I hosted my first Bunco Party in my 20's and loved it!

Hello lovely humans! 

So this week's post will be about something honestly I never thought I would be getting myself into....and that is, the experience of joining my Mom's Bunco league. Now for anyone not familiar with what Bunco is, I'll explain briefly because it's really quite simple. It's a dice game where you roll three dice, and rotate between 3 different tables, and it's really very simple and doesn't involve much intense concentration. Now I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow Kelly, that was a quite underwhelming example. Why am I reading this?" However, the reason for this is because Bunco isn't just a game, but actually a bit more of a social event. My mom has been on the league with these women since I was a child, and I always remember whenever she would host Bunco at our house, it was almost like having a mini party. It really is a cute and fun activity, and since I reached around age 16 or 17, I started occasionally playing the game as a substitute in place of any of the women who couldn't make it. I always enjoyed myself despite the fact that most of the women on the league were my mom's age or older, and finally after subbing another time last month, I decided to join officially. So this past Tuesday was my first time ever hosting my own Bunco! I want to share some things that the experience has taught me, but also just make this "Bunco themed" post because I had a great time and want to savor and share the memories! So here are the highlights of my first Bunco party.

I got creative. I LOVE planning parties, so I had to decide on a theme. 

I especially love themed parties. Since my first Bunco would be for the month of July, I decided to go with a patriotic "4th of July" theme. Now I know it is nowhere near July 4th, but I wanted to do something summer-y (is that a word? Maybe?) but also festive and appropriate for a party so hence the theme was born! So I decided to plan all of the food and drinks under this theme, as well as plates and utensils. If it is your month to host Bunco at your house, it is up to the hostess to provide food and drinks, and usually some kind of a dessert (more on all of those later). But of course, as some of you may know I'm in general a pretty festive person, I like to go all out sometimes, so naturally I wore this rather loud and some may argue obnoxious but I think it's adorable and super comfy, star dress from none other than Target (come on they seriously have the cutest stuff sometimes!)

And yes....I also did matching blue eye make up. I'm a nerd, I know, I know. But this make-up is so fun. It's from the Unicorn Glow line put out by Wet n Wild (the eye shadow is "Unicorn Wishes" and the highlighter is "Unicorn Glow", which I purchased as a birthday gift for myself because, unicorns, obviously. )Anyway, I will continue with the Bunco experience, but if any of you are interested I'll post the link here for the make up kit. The eye shadows are super sparkly, almost like actual diamonds on your face it's insane, and I've been obsessed with the highlighters. Anyway, moving on, stop gushing over cute and pretty things as always Kelly, proceed.

Unicorn Glow Line

I learned a lot about being responsible for satisfying guests. 

So naturally, I had to come up with food and drinks to serve. The hostess usually provides anything from small appetizers to actual cooked meals, and sometimes even just casual chips and snack foods. I wanted to stay within my patriotic theme, but also cook some original things as well since cooking is something I love and feel passionate about. My original hummus recipes are my favorite things to make, so clearly a hummus was on the menu, and also my stuffed mushrooms are usually a pretty big hit at parties. So naturally those two appetizers were my immediate ideas. However, as someone who is big into vegetables and occasional fish (I'm a Pescetarian but basically I might as well be Vegetarian), I do realize that not everyone is down with all the veggies. So this challenged me to think outside of the box, because my job as a hostess was to make sure the women had a nice time and a variety of options to choose from. So going along with my July theme, I thought of doing pigs in a blanket, because 4th of July, grilling, yeah. You know what I'm getting at. Also, as one last appetizer, I figured I would ask my Dad if he wouldn't mind helping out and making his famous "Texas Salsa". This stuff, which my sister and I have been eating every summer for years....is basically addicting. It's also bright and summery (that is now a word, I've decided) and fresh, so it fit into the theme perfectly! It was the biggest hit out of the appetizers. I wasn't surprised. If anything, I learned that even though I have specific tastes, not everyone's is the same as mine, and that's okay! The goal was to make others happy, and I pulled that off. Hey, they did like my mushrooms too though!

Pina Coladas are pretty popular...

Now drink wise, my Mom actually, and I give her full credit for this, came up with the cutest idea ever. Since I mentioned the July 4th theme, she came up with the drink idea of making Pina Coladas, but garnished with freshly cut strawberries and blueberries, which in my opinion is extremely summer themed. (And color wise...fits the theme as well. I wonder why...hm....yeah it's obvious moving on.) But they were a HUGE hit, and ended up making the party a lot more fun for the ladies. I myself don't really enjoy hard liquor anymore to be honest, it's not my thing. But I enjoyed serving it for sure. For anyone who is curious, the recipe is super easy:

Kelly's "4th of July" Pina Colada (That name sucked. Wow, not good at drink names.) 

one shot of Malibu Rum

one shot of White Rum (We used Captain Morgan.) 

5 oz of Pina Colada mix 

16 oz of ice

Blend it up, and then pour, and garnish with thinly sliced strawberries and just some blueberries you can sprinkle on top. It was a super fun and cute drink to make, and I will not lie and say I wasn't even mildly entertained by how much fun everyone was having.... if you know what I mean. (It was more than mildly.) Thanks, Mom.

I stayed true to "me" but also kept my mind on everyone else. 

Now when I said above in this article that I love planning parties...I do! But, I haven't really planned entire parties, (besides my graduation party, which I planned decor and food wise voluntarily everyone, trust me it was my choice), until this one. The pressure did feel also slightly on, because these women have been hosting these parties and playing this game for over 25 years. I'm serious, that's what they said. Twenty. Five. Years. Now I had a small feeling that they would go slightly easy on me since I am my mother's daughter and also since they knew that it would be my first Bunco. But one of the biggest events of Bunco, is the prizes at the end of the night. Yes, that is correct lovely humans, there are PRIZES. (Don't you all want to play Bunco with your mom and her friends now? Probably not, ANYWAY), it was up to me to choose first prize, second, prize, travelers, most wins, etc. I won't go into detail about what each of the prizes mean because that isn't the point of this post honestly, it's more about the experience and not the rules behind Bunco. But regardless, I was given a list, a certain budget, (That is the Bunco leagues' budget, so it's basically leant to the hostess and then  returned), and a number of gifts to find for the prices on the list. Now these prices aren't insane. First prize is anywhere from $15-$20, so I'm sure you are catching on that these prizes are in the "cute, little fun things" category. That category happens to be right up my alley. I have never typed this sentence before, but there is a first time for everything I guess..... I went HAM at the Hallmark store. Yeah. I literally found everything I needed there. It worked out perfectly. In choosing the gifts though, I stayed true aesthetically to what I found appealing and also useful and cute, but I also kept in mind the women's possible reactions as well. So the gifts ended up being very "Kelly" but also very "Anyone else!" Which is the point. I think it's very important to stay true to who you are and not change for anyone. However, if you are doing something for the benefit of others though, you have to expand your mind and imagination a little bit, and that was something new that I learned. 

Also, yeah look at this final presentation of the gifts. I mean come on now. I was proud of myself guys. (Also, okay we aren't all super heroes here and can't see through the bags so I'll just tell you guys right now what was in them because...I mean I don't know if I was reading this and I just read that entire paragraph about the importance of picking out gifts for Bunco, I would want to know too.) 

The best prize was a beautifully hand-painted wine glass, then were two really cute summer themed bowls with cute pictures on them of orange peels and peaches, then a really nice ocean scented flicker candle with a seashell decoration hanging off of it, these cute pineapple wine glass toppers in rainbow colors and a Starbucks gift-card.

Anyway, 

It was super fun watching everyone open up their gifts all of the ladies loved them and my Mom actually ended up winning the Starbucks gift card which each day I am tempted to steal. Just kidding. 

Usually at the end of Bunco, the women tally up who won what prize in each category, and then they all eat dessert and drink coffee and chat. I'm more of a "cook" than a "baker" so my mom actually ended up making this Pineapple Upside Down Cake that she used to make for every Bunco in the past. That was kind of nostalgic for me honestly, because it's definitely been awhile and it brought back memories. 

I did this to bond more with my Mom, and also surprisingly everyone else! 

To recap this whole experience, the biggest thing I learned from hosting my first Bunco party, was that I shouldn't have felt even slightly hesitant for getting involved at all. My mom has been playing in this League for years, since I was a little kid, and now that I'm an adult and I can enjoy the same kind of experience and also I've grown to love cooking and party planning and just in general giving people things to make them happy, I shouldn't have felt weird about joining and being the youngest one. I was surrounded by friends and loved ones, because I brought in some "substitute" players of my own, and over all it was an awesome night and everyone had a great time. But most of all, I know my Mom is so happy that I joined. This is something that I can enjoy with her, and it's an activity we can enjoy once a month together as mother an daughter. Yeah, it's kind of corny, and yeah, as of right now I am the only person on the league in her 20's, but do I care? Not really! Not anymore. Because it was a fun, silly, heart-warming and over all cool experience. That's right guys, I said it, "cool". Bunco is cool. 

Stay Lovely, 

Kelly 

:)