What do you need for a Kentucky Derby Party?

The Kentucky Derby is the most famous horse race and is held the first Saturday of May every year at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is often referred to as the "most exciting two minutes in sports".
The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first over all other stakes races in North America. But the Kentucky Derby isn’t just about a horse race, it’s also a good excuse for racing fans to gather together at elaborate parties that are held annually in Louisville a few weeks prior to, and on the day of the actual race. And the best news is, you don’t have to live in Kentucky or even place a bet to celebrate this event, wherever you live!

My husband and I went the year Barbero won and my hat even made it onto the race track on the head of a sports photographer.

So what do you need for a great Derby Party?
  • Big Screen TV to watch the pre-race events and the actual Run for the Roses.
  • Fun décor associated with the Kentucky Derby
  • Traditional Southern Food and Drink
  • Fun friends
You can read our complete Kentucky Derby Party Ideas article, plus we've got recipes for Mint Juleps and other Southern Fare, decorating tips, entertaining ideas and more.

Astound your guests with your knowledge of who won every race back to 1875? We've got a list of all the winners, but here's a short list of the winners back to 2000 that should be easy to memorize before your guests arrive.


The Tyranny of E-Mail

How many times have you checked your email today? When you got up? Before you went to work? While driving to work? Every ten minutes at work? How many messages did you have to wade through to get to the good stuff? John Freeman's "The Tyranny of E-Mail" is a real wake up call.

Email fragments our days, fractures our concentration, diverts us from face-to-face encounters. And in the case of our business - custom printed invitations and personal stationery to be sent by snail mail, email just lacks the personal touch a handwritten note to a friend or loved one conveys. Take some time, jot some notes instead of a quick line by email and who knows, it just might become a habit you and your friends will enjoy sending as well as receiving.






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Can you throw out 50 things to change your life?

Gail Blanke is a word-class motivator whose vision is to empower men and women to live truly exceptional lives.


Find more videos like this on Throw Out Fifty Things


You'll love her book "Throw Out Fifty Things, Clear the Clutter, Find your Life."

So what do you toss? Blanke answers this question by giving you the “rules of disengagement.’’

They are:
■ Rule 1. If the item, memory, job, or even person is weighing you down, get rid of it.
■ Rule 2. If the thing is not contributing something positive, let it go.
■ Rule 3. If it takes you a long time to decide whether something needs to be tossed, throw it out.
■ Rule 4. If you’re afraid to throw out something, get rid of the fear.

Can you find 50 things? I started my spring cleaning at home with my Master Bedroom and can't figure out how all that stuff got there since last spring. Using Gail's idea of writing down what you've tossed, so far, I've managed:
  1. All old magazines - there had to be 50, but unfortunately, Gail only lets us count all of them as one object.
  2. Cleared out all the stuff under the bed, mostly books, free weights and exercise bands (bad feng shui for anything to be under your bed, but that's for another article).
  3. Tossed all the old articles I had ripped out of the magazines and stuffed in a drawer in my nightstand that were of great workouts, health tips I couldn't live without, recipes - I never looked at them in the past year, so out they went.
  4. Then I moved to my antique desk/secretary/display cabinet and tossed out more articles I had saved and moved mementos of my father to their own space in a small antique trunk.
  5. Tossed old football season passes.
  6. Tossed old folder of decorating ideas that were from the first time we decorated our house.
  7. Tossed out old receipts.
  8. Tossed out empty ipod box and directions - I'll let my son teach me what I don't know.
  9. Tossed out old candles that their color had started to change (no idea how old they were and why they were in my desk!)

And I have to say, throwing out 50 things is much harder than it seemed when I first started. Now that I'm on a roll, I think I'll move on to the chest in the bedroom and the various size clothes we have to have for skinny days, fat days and that extra size either way. Or maybe I'll wait until next spring to tackle the clothes project!


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If it's hard...

"If it's hard, there's something you're missing." I have this note scribbled on a purple sticky note and posted to the side of my computer monitor. I glance at it frequently during the day for inspiration, for reassurance, for realizing everything is as it should be.

If it's hard, maybe I'm missing the knowledge to make it easy.
If it's hard, maybe I'm supposed to delegate the task.
If it's hard, maybe I'm not supposed to be doing that task now.
If it's hard, maybe I need to take a deep breath and try again.
If it's hard, maybe I'm supposed to take a giant leap out of my comfort zone.
If it's hard, just do it anyway.
If it's hard, maybe the rewards will be twice as sweet.

What if it's true that you make your own reality and that your thoughts became the things and events of your life? What would you do differently in the next five minutes? In the next five days?

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