go home with your meals ready to go into the freezer for whenever you are ready for a quick and delicious meal with all the instructions ready to go. You can choose to do this experience on any of the open sessions, invite friends along or schedule a private session for just you and your friends.

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

Okay, okay… so, maybe the idea of prepping dinners doesn’t sound super thrilling to you. I get it. When I have to cook dinner I don’t especially love the process. But, what I do love, is going to a place where everything has been prepped for me and I don’t have to do any of the dishes! Check out the organization skills… gotta love the good use of a label maker.

The cost of the meal includes all of the food items that you can follow to the recipe or decide to customize by leaving out ingredients that picky eaters may not enjoy. It also includes the packaging and cooking instructions. There are additional sides and meals already prepped and ready for purchase in the store as well. I bought a few sides and breakfast meals to throw in our freezer at home in addition to the meals I made at the event.

So, how does it all taste?

It was great! The whole family really loved the meals that we tried and the instructions were super easy to follow. My husband actually made all three meals the days that we ate them and didn’t have any problems following the instructions. He isn’t a novice in the kitchen, but there is no way he’d have been able to whip up the Chateau Chicken with Almond Butter Sauce on his own. In addition to the Chateau Chicken I tried Arroz Con Pollo and Limoncello Shrimp with Coconut Rice.

Note: Dream Dinners does have some availability in customizing a recipe or two by leaving out an ingredient you may or may not like. But, it isn’t super customizable when it comes to items that are gluten, allergy or meat free. Check out the site’s Health and Nutrition FAQs for more info on this. The menus are available on-line as well, so you do get quite a few options in what meals you and your family would like. In addition, the packaging includes lots of plastic bags and aluminum. While much better than a frozen meal at the grocery store, it isn’t the most eco-friendly.

 

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

How to throw a Dream Dinners Baby Shower

When I was in my first pregnancy I worked about 25 hours a week and I had maybe a 15 minute commute. I also didn’t have a toddler. I prepped for the baby coming by making a LOT of frozen meals. As a matter of fact, I was prepping large portions of spaghetti and meatballs for freezing the whole beginning stages of labor. The meals were so fantastic the first month of our kiddo’s life.

This pregnancy has been….well, different. I have a full time gig, commute 1 hour each way and a toddler. Not complaining, I love my life. But, the idea of spending my little free time prepping meals for after the baby arrives is not super appealing. A showering of pre-made meals sounds like the perfect baby shower or baby sprinkle for someone who may have most of the baby gear all ready to go.

Read on to find out how to throw a Dream Dinners baby shower!

I promise that I didn’t just redesign my site to only let it sit here stagnant. I’ve been working on a bunch of posts and projects to help bring consistent content to these virtual pages over the next few months. I’ve talked before about it being difficult for me to find balance with work/home/blog/life. In my goals for 2015 I really promised myself that I’d focus on prioritizing parts of my life. While my blog is a priority… it just isn’t quite as high as shaping my relationships with family and friends. Thankfully, often my blog life and my friendships and personal goals are often entwined! Like with these upcoming Wedding and Food events in Portland!

FoodWorx - The Future of Food Event // A Well Crafted Party Blog

Tomorrow I’ll be out all day long with 300+ delegates and 24 speakers all discussing the future of food at the Portland FoodWorx event. I’m going to be geeking out about it all day long on my Instagram and Twitter so be sure to check in! And, if you are in the Portland area I’d highly recommend you checking it out. There are different tickets available for the event. I’d love for you to say hi if you are going!

I’m really looking forward to the “Know your Oils” discussion with Julie Briley from National College of Natural Medicine, “Rewriting your Food Story” with Ian Rubin from Whole Self Wellness, and Food & Aging from Miles Hassell M.D. from Providence.  For a full schedule of events check out the FoodWorx Conference website!

Portland Wedding Shows - Toast Curated Wedding Showcase // A Well Crafted Party Blog

 

I’m thrilled to have been asked to participate in the Elli.Com Toast: A Curated Wedding Showcase event.

Myself and a team of amazing local vendors are going to design a inspirational wedding space along with other teams from the area. I cannot WAIT to show you what we’ve got up our sleeves and see what the other vendors have come up with! My team is comprised of these amazing vendors:

The Toast event is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 from 5 PM to 9PM. This evening will be filled with all thing wedding and all things Portland! Tickets are currently on sale!

From the Elli.com site:

“The Toast handpicks vendors to collaborate on a range of style vignettes such as rustic chic, classic and vintage and create an experiential atmosphere where couples can meet vendors while enjoying a fun filled, festive evening.

WHAT YOU’LL ENJOY

  • Complimentary Appy Couple wedding website and app.
  • Entry into drawing for chance to win a free engagement photo shoot.
  • Gorgeous and festive photo booth pics courtesy of Happymatic.
  • Bridal style showcase with looks for events leading up to your big day.
  • First 125 attendees receive a gift bag full of surprises.
  • Complimentary food and drinks.

This premiere event is hosted by Elli whose mission is to help brides bring to life a truly one-of-a-kind celebration.”

I hope to see you there!

 

 

Zoo Lights in Portland, Oregon // A Well Crafted Party

Our little family has three different views of holiday light shows. Me, I’m in love… going to see lights was one of my favorite things growing up. I remember being a teenager and driving up to the highest hill in my tiny little town to look out on the city full of lights. It is awe-inspiring to me. My husband on the other hand doesn’t understand it. Now, mushrooms growing out of a tree stump is the most exciting part of his day, but holiday lights that twinkle and glow? He just thinks about how cold it is or how hard it must have been to put out all of the lights. My son is just now at the age where he seems to enjoy them.

Oregon ZooLights in PDX // A Well Crafted Party

Oregon ZooLights in PDX // A Well Crafted Party

When it came to deciding whether or not to go to the Oregon Zoo for ZooLights this year, me and the kid won out! And, I am pretty sure the hubby had just as much fun as we did. The whole family decided to head out to ZooLights for the Media Night and had a brilliant time!

We went on a week night at it was not too busy. The train line was pretty long, but it was my son’s favorite part of the whole thing. Personally, I loved the tunnel of lights! So pretty.

The coolest part about the Oregon ZooLights? It isn’t all “Christmas” themed! There are lots of animal lights, fiction story lights, and more. It was nice to enjoy the lights for the holiday without being inundated with Christmas. It also works out for the after-holiday crowd to still be able to enjoy the lights even though Christmas is over!

ZooLights runs until January 4, 2015. The lights open up at 5PM. However, you can get your tickets as early as 4PM. Check out the Oregon Zoo ZooLights info page for more information.

Oregon ZooLights in PDX // A Well Crafted Party

The Oregon Zoo provided my family with tickets to attend ZooLights media night this year. All thoughts are my own.