Our New Outdoor Living Space + An Impromptu Dinner Party

You guys....I'm probably going to get some hate for this, but I have to admit - summer is not my favorite season. I'm really more of a winter girl. The summer gets freaking HOT in the Bay Area, and I'm really not a fan of anything above 80 degrees. With that being said, though I *do* love summer nights. We entertain all throughout the season with lots of backyard barbecues and potlucks, and love hosting Fourth of July for family and friends.  In the back corner of our yard we have a little raised gazebo and quite frankly the area was looking sad, drab and ignored. It needed some color STAT! (I should have taken a before picture, but trust me - it was looking ugly!) Fortunately, Cost Plus World Market is only a few minutes away and has a TON of great items to bring lots of color to our backyard.

Just the other day, the fam and I headed to Cost Plus to check out all of the goods. Tony and I did have a little bit of a fight over what theme to go the gazebo - Rio, Bali, Americana?? Too many fabulous options, but in the end we went with a lot of items from the Rio collection. 

We picked up pillows, lights, a fabulous outdoor rug (for only $20!!), plates, wine, (and a bunch of other fabulous things that we didn't need!)

The damage...

As soon as we got home we set it all up.

I really love how it came together, and gave our sad gazebo, and beaten up furniture some new life. Tony and I were loving it so much that we decided to throw a little dinner party at the last minute to show it off.

We kept it really simple, since it was so last minute. Sliders, mini sausages and chips + salsa for dessert, and a simple taco salad for dinner.

 Pretty drinks that I make just about every other day (raspberry pineapple water, blackberry lime water, mint limeade)

And old school ice cream treats from Target for dessert.

Voila. Dinner party thrown together in under an hour.

Speaking of Cost Plus, they are having an amazing promotion right now - when you spend $20 you'll get a coupon for 15% off a Southwest flight, now through July 13. Plus, they're having a fabulous sweepstakes right now, where you can win a trip to ANYWHERE Southwest flies, hotel accomodations  or a $500 World Market gift card (they're giving away four trips every week, people!!) Enter on their Facebook page!

You can find Cost Plus World Market here:

SHOP  *  FACEBOOK (don't forget to enter the sweepstakes!)  *  TWITTER

Random question, but if you shop at Cost Plus World Market, what do you call it? I've always called it Cost Plus, but have a good friend who calls it World Market. Then there's those people who call it Cost Plus World Market. Let's discuss.....

This shop has been compensated by Cost Plus World Market, but all opinions and extreme love for their products are my own. Seriously, have you been there?? It's amazing!

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