Good Morning, Darlings.

Hmmmm.  You know things cannot go smoothly all the time.  Yesterday found my little Art Director, Tracy, sick in bed. Without Tracy I would be decorating with construction paper chains and cotton ball snowmen.  I hopped over to Tin Drum and picked her up some pho with the directions to stay in bed until she’s feeling better or Wednesday – whichever comes first. Here’s hoping she will be 100%  soon. Then I came home, let the dogs out and Karen jumped the fence to freedom.  Took about 20 minutes to get her to return. Little minx.

Taruan and I keep missing each other to discuss space planning. But Mondays are tough for everyone and I’m sure we will see each other soon. Oh! I just remembered, I need to send him info on the tuxedo place. Ok, that’s done.

Tami sent an email to let me know that Nigella Lawson would be signing books at Borders in Buckhead on Friday – could I get away? Unfortunately (and that’s a BIG unfortunately….) no. Rats, I would love to meet Nigella. But there’s a party to give. Sacrifices must be made.

Phone calls were as follows:
Lisa and I discussed grocery shopping and cooking together on Thursday. And she is not even able to make it to the party! How sweet is that?
My adorable bff, John, and I discussed the game plan for Saturday and everything we needed to accomplish.
Becky and Tim are darlings and are lending us their stand up heaters for the tent in the back.

Champagne has been picked out and bought. A case split between NV Segura Viudas Champagne and Aria Estate Pinot Noir Brut. I love the Aria for its lovely red tint – it just smacks of Christmas! This was all purchased with the help of wine guru Celine at Hop City. I love those folks. They are so nice, helpful and knowledgeable.

The mantel is decorated with all the gorgeous greenery that Crystal provided – and the lit garland is hung over the doorway in the living room, also courtesy of Crystal. It’s shaping up, Darlings! Crystal gave us her LED battery-powered lights because she didn’t care for them. I know they don’t have the golden warmth of the tree lights, but Eric commented that it looks like moonlight on snow – I agree. They lend another element to the light in the living room. We turned out all the lights last night except for the Christmas lights, and I must say, everyone is going to look like a movie star on Saturday evening.

Highlight of the day brought a delivery – 4 boxes of treats from my dear friend Alison in Santa Monica. Boxes of lovely Walbrzych china from Poland that had belonged to her mother-in-law. It is so pretty and delicate. There were also gold chargers from Italy and beautiful gold flatware. After the party I am going to take each item out and admire it closely, and find a very special perch for it all. Thank you, Alison!!

I cooked a simple dinner of meatloaf, steamed broccoli and leftover mac and cheese for dinner. At around midnight, I fell into bed, ready to do it all again tomorrow.

xoxo, Patti