Christmas Soiree 2013

After having read the book Bread and Wine, my passion and perspective for my time in the kitchen and around my table has been renewed.  I now appreciate, even more, the value that is found when we dedicate our time and energy to the feeding of bodies (and souls).  So many of life's memories are truly made around the table.

The message of this book was brewing in the back of my mind in November when I was contacted by Fresh & Easy and asked to host a sponsored Christmas party. I'd already been thinking about starting a tradition of doing a small intimate Christmas dinner party for friends (as our gift to them) and so this offer was truly an answer to prayer. God knew exactly what this party thrower's "wish" was this Christmas - 1 awesome party!

Now before we get into all of the (fabulous) details, it's important to note that planning this type of party is quite possibly the most amazing thing I might ever do.  I live for a party.  I live to plan a party.  I live for the next party.  I simply love parties.  Correction - I LOVE parties. So hosting a party of this scale scent me to cloud nine and back again.

Once the date was set, I started planning.  I put together a fantastic team of friends to help (delegation is key for large events like this) and we started pin, pin, pinning all of our ideas for the event.  Food. Decor. Beverages. Invitations. Anything and every idea for the party was being thought of.  

We arranged rentals, we created a detailed food budget, we (and by "we" I actually mean my sweet friend Jennifer) poured over a food timeline, we mapped out the backyard and started ordering all of the decor for the event - we were busy little party-planning bees for the weeks leading up to the party. 

By party time, we were as ready as we were going to be.  Keep in mind, we are amateur party planners and were mostly just crossing our fingers (and toes) that everything would turn out ok.

Now I think I'll just let the photos do the talking...

Thanks to all of you who were able to join us for such a fabulous evening.   

Thanks also to the wonderful folks at Fresh and Easy who made this event possible.  

And a huge thank you to the ladies who helped with all of the details for this event - to Ashley & Tim for opening up their home (and hearts), to Jennifer & Carlene for helping with all of the food prep (it was delicious), to Lexa for making the amazing cheesecake, to Lindsey for helping with decor vision and execution, to Laura for the amazing chalkboard art and lastly to Kourtney for her help with the odds and ends.  

Happy Christmas!

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All above photos are from our event photographers, Session Nine Photography.

{To see more photos from the event, search #christmassoiree and/or #fandeholidays on Twitter & Instagram}

VENDOR CREDITS:

– Food & Beverages: Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market
– Design & Coordination: Lindsey w/ Junk in the Trunk Markets
– Photography: Session Nine Photography
– Flowers: Costco
– Rentals: A to Z Equipment Rentals
– Linens: Munkeboe Linens

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a baby shower {for michelle}

No two words get me much more excited than the words BABY SHOWER!

Honestly... what can be better than the new mom-to-be glow mixed with a good party to honor that special lady?

Upon hearing that my sweet friend, Michelle, was expecting, I immediately started thinking "What kind of baby shower would she like?!" You see one of my very favorite parts of planning a shower is considering what the mom-to-be might like and not like.

Here were the things I knew about Michelle after having known her for going on 8 years...

Dislikes: Cheesy Games, anything that puts a lot of attention on her, anything boring/dull (because she's as far from those two words as anyone I can think of)

Likes: Delicious and well displayed food, tasteful decor

So... we browsed the web and came up with a Dessert & Drinks party idea with a Teal, Black and White theme.

The "event" started off with this invitation...

Here are a few pics of the food {and decor}...

Here's the menu:

Mini Cappuccino Mousse cups

Mini Chocolate Mousse cups with raspberry garnish

Chocolate Peanut Butter cups

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Strawberry Marscapone tartlets with balsamic reduction

Key lime tartlets

Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate shavings

Brie with orange fig spread

Creamy Roquefort w/ Bordeaux Cherries

And this is the best picture of the drinks that I got. We served White Wine Sangria, Blue Hurricanes and Jones Soda Co. Sodas (raspberry lemonade and cream soda flavors).

And it just wouldn't be a party without a group pic:

Shout out to Jennifer R for the AWESOME food, Brittany for the great decorations, Lindsay for hosting and Denise for working out the logistics of the game. Working with a "team" of ladies is the best!

We couldn't be more happy for Mike and Michelle and can't wait to meet Baby Boy B. in a little over a month.

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Steph's Pick | a Milk & Cookies Birthday Party

Did you hear that our little Nora turned TWO last week?!! So crazy to think that it was 2 years ago that we welcomed Nora Marie into the world. Which of course called for a party! ;)

As you know...parties are my thing. I honestly love planning any kind of party. So naturally I couldn't help planning a super fun party for friends and family to celebrate Nora's 2nd Birthday.

Here's a quick recap of the party:

The Theme :: Milk & Cookies!

Food :: Milk & Cookies of course. We had 7 different kinds of cookies. Some homemade and others were store bought. We also had 3 different kinds of milk - Skim, 2% and Chocolate Milk for the kiddo's (and kids at heart).

Guest List :: Lots of little friends (and their parents).

Activities :: Eating yummy sweets and playing in the baby pool and sprinklers in the backyard - two of Nora's most favorite activities.

The Attire :: Matching sister outfits from Nana of course ;)

Thanks Kevin, Joy, Reagan and Elliot for hosting Nora's Party for us! We're so thankful for such great friends who are willing to open their home for such an occasion.

And of course a HUGE thank you to everyone who attended!

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