Christmas Party - before and after

I told you I was going to be posting a lot this week =)  Earlier this month, I hosted my Second Annual Ornament Exchange with my Denver lady-friends.  This is a tradition my girlfriends and I started back in Georgia, and I was excited to keep the theme going when we moved out to Colorado.

I normally wouldn't dedicate an entire post to the non-exciting parts of a party like this, but I felt I had to provide some "before" and "after" shots of the planning.  I love to hear how other people plan and execute social events amid their crazy schedules - it makes me feel like I'm normal and not a total psychopath - so I thought I'd return the favor and provide a "glimpse into the crazy" at our house =)
 
Keep in  mind, I had just been in New Orleans for a week and Marc was out of town...so I had to do all of this on my own (goodness, cleaning a house is so much easier/faster when there are 2 people involved!).  I definitely got a little stressed at about - oh, say - t-minus 3 hours to kick-off, but then I remembered that when all was said and done, the people coming to my house were my friends and they seriously did not care if the house was spotless or the food was home-made.  All that mattered was we had a fun time full of catching up and merriment =)

So here we go.  You are about to see some pictures that may shock and scare you...

Some "before" pictures of the house:

Ahh!  Boxes, bags and coats everywhere...

Vacuum cleaner is shouting "use me!"  If you had super micro-vision you could see all the puppy-hair-dust-bunnies all over the floor...

So embarrassing - magazines everywhere, blankets askew, TJ Maxx bags all over.

Wrapped gifts under the tree, plus a nice little shot of the pile o' mail by the front door I have yet to organize...

Yeesh!  What a disaster - and I have company coming tomorrow!

Polly is like "Mom, just chill.  I can help you vacuum if you want...or I can sleep on my blanket and hope you won't lock me up when your friends get here =)"

Wow.  So that was what my house looked like the day morning before the party.  What a mess!

After a few calming breaths, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and some happy thoughts, I was able to plow through and get everything finished.  And, I have to say, that even though it looks like a "messy bomb" went off in my house, I was quite pleased with the final results.  Once the first guest arrived, I had forgotten all about the hassle of cleaning, decorating and cooking and just enjoyed myself.  That's what parties are all about, right?  It ended up being a super fun night and I was so thankful that we decided to get together.

Here are some "after" shots:

Day of the party and I forgot to chill my champagne - no worries in Colorado!  Just use what you have =)

*sigh* So much better!

So last year, I only had a few bottles of wine to drink.  This year, I wanted to do a few fun and festive holiday drinks plus some wine.  I managed to stock up on liquors...but forgot all the mixers!  "Would you like some vanilla vodka with...nothing?"  Next year, I swear I will get the drink table nailed down perfectly =)

The most challenging part of the evening is trying to figure out how to fit all the food on my table!

The table is set, food is in the oven, drinks are cold, and I'm all dressed and ready for my party =)

Here was the menu for the evening:

• - Pimento cheese sandwiches
• - Deviled eggs
• - Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
• - Cucumber "crackers" with smoked salmon
• - Stuffed mushrooms (the crowd favorite)
• - Baked brie in a bread bowl (thanks, Lainey!  It was awesome and a huge hit)
• - Hummus with veggies
• - Fruit - for fun
• - And, of course, an assorted variety of cookies and fudge provided by my lovely guests =)

I don't have any "full table" views of the food, but you get the idea...

I did have one festive holiday drink - champagne plus vanilla vodka plus pomegranate juice.  It was our theme cocktail of the night =)

The dessert table!  I estimate that each cookie is roughly 2.5 calories...so I ate about 30 =)

And some shots of all the fun =)

Jenny and Annie with her festive necklace!

Hold up yo' ornaments!

Annie made these awesome personalized bags =)

The whole group - thanks for making this such a great time!!

So there you have it!  This was seriously such a great night and I'm so thankful for everyone in that picture (plus a few others who weren't able to make it!).

I hope you had a Christmas and Holiday that was full of fun times and laughter with your friends and family.  Happy Thursday to all!