It’s all about love this Valentine’s weekend and I wanted to do something special for my husband. We’re being especially frugal this year (saving for a home of our own) so there won’t be any lavish nights or holidays to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. But that doesn’t mean it will pass by unnoticed. Instead, I’ve made my own Valentine’s card for him (see my easy card-making DIY post here) and I created a memories box packed full of photos last week (see the making-of video here). I still wanted to celebrate the occasion so I surprised him with an “I Heart NY” party!
I wanted it to be a ‘big’ night in without spending a fortune so I decided that the best way to surprise hubby was to bring a party into our living room and get everything ready while he was at work this Friday. I put up USA flag bunting and a string of light-bulb fairy lights, then sprinkled red-white-and-blue star confetti everywhere. New York is somewhere that my husband and I have always wanted to travel to but have never found the spare cash to be able to go yet, so I thought it would be the perfect Valentine’s treat to bring The Big Apple to him instead. Plus, there’s hearts involved (okay, an I Heart NY t-shirts to be exact!) so that make’s it romantic too.
I gathered together all our favourite films set in New York, such as You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally and, of course, all the Sex and the City films. I wonder if I could have got away with putting on the SATC box set?? On the TV is Sleepless in Seattle, when the Empire State Building lights up with a red heart on Valentine’s Day. What a moment! All I needed was a big tub of popcorn and some US candy bars (oh yes, those are pretzel M&Ms, hurrah!) and we were all set to enjoy a romantic film night.
This would also be a great night-in with the girls, especially with all the chick-flick movies I’ve got lined up! So consider throwing an “I Heart NY” party for your friend’s hen party or birthday too! And don’t forget it’s “Galentine’s Day” tomorrow too! Check out my blog post about hosting a Galentine’s party for your besties, plus some delicious flavoured hot-chocolate recipes.
In terms of eats, I cooked up a fresh baguette and hotdogs, smothered with plenty of mustard and ketchup, with fries on the side. I found some red and blue striped straws in my vast collection of paper straws and filled up American flag cups with rola cola and ice. Just a couple more accessories and I was ready for hubby to come home and enjoy our “I Heart NY” party.
This party was inspired by Bodyform’s recently launched ‘pink ticket’ giveaway to win a shopping trip to New York (warning, this website contains music!). Yes, the cheeky fold at Bodyform have hidden pink tickets inside packs of towels and if you’re lucky enough to find one of these special tickets, you’ll be heading to New York for the trip of a lifetime. Seeing as this flying to the Big Apple has always been an ambition of mine, I’m hoping and wishing that one of my packs of Bodyform contains a special pink ticket. Fingers crossed!
I’m pleased to report my husband was thoroughly surprised when he came home to this mini party and was especially touched that I’d made it New York-themed. We stuffed our faces with tasty hotdogs and Slimming World chips (yes, that makes up for the hotdog!) and diet coke (so does that!). We took lots of selfies wearing the I Heart NY t-shirt and it didn’t take long before we started pinning travel inspiration on Pinterest to plan a real trip to New Yorl. I just hope we win a trip with Bodyform. That’s it, I’m opening a pack now..!
Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂
2 responses
Sounds like a New York themed party would be ideal for your friend’s hen party Beth! Good luck with it 🙂
I was looking for hen do ideas for my friend who’s really not into the whole drinking and stripper thing, but this looks like it will be right up her street. She loves food and for her honeymoon she’s going to NY!