At the end of the school year I decided to create a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish before school starts again. One of the things I wanted to do was host my first event. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but kept putting off. After some inspiration from Erika of Black Girls Who Brunch (check out her blog if you haven't already it's awesome) I decided to step out on faith and go for it.

Whenever I have a party or an event I try to leave my guests with something to take home. This event was no exception. A huge thanks goes out to Whole Foods for donating bags full of goodies for each guest, and a special thanks to Maria of Whole Foods for putting the bags together for me. The bags were filled with things like sparkling italian water, dark chocolate candy bars (I love dark chocolate so I was very excited about that), kind bars, snack crackers, bath bombs (again very excited since I've been wanting to try those) and discounts on future purchases at Whole Foods. Arctic Zero made sure that all guests were able to try their selection of vegan friendly ice creams in a variety of flavors. A quick tip for enjoying Arctic Zero at its best is to let it sit for about 20 minutes to soften. In addition to those items I also gave each guest a wine glass with a mini bottle of wine or a mug with a can of beer. It's a paint party, so you've got to have a little something to get those creative juices flowing.

If it's a Brandi's "Foodie" Diary event, then of course the food has to be on point. For starters I wanted to have a signature drink, so I headed to a local beverage store and picked up a few things to whip one up. Perhaps I'll share the exact recipe one day. Hmm..... Thank you to my friend Dhyana for putting it together for me while I was running around getting everything together.

A huge thank you goes out to Coach from The Coaches Box. He came through for me in a major way when I had to do a last minute menu change. A lot of my guests had actually tried Coaches burgers, which he's famous for. For the party I opted for platters of original, beer battered and cajun wings along with the Coaches Club (traditional style and all turkey style). Those who had tried his burgers were excited to see that his wings and even sandwiches were just as good. The platters came with his signature, perfectly seasoned, crinkle cut fries. The highlight of every meal to me is dessert and Chef Angelo did not leave us disappointed. My guests were able to enjoy his Oreo, Strawberry and the crowd favorite Peach Cobbler cupcakes. I was low key jealous when after everyone was searching for another peach cobbler cupcake, one of my guests revealed that she had taken and hidden one lol. I lived vicariously through her as she enjoyed it.

A few months ago at another event I met Derrick of Let's Paint with Kinfolk and knew from his energy that I wanted to work with him in some way in the future. His venue was definitely a great choice. He may have potential as a DJ on the side because his musical selections were on point and kept the crowd upbeat the whole time. I love that unlike other classes, you're able to select the picture you want to paint. If you have an idea in mind, similar to his style, you can let him know and he will make it happen. There are a variety of pictures that are great for kids, men, women and couples. It doesn't matter what your artistic level is. you will leave with an amazing picture that you'll want to put on display in your home.

Some of our pictures were still in progress, but I wanted to grab a quick group photo.

At the end of the night lots of laughs and fun took place, so I'd say my first event was a success. I'm glad that I did it. Now I'm in the process of planning my next event. Stay tuned....