AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
OK, confession: I don’t love Thanksgiving like I know a lot of people do. It’s cool, but I love Christmas, and I’m really happy that I can now fully dive in to the season..
Here are a few gatherings I threw last year. Maybe a few will be happening again…
I’ve had a few reasons for my blog hiatus.. Chief among them is that I find that your stereotypical blogger blogs for the sole purpose of tooting her own horn and making other women feel insecure about her style/party planning skills/child rearing/hair color.
Another reason is that I’ve actually taken my writing to a whole new level, and am writing on the Truth and Charity Forum. I often just assume that my it’s only my friends and family reading it, so I was surprised to be asked to be a interviewed on Sirius XM’s Catholic Radio on Halloween. So I’m pretty much famous now. Because, you know, everyone listens to Catholic Radio.
Back to blogging. If you do feel insecure when you read blogs, I have two words for you:
Pinterest.
Dollar Tree.
I hosted three, yes, three parties in the past week, and am still recovering from the pure exhaustion. I’m not entirely sure why I thought it would be a good idea to crunch them all together, but, alas, I did. They were fun. They were beautiful. I need a nap just thinking about it. Oh, and I only took pictures at two of the parties, so you’ll have to use your imagination for the third.
1) Junior League of Washington‘s Langley Committee Christmas party: last Tuesday.
My Junior League committee volunteers with special citizens every Tuesday evening. A few times a year, just the JLW committee members get together for a little social time. Last week was the Christmas party and scarf exchange (white elephant-style. It was fabulous).
Olivia, my fabulous co-hostess and co-social chair, and I whipped up this little beauty in very little time. How? I completely procrastinated. Last Monday, some friends went out to dinner following our weekly School of Community. I told myself ahead of time that I wasn’t going to join them, but since I am a severe victim of FOMO, I couldn’t resist the invitation.
So, I went to bed on Monday night with literally nothing done for the party, which was on Tuesday night.
Solution?
1) Go to work.
2) On break, Pinterest search “no bake no cook appetizers.” Find: cream cheese+pepper jelly+crackers and caprese skewers
3) On lunch, go to the grocery store.
4) Frantically send out an email to the committee members, casually requesting “snacks to share”
5) Pray that people bring stuff.
6) Welcome students in to your office who are there to take tests.
7) While proctoring, skewer the tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese. When middle schoolers mention that it smells like their mom’s kitchen, remind them that smelling basil makes them focus better.
8) Realize that you forgot your platters at home. Cuss. Text your roommate, requesting that she bring them to you work. She can’t because she has a life.
9) After work, in a widely optimistic gesture, go to your local thrift shop looking for platters, not expecting anything.
10) WHAT?! They have some? JACKPOT!
11) $9 for all three, baby!!
12) Make Santa Solo cups.
13) Fluff your hair, re-apply under-eye concealer, and make it look effortless.
Ta daaaa!
Pretty ladies, sporting new scarves from the scarf exchange 🙂
2) Cookie exchange.
This is just one of those female things that everyone needs to do at some point in her life. I feel like these are best planned in pairs. So, when I was thinking about who to ask to co-hostess, my very first thought was my dear friend, Anna… She’s a fellow domestic, isn’t gluten-free, and is so so soooo creative. We started the planning process weeks ago. When I found a cute idea on Pinterest, I would email it to her. We took a trip to Ikea. We loved every moment in our planning process. So fun.
Don’t you love the Yule Log on the TV? I bet you thought it was a real fire, huh?
A few little details:
1) Strawberry, chocolate, and regular milk are very aesthetically pleasing and were a huge hit.. That’s a picture of my Mama. Wasn’t she gorgeous?
2) We didn’t take pictures of our to-go containers, but we found them at the Dollar Tree.. They were large tupperware-style containers, that I, for one, will totally use again. Each guest was able to take home four of each kind of cookie.. Such a fun variety!
3) Why not make it a little contest? Each guest voted. See the winners of Best Looking and Best Tasting cookies. Stay tuned and maybe you’ll see the winners’ recipes here soon.
4) Who doesn’t love party favors? Anna made these (pictured) gorgeous mugs (99 cents, baby!) using an oil-based Sharpie, her oven, and pure talent. Tied to each mug was a cookie cutter, and inside was a bag of hot chocolate.
5) Offer some savory snacks, but don’t overdo it. The party was from 3:00-6:00, so people had just eaten lunch. We had arancini, phillo with bree and cranberry (frozen from Trader Joes), spinach dip and devilled eggs, and it was way more than enough.
My fabulous co-hostess and cookies.. Lots and lots of cookies.
3) Roommate’s birthday party.
December birthdays are an interesting thing.. My birthday is tomorrow and my roomie’s birthday is on Wednesday. Being fellow December birthdays, we know how easily our day gets forgotten, so we’ve made an effort to make each other’s birthdays special each year.
So, yesterday, some of her friends came over, and I made a low-key lunch for them. On the menu was:
– Tortilla Soup (yum)
– Taco salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (best dressing.. OMG)
– Gluten Free Cornbread (thanks to Caroline)
– Cookies from the cookie exchange.
Birthday girl wanted a scarf exchange and a tea exchange. So, we did a scarf exchange (any idea where she got the idea?), and each girl was to bring a box of her favorite tea. At the conclusion of the party, each girl went home with a bag of assorted teas from each guest.
Happy (early) Birthday, Christina!
Finally, a little glimpse at the Advent wreath I made..
Happy Monday, blog babes! Hope you had a great weekend!