Decking the Halls and a Christmas Party

First, for an update on our little granddaughter! She had a couple of brief setbacks, two trips to the ER, and one overnight stay for observation, but I'm happy to report that her latest MRI looked, in her doctor's words, "Fabulous!" So blessed!

So, we quickly (very quickly) switched gears entirely at our home and went into full-blown Christmas mode. Every year for decades, we have had a Christmas party. And since the news was so good about our little one and everyone so looks forward to our annual party, we just plunged into preparations. First up is decking the halls!

Holly, fresh pine boughs cut from the woods, mercury glass, swags of greenery, wreaths, simple antique touches, treasured pieces...all blended together to make everything festive.

Finally, everything was in readiness! Colette had made a candlelit, European Christmas village as her gingerbread masterpiece for the year!

And the menu was as follows:

Meatballs in Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Spicy Chicken Firecrackers

Assorted Cheeses

Crackers

Hummus

Dried and Fresh Fruit

Antipasto Platter

Gingerbread Men, Women, and Moose

Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies

Chocolate-Cranberry Brownies

Orange-Macadamia Cookies

Chocolate-Mint Parfait Bars

Guinness Gingerbread

Lindt Truffles

Christmas Candy

Wassail

Coffee

Water Infused with Oranges and Cranberries

I love our Christmas party! Such a happy mix of generations! People in small groups chatting. A group of kids engrossed in a game of chess at the chess table. Someone playing carols on the piano. A small child feeding a gingerbread man to the dog (uh-oh). It's a joy to create these memories for our friends!

And no sooner was the party over, then we switched gears again to be completely ready to celebrate Christmas, on both coasts, by tomorrow night. We are California-bound on Friday...to celebrate Christmas with family and to attend a wedding. We'll return just in time to celebrate Christmas at home!

If you want to follow along on our California journey, follow me on Instagram! My username is goodwifeh.