Party Over!

Well, the party is over!

Honestly, it was both a success and a disaster. I baked and baked all week, and had a lot of fun. I ended up leaving 2 planned dishes off of the menu - only because the day of the party the phone started ringing and the cancellations started rolling in. Between delayed flights, illnesses and surprise visits from out of town friends, (not to mention the absolutely horrible weather), the party went from 20 to just a handful. We ended up with 6 people - just not at the same time.

Needless to say, there was more food than necessary. I will admit I was a little sad that all of my careful preparations were pretty much unnecessary. However, I had a great time putting it all together (thanks to a good friend and two bottles of wine the night before!) and have added some of the recipes to my all-time favourites list.

Food aside, we had a great time. I'll admit I started drinking early (read: as soon as the 8th cancellation called), and Ian joined me as soon as he got home from work. It was actually really nice to sit and enjoy an hour just the two of us! Once the guests arrived, we all mingled and ate for awhile. A few had to leave early to go to another commitment, which left us with 5. A perfect number to play Cranium! We had a LOT of fun with that - even if Ian got quite competitive (Ian? Never.) This was my first time playing this, and I thought it was hilarious.

After Cranium we played some Rock Band II, but I didn't get into it as much as usual - Luci decided that she wanted to join in the excitement and refused to go to sleep. So I called it a night and snuggled into bed with Luci... in many ways, it was the perfect end to the evening.

Anyway, I'm not sure that we will host another Christmas party. Everyone is just SO busy at this time of year. I had fun planning it, but with such an unreliable turnout, the cost just isn't worth it.

Here are some pictures of the food... I'm no photographer (honestly, I'm still using my first digital camera, which is about 4 years old this week - and about 4 megapixels) but I'm sure you get the idea.

The menu included:
Vegetable Christmas Tree
Peppermint Merangue Wreaths
Homemade mint fundge
Creme de Menthe Cheesecake
White Chocolate Cranberry Mousse Cake
Devilled Eggs
Rice Krispie Ornaments
Brownie Lollipops
Assorted Chocolates and Candies

The two items I chose not to make were - Christmas Stocking Cake and Garlic Mozza Breadballs.



PS - the veggie tree was my favourite...

Santa, Take 1

We recently attended Ian's EMS Christmas party. It was a little strange, I must admit. First, it was in November (the 30th). Second, it was a balmy 10 degrees that day. Third, the party started at 11am. Yup. I don't know about you, but I am SO ready to party at that hour. Yes, it was a kids party, but still!

Actually, we didn't end up even leaving the house until noon. There was just no way we could get all 3 kids ready to show off (let's be honest) before noon.

The party was ok. I'll admit, I was quite disappointed. The location was terrible (I won't say where we were, but try and guess: I asked Ian if bullet-proof vests would be handed out at the door). The decor was slim to none. There was no Christmas music. Food-wise - boxed cookies, candy canes, and for the main course... Pizza Hut.

Seriously?

For the kids, there was a FANTASTIC face painter (if I'd caught her name, I would have put a nice plug in here for her!), and a bouncy-castle. Oh, and Santa.

I was pretty disappointed. Ian defensively mentioned that the party was planned by a handful of men.

Oh. I see.

I may offer to help out next year.

Anyway - as we were driving home, I got thinking. About all the changes I'd make, how I'd execute them, and what could possibly go wrong. Yup, I pretty much had the spreadsheet done in my head before we got home.

Which made me realize, hey, maybe I should start my own event-planning business? Mount Royal has a diploma in event planning... which I could do, even though I'm confident that I could stumble my way through without it. I wouldn't do corporate events (not to start, anyways), but I could focus on planning kids' parties for busy moms. Retirement parties. Christmas parties!

I would LOVE it.

So, I'm thinking about it. In January I'm taking "Intro to Event Planning" online, and we'll see how I feel after that. This spring, obviously, I have to go back to work, so I'd have to find a way to manage in my spare time. Don't laugh!

Here are some pictures from the party!