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Jenni

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Jenni is a blogger and marketing professional in Portland, Oregon. A Well Crafted Party is a blog about all the little things to celebrate in life. Follow Jenni or A Well Crafted Party with BlogLovin, RSS feed, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
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My Summertime Goals

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Do you read A Beautiful Mess? 
{I do… I love it.}
It is one of those blogs that I’m glad she updates often because I get SO excited every time there is a new post. Elsie (the blog creator) is so prolific, creative and FUN. I’d love to meet her IRL. 
Anywho… now that I’ve shown you who I blog stalk let me get to the point of this post…
Last week Elsie posted her Summertime Goals which inspired me to post mine.
(I’m a to-do list JUNKIE and was happy to see that Elsie also journals in a blank journal that gives her room to doodle… so, I immediately went to doodling my own summertime goals.)
excuse my iPhone photo of my journal… if you can’t read just look below!
My Summertime Goals:
{Or, really, my summertime to do list.}
1. Finish House Preparation for Baby I know I have been talking about baby a lot lately but, really, that is the BIGGEST thing going on in my life right now. I have SO much to do in preparation for the baby including re-organizing my craft and entertaining areas, finding a good storage and work area for my husband’s beer brewing equipment, clearing out our guest closet, baby proofing house and finishing the nursery. Have I mentioned he is due in 2 months!?! 2. Save more $$$$ Well, this is a no-brainer. Babies are expensive and I will not be working for three months and then be going back to work very part time… we need a little bit more of a cushion than we have now. Simple as that. 3. Buy tickets & Make plans for Oklahoma trip My family live in Oklahoma… last year my grandmother (one of the most amazing women on this planet) suffered a stroke and can no longer travel. If there is one MUST DO it is to bring my little man to meet her and my grandfather as well as the rest of the fam. Traveling with an infant seems incredibly daunting to me (not to mention the cost of traveling after having said baby). So, I need to get on this task/goal pretty quickly. 4. Prep blog for time off— This goal is essential… I am having SO much fun blogging and it has turned into an amazing space for me to share creatively. But, I am NOT so good at being pregnant and keeping up with blogging, so I fear having an infant and blogging. I’m lining up people for guest posts and working on some scheduled posts that will run when I am not able to blog. Currently I blog very in the moment so this is a toughy. I do have some fun GIVEAWAY opportunities that I am getting excited about so hopefully that will help keep the blog a runnin’. BTW- IF YOU ARE A BLOGGER AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A GUEST POST PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH ME!!!  5. Have Baby. SURVIVE. Love on Him!— This is my favorite of my goals for several reasons… one of which is that I really don’t have to work too hard to make this one happen now. He is a comin’! I’m scared of birth and of hospitals, so that part will be some work. Loving on him is the one thing I’ve been dreaming about the most these past few months. I think the hard part about this will be to do anything other than love on him.
Well, thanks for reading my summertime goals. 
What are your summertime goals?
You can leave your goals in comments {OR} if you have a blog and 
post them then put a link in the comments and I will read them there!

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Anniversary Vacation and Babymoon update

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I’ve been really, REALLY busy lately. 
And, I can’t quite nail down exactly one thing that I’ve been working on so 
that I can share projects with you. (YET)
 
I’ve got a ton of party related items coming to you very soon—
including a GIVEAWAY…
 
But, today I wanted to update you on what I’ve been up to so far this busy, busy June.
Anniversary Vacation/ Babymoon
The hubby and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary by having a bit of a 
staycation right here in Portland, OR. 
It was FABULOUS! 
We were able to really enjoy ourselves at a nice hotel on the Waterfront, spending the days acting like tourist in our town and eating at fabulous restaurants in the evenings. 
Pot of chocolate with caramel and sea salt at The Melting Pot
Pioneer Square currently has an amazing flower display… yep, that is the world (at least part of it!)
Portland’s Rose Festival has a City Fair every year and this is the first year we’ve attended. Such fun!
Watermelon Gazpacho at Aquariva. Can’t recommend ENOUGH!
Hubby and Me at dinner.
Enjoying a Virgin Bloody Mary at Brunch at Aquariva. YUMMY!
I didn’t think about the blog or my many to-do lists once this past weekend! 
(kind of amazing for me)
I did however take a picture for Stripe Mania.
 
Me in stripes at Pioneer Square
  
Don’t you just love stripes this year!?!
(Part of me is excited that I can wear them and not really care that they make me look wider!)
It was a rejuvenating weekend and I would suggest a good staycation to anyone who is a couple of months away from having a little one. I loved that I didn’t have to spend hours traveling. We spent the whole weekend taking a trip down memory lane and making new memories. Such a special time!

What have you been up to so far in June?
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Cleaning

{Mommy Monday} Outdoor Cleaning Superstar

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Today I’ve got some more great tips from Jill
who recently wrote about the amazing cleaning power of Baking Soda.
He is kissing her because she is full of so many AWESOME tips! Photo Credit: Hibben Photography
This week she gives us tips on cleaning up the outdoors space—
Just in time for SUMMER!
Lawn chairs. The must have of any summer, right? Our outdoor furniture takes a beating in the spring storm season, sometimes developing a moldy looking film. I’ve found the best way to get rid of it is a solution of Borax and water. You’ll hear me tout the benefits of Borax on almost any problem, but I’m telling you, it’s great. Borax can be found in the laundry detergent aisle, generally near the powdered detergent. It’s an oldie but a goodie, but I will admit I haven’t used it for laundry yet. A church member suggested it to me at a previous congregation, and it hasn’t failed me yet. You can scrub a little with the wash rag dampened in the Borax solution and then rinse clean with the water hose.
Photo Credit: 20 MuleTeamLaundry

I usually purchase a window cleanser that hooks on to the water hose. To prepare the house for the summer barbecues, I use the window cleanser on all the windows. Then I rinse the bottle several times with fresh water. After that, I mix fresh Borax/water solution in the bottle and pop it back on the water hose. When you make the solution, you’ll want it to be more Borax than water, so maybe a 70/30 solution.

The bottle I got this summer offers a dial that you can select fresh water or cleanser solution, which is perfect! You can use this to clean the kid’s outdoor toys, swing set, vinyl siding, you name it! The swing set has a rubbery plastic tube covering the swing chains, and they are perpetually mildewed. We also get the moldy looking film on the north side of our home. We use the Borax sprayer to wash most of it off. For stubborn spots, you can wipe with a towel or use your household sponge mop for hard to reach areas of the siding.

My last “summer and Borax” tip is for spiders. After the spring storms have passed, spiders come from all over. We shake powder Borax around the foundation of our home, right up next to the house. We repurpose an empty parmesan cheese container just for this project. My daughter made a construction paper label for it, so we are sure not to think it’s a new container of cheese on spaghetti night. This is a great tip that I promise works; tips from older church ladies always work. Almost always.  We had those Daddy long legs things, the little spiders that look like a ball with whisper thin legs, when our daughter was little. The church member suggested this, and they were gone within the month.

(P.S. Check out 20 Mule Team Laundry‘s website for more Borax cleaning tips!)
Thank you Jill for more great tips!  She is certainly helping me prepare for life with the soon-to-be kiddo!
 
Do you have any outdoor cleaning tricks that you use? 
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