It was the Oscar Party that almost didn’t happen.
First, The Academy forgot to check my schedule when they booked their date and it ended up landing on the same weekend we were planning to be out of town for our little family getaway. My friends and I handled this by deciding to TiVo the Oscars, and then have a “fashionably late” Oscar party the following weekend.
Then (while on said family getaway) I realized I forgot to TiVo the Oscars before we left town.
To add to my distress, we were staying at a resort where I had no cell phone reception!
I handled this by wandering the parking lot at 10pm on a freezing Saturday night until I found a spot that gave me the faintest glimmer of one little signal bar, and I called my sister, Brittny, who has a key to our house and was actually in town for the weekend!
Turns out she carpooled to Madison (our city) and couldn’t get a ride to our house to program our TiVo.
Luckily, I was able to get a hold of my friend Jill who graciously broke into our house and saved the day!
Oscar party ON!
On the day of the party we couldn’t find the “red carpet” that I’ve used for all our previous Oscar parties so I had to run to the store and buy a new one at the last minute. You can’t have an Oscar party without a red carpet!
THEN, to top it all off, I was so busy prepping appetizers that I didn’t even hop in the shower until 15 minutes before the party started!
And I hadn’t even picked out what I was going to wear yet!
Thankfully, my friends kept in line with this year’s new “fashionably late” theme and everyone arrived late, giving me just enough time to HAC my face and air dry my hair.
Think this is how Anne Hathaway spent her time leading up Oscars?
Yeah, me too.
Party planning snafus aside, this year’s party was just as much fun as ever!
A little snow isn’t going to get in the way of OUR red carpet arrivals!
Movie theater treats complete with homemade caramel corn, candy buffet, and a customized “OSCARS” vase I made for the occasion!
An assortment of favorite movie theater candy!
Our annual Oscar party is all about the food, and a guest favorite each year are my truffles! This year I mixed it up a little bit and in addition to my usual Oreo truffles I also made peanut butter pretzel truffles and chocolate chip cookie dough truffles:
My truffle tower – always a guest favorite!
Coming off the 2013 Whole Living Challenge, I decided to also include some healthy snack options for our evening, so I made marinated apple slices, and marinated some cucumber slices in vinegar. They were so crisp and refreshing, and tasted great with my Chardonnay!
Some healthy party snack options!
I also made roasted brussel sprouts with a garlic aioli dip – they were a huge hit!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with a Garlic Aioli Dip
The real star of the night, however, were my homemade ham and cheese pretzel bites. This was my first attempt at making them and they turned out GREAT! They were so delicious that they were quickly gobbled up, and it wasn’t even until late into the night when I realized that I had forgotten to set out the side of mustard to dip them in! I’ll definitely be making these little guys again!
Homemade Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bites
It’s my job as a blogger to attention-whore all the things that I made for the party, but let me tell ya – my friends really bring it when it comes to Oscar Night, too! This party has turned into my favorite appetizer party of the year and we had all sorts of good stuff! My friend Beth took the cake when she arrived with $30 worth of gourmet cheeses.
$30 worth of gourmet cheese – we’re big-timing it now!
THIRTY DOLLARS ON CHEESE!!
I couldn’t believe it!
That stuff was so expensive I insisted on eating the rind, too.
We spent most of the evening gathered around the kitchen island, drinking wine and enjoy good food and great conversation:
The hostess with the most-est (chardonnay!)
Of course, our Oscar night wouldn’t be complete without a red carpet walk-off! For those of you who don’t know, I hosted my very first Oscar party four years ago with the firm belief that the stars shouldn’t get to be the only ones to dress up and strut their stuff on Oscar night! Each year since then my girlfriends and I grab whatever dresses we have shoved in the backs of our closets that we never thought we’d wear again (bridesmaid dresses, formal gowns, heck – even wedding gowns!), walk my makeshift “red carpet” and then sit on the couch in our satin and slippers (leggings too, sometimes) to enjoy Hollywood’s most glamorous night!
My friend Beth, sporting this gorgeous black lace dress that she scored on clearance for the occasion – along with her sassy, sparkly emerald heels!
My friend Saz has been cracking us up with this faux fur coat for years – Oscar night is the only time she lets it out of its cage!
My friend Tappa. I think this was an old bridesmaid dress, but I can’t remember for sure! (Too much chardonnay.)
My (pregnant) friend Jill. This was actually a dress she wore to her high school prom! (Lucky for her she wasn’t pregnant the first time she wore it!)
My (pregnant) friend Katie. Those are actually yoga pants she’s pulling off on Oscar night – take THAT, celebrities!
My friend Tiffany getting a second wear out of a bridesmaid dress from a recent wedding she was in.
My friend Erica (also pregnant) went the comfy route this year and looked gorgeous doing it! I dare Angelina to pull off an Old Navy hoodie for her next red carpet event!
My last minute dress decision was this old bridesmaid dress from my sister Apryl’s wedding.
I was keeping a close eye on red carpet poses when I watched the Grammy’s a few weeks ago, and couldn’t help but notice that the stars almost never smile when they’re on the red carpet! Have you noticed this? They just stand there with smug looks on their faces as they scan the crowd thinking, “I’m better than all of you.” I tried doing it myself this year, but it didn’t exactly work out…
Attempting to channel my inner smug celebrity. FAIL.
I don’t know how they do it!
The best red carpet look of the night went to Jill, Tappa, and the leggings they sported underneath their dresses:
Screw Spanx – it’s all about the leggings!
It was another fabulously fun Oscar night, and we all enjoyed the “Fashionable Late” Friday night version of this party so much that we’ve decided to do it this way again next year!
Click on the links below to catch up on all the Oscar fun from previous years!
My First Oscar Party
Oscar Party: 2011
Oscar Party: 2012
This looked like SO much fun!!! Very nice!
Thanks Lateasa!
What a fun tradition!
Thanks Crystal!
You guys are so cute! If I lived near you I would plot and scheme to become friends with the whole gang. Looks like such a fun bunch and I think I’m going to start hosting some kind of ladies’ night in for my girlfriends! Thanks for the great blog : )