Thursday, May 8, 2008

party time

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that I gave my kitchen/home a little makeover last fall. Well, not a little makeover but the whole enchilada as they say. New kitchen/bathroom cabinet’s, brought in gas for the new gas stove, new appliances, all new flooring (tile/carpet), every wall & ceiling painted. Of course you can’t put the old furniture back into the beautiful brand new digs, that’s right also bought a new couch, loveseat, end table, leather coffee table ottoman, and dining room set. So, to show all my friends/co-workers the final results of all the construction I’ve gone through I’m finally having a ‘reveal’ party to show it off. Just because I’m having a party doesn’t mean I’m finished decorating my home the way I’d like it but if I wait until that time there will be no party. It is a work in progress. My house isn’t very big (1350 sq. ft.) so I knew I needed to have this little soiree before it gets too hot to not be outside. Of course having it outside means you have to have the yard looking good too. Oh boy. Now that doesn’t mean that my yard is in bad shape but you know all those little projects you’ve wanted to do? Well, now you feel you have to complete those before the party. Stain the deck (which needed to be done a LONG time ago), plant more flowers, prune this, clip that, etc. etc. The one big project that I need to do is paint the outside of my house. I do plan on having this done sometime after the party as the bushes/vines would have to be pruned back severely and right now my Star Jasmine vines and Lady Banks rose are in full bloom and they smell and look gorgeous.

Now that the date has been set and the invitations mailed the pressure is on. Do you hear the clock ticking away, tick tick tick tick. I do, I hear it all day and all night long. I finally decided on the material for my drapes for the bedrooms/office. I took them to the tailors to finish the edges. They are perfect now I just have to hang them. A simple task but it’s just time, time which I’m running out of. What should take me 30 minutes turns into an hour and a half task as you run into a stud and before you know it you’ve stripped the screw (which you now can’t remove, thank goodness it will be covered by the fabric because you don’t have time or the tool to remove the darn thing) and need to search for a screw that’s similar in size to replace it, move to a different spot on the wall and hope that you’ll still have a level valance. Does anyone else go through this or is it just me??

You see, this little party is this Saturday. Yep, I said Saturday. I’ve invited 70-80 people. Of course not all of them will be able to come (hopefully) so I’m hoping for 40-50. I’m no stranger to planning events, Since December of last year I’ve planned 3 events at my church that had anywhere from 150 – 250 attendees. I had a team of wonderful ladies to help and of course it wasn’t in my home. I do tend to be a little anal it regards to the smallest details but I personally believe that those little ‘details’ ties everything together into a nice beautiful package with a big bow. Anyone who’s done this sort of thing knows exactly what I’m talking about. Fortunately I have some wonderful friends who also decorate/entertain (professionally & personally) so I have a lot of ‘stuff’ to pull from if needed.

The menu will be finger food/nibbles since it starts at 6:30pm. No sit down dinner for me thank you. Here is the menu as it stands (it changes frequently):

~Meatballs in barbeque sauce
~Deviled eggs
~Veggie tray w/dip
~Fruit on a skewer w/dipping sauce
~Mini caprese salad on a skewer
~Artichoke & jalapeƱo dip w/crackers
~Italian bread
~Breadsticks
~Kahlua cake
~Ooey gooey lemon bars
~Mini tiramisu
~Mini chocolate mousse
~Beverages

I’ll take pictures and post them and the recipes later.

Wish me luck.

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