Good Morning, Darlings!

Thursday was a flurry of activity. Lisa and I set out early for the grocery store and restaurant supply store for all the food and serviceware. After the grocery store, I was well under budget, but then I got to the restaurant supply store – a wonderful emporium (to the trade only) of mondo boxes of hors d’ouevres, pretty plastic plates and champagne glasses. Ahem….needless to say, I lost my mind in there and went $100 over budget. But it will make everything look so lovely! The grocery store was flat out of puff pasty, so we scrapped the idea of making olive straws and replaced them with a variety box of fancy hors d’ouevres that looked much better than just about anything else I could produce.

Wallet emptied, we returned home for the initial cooking. Lisa poached chicken breasts for the dilled chicken salad sliders while I fried umpteen batches of farfalle (bowtie pasta) that had been previously boiled by Lisa. It turned out well after we mastered the frying time. There are now three huge ziploc bags of crunchy farfalle in my pantry. One appetizer done, three more to conquer.

And the evening brought a delightful surprise – yes, Virginia, there is a Taruan! Yes, our handsome Space Planner was back from the Bahamas and ready to tell me where to put everything (for the party, of course!) It will all be fabulous, but the party is tomorrow and this is what my house looks like.

So now I have a house full of mixers, plastic cups and plates, random table decor and the whole place smells like frying. I’ve got one day to get the house smelling like Christmas.

And it is supposed to rain tomorrow night…

So Eric and I did what anyone who is hosting 70 guests in their house in two days would do. We went out for Jay’s birthday! Taruan told us about a get together for Jay’s birthday in East Atlanta and we really needed a break. I am so glad we went – there were a ton of our neighbors there all celebrating our friend’s big day. It was a great night of food, beverages, Jenga and visiting. Chioke and I discussed party fashions, while Taruan, Jill, Val and I played Jenga. It was exactly what we needed. Happy Birthday Jay!

And as for that frying smell? I figured I would simmer some cinnamon and cloves in a pot of water on the stove. That should help.

And for the guests that have changed their mind and said they couldn’t come? Last night and this morning, we had requests to bring extra friends. So no worries there.

Today I will drizzle melted chocolate on potato chips and make chicken salad.

And try to just breathe.

xoxo, Patti