Oh What A Night!

Last week, I shared my shopping and planning post for the first party of the season, which happened to be a gathering of friends to celebrate my bestie’s 40th birthday! Real Canadian Superstore is known not only for the freshest food (many items made right in store the same day you’re shopping for them) but also high quality food and home items at low prices, giving consumers the best value for their dollar spent. It was my destination for my party planning and they not only didn’t let me down, they blew my expectations out of the water!

We picked a color theme (royal blue and silver), the party decor (lots of balloons and decorations), party gifts for the attendees (rum cake in gift boxes) and of course all the food! The day had arrived and it was time to prep for all the guests.

Decor was the easy part – as there’s always balloons and other party decor available at Real Canadian Superstore! The food was the biggest task but I opted for the many party-friendly appetizers and other food available, reducing my prep time greatly!

A pro-tip from my hostess-sister, use kale on any tray or dish to dress it up! The silver tray and bowl that the veggies are in were purchased from The Real Canadian Superstore as well and just a touch of leafy green kale added a little bit of a bow-tie on the dish don’t you think? When you shop at Real Canadian Superstore, regardless if you’re purchasing a fruit or vegetable tray or building one from scratch, you can feel confident knowing you’re getting the freshest food at the best price. I’m so used to looking at dates on items to be sure it’s not past the date at other stores, but it’s almost silly to do so here because they, quite literally, have made the fruit and vegetable trays on the same day I’m shopping many times.

Here’s another angle so you can see how easy it is to dress up a plate or platter. The Hammered Chip & Dip Trays that the fruit and veggies are in are just $13.99 each, stack inside each other easily, and will be used again and again. Of course, you can always serve items in the packaging they come in, like the Mexican Dip on the left (no way was I going to attempt to transfer that one neatly into another dish!)

“Chips & Dip” is a component of any party or celebration whether you’re four or forty so we had plenty on hand for this event too. Rather than the usual cola, it’s fun to switch things up with ginger ale in cranberry or regular flavour (at 0.97 each for a 2L bottle you really can’t go wrong!)

Salsa, queso and more also make delicious dips ensuring that everyone in attendance has something they like. That Mexican Dip was scooped up fast!

We also had a lovely spread (excuse the pun) of crackers, cheese,  jams, dips and other nibbles on the kitchen island so guests could sit and visit and nibble at their leisure.

Look for the President’s Choice Artichoke & Asiago Dip for $2.00 this week! This is another time I could have placed these dips in another bowl, but since several people ended up asking me where to get them anyway, this was much easier to explain!

Beyond the soda, we also had wine and other tasty grown-up beverages and since Caesars are a favourite of the birthday girl and myself, I made sure to pick up everything we needed from Real Canadian Superstore for a Caesar Bar as well! Cucumbers, celery, olives, garlic, pickles, beans and limes ensure that you essentially get a salad in your drink and that’s important for good health at forty don’t you think?

Hot appetizers included a Buffalo Chicken Dip, Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos (click links for recipes) and super easy appetizers thanks to the President’s Choice Asian Hors D’Oeuvre Collection I purchased (just $13.00) and popped in the oven while our guests visited.

As day moved into night, the gifts were opened for the birthday girl one-by-one and as the clock ticked on people retired for the evening, but not before being gifted a party favour like all good birthday party hosts have.

You know how our kids come home from parties with little bags of treats? We thought, why shouldn’t the grown-ups at this  birthday party go home with a treat as well? We found these perfect President’s Choice Take Out Boxes, and ribbon (which we fastened into bows) at Real Canadian Superstore too! Inside – homemade rum cake!

The clock struck midnight, and truth be told we did have a bit of a Cinderella issue too as the birthday girl went home with the wrong shoes, so it really is a fairy tale birthday after all. Everyone was happy, well fed, and with a head and heart full of stories from the day we had. We don’t have them often enough, which is perhaps why they’re all the more cherished when they do happen.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Real Canadian Superstore. All opinions and witty commentary are, as always, my own.