Holiday Hangovers 2010

I still have a little more cleaning up to do around here, but wanted to report about our successful Holiday Hangovers and Leftovers Party.

The apartment looked amazing - we filled dozens of mason jars with votive candles which showed off all the details in a lovely glow. The place was filled with about 40 guests (neighbors, friends and family) and although it was a little tight, everyone had a really festive attitude.

We modeled the invitation off of a print we have framed in our apartment done by an architect. It showcases some signature cocktails from the 1980s. It's a big conversation piece whenever we have guests over and a fitting way to showcase John's famous Holiday Leftover Trifle.

A few images of our apartment pre-guests (the awesome 80s cocktail print is shown in the bottom left). Some weeks back we painted the inside of our front door with chalkboard paint which became quite a lifesaver when keeping our to do list organized for the party. We left it up all night as a fun piece of artwork.

Taking inspiration from the invitation, we made tiny flags to label the cheese plate and various goodies on display. I loved the vintage plastic Santa and reindeer used to decorate this year's Buche de Noel.

And of course the party would not have been complete without our Bad Gift Exchange. There was a lot of stealing going on - and many of the gifts were big "As Seen on TV" hits.

Hoped you enjoyed this little peek into our party - it was a lot of fun thanks to having wonderful friends and neighbors around to share in the celebration. I have no clue how on Earth we're gonna top this one, but at least we have another 365 days to plan next year's soiree...

day of "rest"

I'm taking today off and in will be channeling my inner Julia since we have 30+ people expected for Saturday night and there's a lot to do!

Not sure if you remember, but every year, John and I go all-out with an annual holiday get together. Since it seems that everyone is busy during the actual month of December, we figured a few years back to move the celebration to January and so, Holiday Hangovers and Leftovers was born.

In 2007, 2008 and 2009 we were still in our first Brooklyn apartment. The first year the highlight of the party included the chalkboard covered walls in our dining room. A large portion of our friends being artists, everyone made some contributions to the decor, unfortunately, most of it was removed quickly due to the addition of alcohol.

Second year we got much smarter and decided that if we were hell-bent on serving ham, it was in our best interest to get a spiral cut. It seems everyone loves to eat the stuff but when the slicing is DIY, nobody is interested.

Third (and last year) was insane. We were way beyond maximum capacity with our guest list. The bad-gift-swap was hysterical and included Snuggie stealing, an extremely interesting nightlight and a funny holiday slideshow.

So now that we're 'all grown up' and living in our 'big kids' apartment, things are going to be a little bit different. We'll still have all the favorites and maybe a few new surprises...

Anyhow, I hope you are all laughing away courtesy of this silly photo as I get to work cleaning, cooking and getting it done.

See you Monday. Bon Appetite!