An Outdoor Picnic...

Getting together with old friends is so much fun.  Especially when you mix in a beautiful day, an outdoor picnic, and awesome food.  The most expensive part was the food.  Everything else came from my house and garage sales.  Don't you love that something this beautiful can be done for so little?

I've wanted to put together a portfolio for event planning for awhile now, so this weekend provided an amazing opportunity.  I even got to hand out some cards to a curious jogger who spotted us. 

We enjoyed a tart made with carmelized onions, tomatoes, and the best crust I've had in a long time. 

We paired it with a pesto barley salad, and an awesome mixture of corn, black beans, and cilantro. 

I will post recipes later this week!  All of our food was made by Sarah, who also designed my blog cards.  She has been my best friend since 5th grade. 

I got these chairs off of craigslist (and from a friend!  Upon arriving to pick them up, I found out it was a gal that had a yard sale I went to earlier this year.  She's a total sweetheart!) and they are actually from a cafe in Paris.  It makes them all the more special. 

Styling the picnic was easy, as I just took a few things from my house, strapped my kitchen table in the back and headed out.  Sarah's mom had some amazing vintage tablecloths that we used as well!

I have to credit my friend Kasey for the amazing Sangria recipe she posted about a few months back.  We made and enjoyed it all day long.  It was great in the heat, and had us giggling pretty fast....

Just spotted a bug in the sangria...nice...we drank it all.

This is my flea market find from a couple weeks ago.  Its beautiful.  No wiring, loose, broken in parts, but plenty of room for candles, and overall posing for pictures.  Its now residing in my bedroom. 

This is Jill.  She moved away in 6th grade, but we've kept in touch over the years.  Her family used to live across the dam from mine, and her dad worked for the dam, so when we wanted to get together, he'd open up and we'd just walk right across instead of driving like 20 extra miles.  So awesome.  She just completed Ironman, and for those of you who don't know what it is, its a triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26 mile run.  Without a break.  What a rockstar! 

I kind of went overboard on the parasol pictures as you will see later on...but they all turn out so cute!  That parasol is amazing. 

This is Rory.  I only knew her for about a year before she moved at the  beginning of 6th grade, but we had a ton of fun together.  She is so beautiful!  She has an amazingly cute little boy named Baron (love the name) and they live in Calgary, AB.  We found out it's only like 4 hours from Kalispell so....more road trips will be happening in the future!!

Found my straws on Etsy.  Cheap and SO adorable.  There are several different colors to choose from.

Beautiful picture of Sarah.  We have been through so many awesome things together since 5th grade.  I honestly don't think I know a cooler person than her.  I wish we were closer...she's in Portland which isn't an extremely long drive but life always seems to find reasons to not let me go there hehe. 

 I'll remember this weekend forever.  A super fun time with friends who can just pick up right where they left off.  Well, except for the fact that we're not playing with barbies anymore.  We're playing with lace parasols and broken chandeliers...and sangria.