Your Parties: Elegant Italian, Brooks Gailey

Here are some of the details of Brooks dinner party:
The Menu:
1) Four Courses:
1. Zuppa Toscana Soup
2. Parisian Salad
3. Grilled Chicken with Fetticcine Alfredo
4. Frozen Lemon Custard

The recipes were really yummy, and I had a few requests for the soup.I really enjoyed the party. There was lots of talking during each course, and so conversation was never dry. I would definitely host again. Trouble is, I would be tempted to reuse everything and just do the same party over again, it turned out so well.


-We played "The Newlywed Game" after the meal which was fun... I think that it all depends on the group that you have. I got a "Lifetime Supply of Spam" (one can) for the winner of the game, to make it seem more "Gameshow-esque".


-The only snag was that some of our guests arrived a little early and we were running behind. Dinner was still cooking, I wasn't dressed, I hadn't nursed the baby or dropped him off at the sitter, and then my car battery died. The party started 20-30 minutes late, but they were all very understanding. I think that if I did it again, I would love to manage my time better in order to be a better hostess. I really did want to answer the door and usher in the guests, which didn't happen.
What I liked most about it: Slowing down time for a minute. I feel like I am always rushing, even when I go out to dinner, the waiter is always trying to hurry things along, to get the table back for more tips. I can't blame them, but I liked having it at my own pace and I liked the "Time Warp" feel of it all. After-all, how often do we, as Mormons, have actual dinner parties... and not potluck? Not often.

4) I also made Thank-You cards that coordinated with the original invites to send the guests after the party. I took a picture of each couple during the dinner, then edited it in Picasa and printed a 4 x 6 for each to put into the Thank-You card. I think that adds a nice touch to remind them of the fun for the evening, not to mention a nice memento for them for a scrapbook.

A First Time for Everything at our Christmas in July dinner

Krystal and Brian Slade

Melissa and Travis Russell


Kristi and Robert Collins



Tonight we had our 13th monthly dinner party. Since last winter we have talked about having a Christmas in July dinner. We thought it would be fun to have a small reprieve from the Vegas heat... so a few days in a 'Winter Wonderland' would be fun! And it has been fun! We got everything set up yesterday with a lot of meal preparations started early. We were a little concerned when two couples did not show up for the dinner. Both had RSVP'd so we waited until almost 7 for them and I attempted to call them, but when they were not reachable we went ahead and began.

The food we ate and who brought what:

The Goebel's- Breakfast Casserole and Potato Soup
The Collins- Broccoli Salad
The Russell's- Sweet Potato Casserole
The Slade's- Turkey with stuffing and Strawberry Cheesecake

There was plenty of food for everyone. I was a little nervous about us having enough dessert, but it worked out perfectly.
We all sat at one end of the table and enjoyed some great company. Everyone shared a Christmas tradition from their childhood. Some of them were:

Waking up at 2am to open presents because mom just couldn't wait(Travis Russell)

Unshelled peanuts filled her stocking every year as well as 'inappropriate' gifts under the tree. (Krystal Slade)

Being drug through the snow by dad driving a car while the kids were sitting on a car hood. (Brian Slade)

Wrapping up family member's old stuff, putting it under the tree for them for Christmas and seeing if they realize that it's the one they already owned. (Kristi Collins)

Decorating the tree with the same wooden painted German ornaments every year of his life at home. (Jeff Goebel)

The Mexican tradition to have Santa fill a shoe instead of a stocking. (Maggie Goebel)

And the get to know you game that we always play:
Guess who did what....

• Took a road trip across the country and while one of them was sleeping the other one drove 2 states in the wrong direction


• She called him on the phone while he was on a date with another girl, but he was acting so weird that she decided not to talk to him again. Since she never gave him her number luckily he had it on caller ID and was able to call her back... and now.. they are married!


• They were homeless for the first 8 months of their marriage living in hotels.


• The other one was ours.... and I'm not sharing it since we do the same one almost every month.

Christmas in July details

Decor

I chose an aqua blue, silver and white for my party colors. Since it's so hot here in Nevada (and I didn't think green and red would really make it feel much cooler) I opted for an icy blue with silver look. It's also very elegant and gives a lot of richness to everything. We put up our prelit Christmas tree with glass balls, silver metalic garlands, hanging jewels, and my kids favorite- 'Carvan' the white dove.


Invitations
See previous post


Tablesetting


White tablecloths, light blue transperant plastic placemats (originally got at a grocery store in the dollar bin), I wrapped sky blue tulle on the left side from top to bottom, tied a knot and made a very nice looking placemat. Then I added white looking china (plate) a glass goblet, silverware and the white linen napkins in beautiful crystal/jeweled napkins rings (got on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond last year).


Table Centerpieces


We have many Department 56 Christmas Snow Village village pieces. So we decided to get out a few of them from the Christmas shelf in the garage and use them as the main centerpiece. I also took two pie platters made of wrought iron and got some glass plates for them. On each I put some of the extra Christmas balls and small wrapped presents and the silvery pinecones. They were placed at opposite ends of the table.

Elegant menu idea from Exquisite Invitation Shoppe

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26599066

Here is an elegant printed MENU that you could order or make yourself.

Party Favors: Mints

I
found these on Etsy and totally know that I could make them myself. It's patterned paper cut to almost matchbook size with a single packaged mint attached with a brad and tucked in.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27314852

Hawaiian Luau Party Details and Ideas to use for your party

This party was really easy to plan and host. Luau decor can be found at most all party stores, and in the summertime the dollar store, Walmart and other stores carry Luau themed items.


MUSIC
For this party I actually began gathering items in mid January. I found the music at the dollar store. There were a number of CD's. I got the themes- Hawaiian Party, Hawaiian Luau, Tropical Breeze and 2 different CD's titled Tiki Music.




DECOR
At the dollar store I picked up a yard sign, some tissue paper garlands (pineapple and flamingos), lei's (for each lady to wear), drinking straw decor, foam fish to use as placecards, and grass skirts to cover edge of tables.
At Costco I got pineapples to use for centerpieces, and a blue and white tropical print paper plate and napkin set.
From a friend and her mom I borrowed- a little surfboard, seashells, and lava lava's (I'm wearing one)
I already had- bamboo placemats, bamboo coasters (from Beau-coop.com) that I recently won), nice elegant white paper napkins, ribbon and silk orchids to make the napkin holders.
At Target I got a metal door sign. I got 3 large palm fronds outside someone's home (after they did some trimming) and used them to cover my computer printed in the corner.
Placesettings
I used the bamboo placemats and coasters that I already had along with the white linen tablecloths and natural fish nets.

Napkins

I folded the plasticware into the white larger paper napkin.
Then I wrapped the designer paper napkin around that.

I cut a ribbon just larger than the width of the wrapped plasticware and wrapped it around the roll and stapled.
Then I tucked a cut orchid (flower) into the front of the napkin.

1950's BBQ

The Rogers

The Wilhites

The Millers

The Chubbs

The 'younger' Miller's

The Dabrowski's
The Goebel's

What an enjoyable evening it was having dinner with 6 more couples from our church. This group was a more serious bunch, but nonetheless it was wonderful to get to know them and hear some interesting stories from their lives. Many of them have lived through the 50's and shared some great stories about those days. We learned about their Chevy Bel Air's, the music, the dances, dating, and family trips from those times. The food was great!


The guests (with what they brought)

The Rogers- pumpkin cake (tasted like a pumpkin roll)

The Chubbs- Oriental Salad

The Wilhites- Potato salad

The Millers- Potato Salad

The Dabrowski's- Rootbeer floats and Orange Cream Bundt Cake

The 'young'Millers- Cheesecake

Us- Hamburgers, condiments, and the most delicious corn on the cob!

The company was great and as always it was an enjoyable game. Here are some of the things that I learned about people-

One couple's 2 year old daughter was kissed by Elder Spencer W. Kimball on the head (in the late 70's)

One couple sang in Carnegie Hall.

One couple had a luau wedding reception with a photo of themselves plastered ALL over the cake.

One husband planned a trip out of town on his 40th birthday since his wife had thrown him a huge 30th birthday party.

One wife got stood up the day before the Homecoming dance so her best friend's older brother took her instead (and that lead to 11 months of dating and a quick engagement).

One couple was asked by the temple recorder before they were married if they were related.

One couple saw Nat King Cole in concert and went on their honeymoon to Sun Valley, Idaho and were vacationing with his parents and her mother in law would announce them as the newlyweds EVERYTIME she saw them. It was very embarressing to them.

These parties never get old for us. We are always looking forward to the next one.

1950's BBQ- How it was put together

This is the placesetting... each guest was seated near a different photo centerpiece

This was the FIRST party that I recieved only one RSVP for and didn't call to verify the others were coming... But everyone showed up... Ladies in their aprons and with a salad or dessert in hand.
I began planning this party about 2 weeks ago. I got the invitations (condiment bottles with the invite written in permenant marker on them) delivered just a week before the party.
I wanted to make some textured green reversible placemats for the party so together with my Young Women on Wednesday night we got them sewn. I had 1950's Diner plates, pint jars for drinking, retro coasters, and white woven fabric tablecloths and matching napkins. For centerpieces I had lots of flowers, metal tin buckets with party favors in them (rolled up BBQ mitts tied with ribbon), some teen novels from the 50's (Bobbsey Twins) and framed photos of actors and actresses from the 50's.
The food was fantastic. Three couples brought salads (two potato and one oriental salad) and three couples brought dessert (cheesecake, pumpkin cake, rootbeer floats, and orange cream bundt cake). We made the hamburgers.
We put together 3 tables and lined them up in the living room. From the ceiling I hung clear Christmas lights (350 lights)zigzagging them across the cieling. Then I hung paper globes from the strands so that they hung over the tables. It all looked so nice. They coordinated nicely with the table decor.
For party favors I bought BBQ oven mitts that coordinated with the colors in the tablecloth and flowers. I rolled them up tightly and tied with a thick ribbon. They were placed in the tin buckets on the table and were part of the centerpieces.