Have you ever been to a Paint Nite?! Let me tell you – they’re such a unique, fun, and crafty night out! I had heard about them before but never had the opportunity to attend one. Until my friend Chelsey invited me to one tonight! It was hosted at the Cheesecake Cafe, which is an adorable little restaurant in my town. It was so much fun. This also happens to be the first time I’ve painted on a canvas – annnnd it checks off an item on my 25×26 list – yes!

If you’ve never heard of Paint Nite before, essentially you show up (and by show up, I mean pre-book on their website) at the location that’s hosting it, you can grab a glass of wine and then you get to paint a painting! They provide the canvas, paint, brushes, all the supplies you need, and a sample painting that you’re going to paint your own version of.

One of my favourite parts of the night is that it’s such a fun way to sit down with some girlfriends and just chat! Don’t get me wrong – coffee and shopping and movie nights and such are fun, but there’s something so great about just sitting down and painting and getting some good quality girl talk in.

If that’s not enough to entice you, you also get to wear these super cool aprons! Even with an apron I still got paint on my sleeve. Oops!

Since going to France, I’ve been a huge fan of wine. Chelsey got a nice blush Zinfindel, and I had a glass Malbec from Argentina. I love how the girl leading the paint night talked us through the different layers of the painting. It was so cool to see it start out as just a blue ombre. Both Chelsey and I put the top dark blue on and said “Oh my goodness, it looks so dark!” but it dried so nice!

I got a little carried away with the swirls on my clouds. I had just the right amount of next to no paint on my brush so it was going on so nicely!

Check ’em ouuut! I think we did an exceptional job and we both added our own little flare. I snuck in some little birdies and made my clouds all whispy, and Chels added in the greatest moon! Love, love, love it!

Overall, Paint Nite was a huge success! It’s definitely something I’d like to do every month or at least bi-monthly. If you’ve been considering attending one, I highly recommend you get your butt out there!

And, seeing as I had never been to the Cheesecake Cafe before, and we got to the restaurant early and ordered some food, this totally counts as one of the five new restaurants I have to try for my 25×26 list. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip with baked pita chips, some boneless ribs that were topped with crunchy onions and paired with a honey mustard sauce, and a Tuscan Flatbread that had some spices and cheese on it. All of the appys were pretty tasty. I’d definitely head back and order an entrée – I have a sneaky suspicion it would be quite good.

Have you ever been to a Paint Nite? I’d love to see your creations!