My First Clothing Swap

Hello there!  My first clothing swap party was a huge success!!  I made out like a bandit, I tell ya!   More on that a bit later. 

I started Saturday getting food and beverages ready for the par-tay!   My mom gave me a recipe for mulled spiced cider that’s always a hit at her gatherings.  I figured it’d be the perfect warm-you-up-while-you-shop drink. 

This recipe is very simple to put together.  If you want a special kick, feel free to add rum!  You better believe we did! 

Mulled Apple Cider (recipe courtesy LV Review Journal)

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon apple cider
• 2 teaspoons whole all spice
• 2 teaspoons whole cloves
• Dash of nutmeg
• 1 6-inch length of cinnamon stick
• 1 whole orange in rind, sliced thin

Directions:

Combine ingredients and heat on high in slow cooker for 2 hours, or simmer, covered, on stovetop, stirring occasionally.  Remove orange slices immediately after 2 hours.  Keep warm on low heat while serving. 

Yep, that’s all!  It was a crowd pleaser for sure.  Here are all the other goodies I put out.

Fruit and crackers..perfect pairing with the cheeses I picked out.

Sandwiches (courtesy of Swanky Mom) with goat cheese, prosciutto, and artichoke hearts.

For dessert, dark chocolate covered espresso beans and cupcakes with peanut butter and chocolate.

I couldn’t resist this pumpkin beer I spotted the other day at World Market.  If you have a store near you, you’ll know how hard it is to NOT buy something there.  Anywho...the beer was excellent!  It had a slight hint of pumpkin.  Yum! 

On to the swap!  There was so much clothing to go through.  The girls really did bring a lot of great stuff! 

So good in fact that things started to get really ugly!

Just kidding!   

Most the girls knew each other (4 of out 5 of us are dietitians) so it was great having girl chat! 

I took this clothing swap very seriously.  Had to look through everything, of course.  No shirt, dress, or accessory overlooked!!

Charlotte also enjoyed the clothing swap. But she enjoyed the boxes the clothes came in, more than the clothes themselves. 

When guests started to head out, my friend and I decided to have an impromptu dance party.  Although no pictures were taken to document this (probably a good thing),  I did get to show her a few of my zumba moves I learned from class.  Here’s one of the dances we learned Friday!!  Warning: You may just start dancing, it’s pretty catchy.

As I said earlier, I really made out!  It was like Christmas came early. 

Just to show you, here are a few of my favorite pieces that I can’t wait to wear.

I love embellished tees so I scooped those right up! 

If you are interested in throwing your own clothing swap party, here is a link of some helpful tips!

Other Swanky Scoop:

A big thank you to Tanya at Dine, Dash, and Deadlift!  I won her giveaway for samples of Eat. Think. Smile products.  Eat. Think. Smile is a newer company that offers a variety of snack and bar items.

I got an assortment of items to try, including granola bars and crispy thins.  As stated on their site, “Crispy Thins are light, tasty whole grain crisps with a satisfying crunch. All are made with our proprietary blend of natural and delicious cocoa.”

I already sampled the Sweet Cinnamon Crispy Thins which were just delicious.  They had a slight sweetness with a hint of cocoa. 

I also liked the stats.  A serving is 46 pieces-for only 120 calories!  That’s what I’m talking about!  Although not too high in fiber, these are definitely a great treat to satisfy any chocolate craving.

I can’t wait to try the other products…especially the red raspberry crispy thins.

I’m off to do some stuff around the house and, later, head to my sister’s for book club.  We are discussing the final book in the Hunger Games series.  I finished it the other day and it was ammmazing!

Thanks for reading!

Have you ever attended a clothing swap? Do you like zumba?  Have you ever sampled Eat. Think. Smile products?

Tagged as: clothing, clothing swap party, eat. think. smile, mulled apple cider, recipe, weekend, zumba