Favorite Things Party 2011

As of this Christmas, our family has been living in our home for a year and a half. We still see our 'old friends' since we only moved 15 minutes away but we've made new friends (and reunited with old friends!) as well so the holidays seem like the perfect time to throw a party and bring everyone together.

My friend, Kirsten, and I settled on a 'favorite things' theme, e-mailed a Save The Date, followed that with invitations in the mail and then quickly realized that the week after Thanksgiving is a busy one as we scrambled to get everything together for the party.

See, we had a mission. We really wanted the party to be special (i.e. more than mix n' mingle) and we really wanted to theme it up and we really wanted to feed everybody. We wanted that few hours to be an escape from the holiday madness - something along the lines of giving everybody a big hug before sending them back to the shopping and stress that can bog down December. So we asked only two things from our guests: bring a 'brown paper package' ($25 value) to exchange and come dressed in white ('girls in white dresses').

The menu was fun to plan and we tried to take cues from the song and round it out with our favorites. We had a Butternut and Harvest Apple Soup, Schnitzel with Noodles and a lemon butter sauce, Cranberry Sauce and Crisp Apple Strudel for dessert.

. . . And it was fun! In fact, I hope this becomes a tradition. I only wish that we could've included even more of our friends. Maybe, if we had another person to help out, we could. Although I would love a re-do on a couple of details (hint: catering and serving 12 is tricky) it was wonderful to hear people talk about their favorite things because, usually, it was about more than the 'thing.' Who doesn't love something that makes you feel pretty, saves time, conjures up forgotten memories or makes one of the most mundane tasks bearable? Everyone does and that's why it's fun to share.

Big hug to all of my friends,

Hillary

Let's take a look at the set-up. The 'Sleighbells' table (gold) . . .

and the 'Silver White Winters' table.

'silver white winters that melt into spring'

Brown paper packages tied up with string.

These are a few of our favorite things!

'Sleighbells and . . .

. . . schnitzel with noodles.'

During the dinner portion of the party.

Kirsten and I at the very end of the night, still sporting our blue satin sashes.