Holiday Bucket List - Cocktails with Friends

I learned early on that every party deserves a signature cocktail. And who better to learn the ropes than from Sandra Lee! It's always cocktail time at Aunt Sandy's. I've used her cocktail recipes for years. However, I've been dabbling in dessert versions of cocktails over the years so I decided to take a crack on creating my own holiday cocktail to serve the girls when toasting them this season.

I got to work yesterday at my mom's house, she has all the booze, and came up with two versions of what I'm calling the Peppermint Stick! And man was it tasty! Here is what you'll need!

I am using a milk chocolate liqueur and a white chocolate liqueur. I've also got peppermint Schnapps, smashed up candy canes, and candy canes for garnish. The marshmallows are for a follow up cocktail..... I love making drinks in Mason Jars, but you can also get super festive and make them in fun holiday glasses. I have a shot glass and small spoon for mixing.

Fill your glass half way with ice. Pour in a shot of the milk chocolate liqueur, the peppermint Schnapps, and stir until mixed. Top with crushed peppermint and garnish with a broken off piece of a candy cane for a instant stirrer!

Do the exact same thing with the white chocolate liqueur and use a mini candy cane for garnish. It can also be used for a stirrer when the cocktail needs to be mixed! My mom preferred the white chocolate version and I preferred milk chocolate!

I love the idea of having all of my mixes in cute little pitchers versus having all the bottles out. It's less cluttered and makes it a little fancier. If you were going to have a Self Serve bar, write out the direction on a tiny chalk board so your guests know the amounts to add to their glass. Obviously, they can add more or less depending on taste. 

If you want to make a non-alcoholic version, use chocolate milk and peppermint simple syrup. You can still add the crushed peppermint candies and a candy cane for garnish. Perfect for the kiddos!

XO,

Andrea

Holiday Party Planning - The Menus

I've been doing a lot of research when it comes to a retro cocktail party. I'm trying to be as authentic as I can possibly be with the menus. And when I say menus, I mean the hors d'oeuvres, the cocktails, and the desserts. I've used Pinterest and Google and I've received a ton of information back! And, I've used my parents as reference guides, although they weren't old enough to attend or throw a cocktail party in the 60s. 

As it turns out, I've been throwing a semi-retro party all these years. The only difference are things like deviled eggs and marinated olives. I generally reserve deviled eggs for BBQs and I've never really thought to serve marinated olives. And I love olives! The other interesting things I've discovered is molds of all kinds! It doesn't have to be a Jello mold, which I'm not unfamiliar with, but there are sold food molds. Apparently, my mom has a recipe for a shrimp mold which will make its way to the table this year. Speaking of food, here's what I plan to serve:

Meatballs

Mini Quiches

Deviled Eggs

Marinated Olives

Shrimp Mold

A specialty cheese on top of a Crostini drizzled with honey

Cheese Platter with Crackers

Sounds pretty delish, no? There's substance and there's lighter eats as well. You don't want to fill up and miss out on dessert!

My desserts are going to be pretty different this year. I generally go with the same baked goods every holiday. I will find time to make the chocolate chip cookies, the sugar cookie cutouts, and Seven Layer cookie. But for this party, I'm going old school. 

Fruitcake Cookies

Chocolate Fudge

White Fudge with Green and Red Candied Cherries

Pecan Tassies

Peppermint Bark

Brach's Old Fashioned Candies

Then there's the drink menu. If Sandra Lee has taught me one thing over the years, it's to serve a signature cocktail. And I always do! This year we will have two. I know I'm serving a Champagne Cocktail, but I need to test the others. I'm looking at a Sidecar Martini, an Old Fashioned, or a Manhattan. I'm leaning toward the Sidecar, sounds like something I would drink verses the others, but I'll let my parents to do some taste testing for the final vote.

And there you have it! I've finalized all of my menus and I'm set with the grocery list. I plan to start baking fudge tomorrow and a few other goodies before Friday. Fudge will stay the freshest longest. From there, I will just continue to follow the food portion of the checklist to have it all prepped before Saturday afternoon!

What are you serving up? Have you done as much research as myself or just going with what works? How much will be store bought verses homemade? I'm a little mix of both. It's so much easier to same yourself some time when throwing a party! 

Meet you back here tomorrow!

XO, 

Andrea

Holiddy Party Planning - The Check List

Hey! How's the party planning going? It's going fairly well over here. How close are you to the party date? I don't know about you, but I work so much better with a checklist. A do-to list. A master party planning activity sheet. Whatever you call yours, do you have one created? I just put mine together because the party is less than a week away! EEKK!

When it comes to checklists, I'm not a super fancy girl. I just use plain old pen and paper. Cute little notebooks to be exact. But when I created this one, I wanted to stay in the festive mood, so I went with red and green pen colors! And in true task form, I put all the to-do items in red so that I can could check them off in green. The red is staring back at me saying "Stop watching Hallmark movies and get to work!" But the green is jolly when I'm marking off the items I've completed. 

So what do I put on my checklist? Well, I break it out by days of the week. I add tasks to each day so that I'm not overwhelmed on any given day of the week trying to get way too many thing accomplished and feeling defeated when I don't. Plus, you don't want to do certain things too early. Like vacuuming. Sure, you have spill, you clean it up. But if you vacuum on Monday, you're going to have to turn around and do it again the day of the party, so I have this as a to-do for the day off. For today, Monday, my items are fairly simple. Continue to clean and straighten the house, dust ceiling fans and the light over the kitchen table, and finalize any last minute holiday decor around the house. Simple rule of thumb when it comes to straightening, stick to one room at a time. I'm horrible at this, but it really does make life easier. Today, I'm working in all three bedrooms. Putting shoes and folded laundry away that didn't get done earlier, clearing off the spare bedroom bed that becomes a catch-all for things like gymbags and McKinley's too small clothes that I cleaned out but haven't stowed away for the spring garage sale. And when it comes to things that need to go downstairs, I make stacks to take down later. If I leave this space to take things to another space, I start cleaning that space and now I have two disorganized stories in this house!

Other things on the list are to finalize our menu, sample the drinks we will serve for the evening, begin baking some of the desserts, wrap party favors, and ironing the tablecloth. And they all have a day assigned to them. One thing I really like to do is to set the table the night before. I put together my tablescape and then place all the serving pieces on the table to make sure there is enough room. I also like to put the refridgerater items on their platters and then store them back in the fridge until the party. It just helps with party prep the day of. If you're going to have a floral arrangment, wait and do that the day of. Keep your flowers in the fridge or garage to stay cool and then place them on the table a couple of hours before the party. They tend to wilt from heat of the oven or overhead lights. You want them looking fresh for your guests. 

Speaking of fresh, after all this cleaning, baking, and planning, these fingers will have been worked to the bone. It's been over a year since I've had a mani and I'm splurging this year. With our holiday party, an Open House the next day, a Stella & Dot Pop Up Shop and trunk show, another holiday party, and other activities taking place in the span of a week, I'm going to need to have the nicest looking nails I've had in ages. And while we're on the subject, on the morning of the party, make sure you take time for you. Relax, have that cup of coffee (or two), make sure you leave enough time for you to get ready so you don't feel rushed in those final hours before the guests arrive. To be the hostesses with the mostest, you have to be party ready, and the only way to do that is to ensure you've taken time to breath!

Lastly, but not on the list, enjoy the party! Once everything is in its place, the guests have arrived, and everyone has a drink in hand, have fun! Talk, laugh, be present in the moment, and cherish this time with family and friends. That's what the holidays are all about. And if there is something out of place, don't sweat it. I'm sure your guests won't notice it at all!

Coming up this week, menu creation, drink sampling, desserts, and so much more! 

Happy Monday!

XO,

Andrea

Holiday Party Planning Guide - Tablescape

Earlier in the week we talked about picking a theme for your holiday gathering. Do you have one? I do! Remember, I'm going with vintage. A retro cocktail party, to be exact! My love for Mid Century Mod is bleeding pink and avocado green this season and I can't get enough of it. So, we've picked our theme, sent out the invites, and now it's time to start checking things off our master checklist.

Up next is decor. My house is decorated in fairly traditional Christmas flare. Green tree chocked full of Hallmark ornaments, handmade ornaments by mom when I was younger, and now handmade ornaments made by McKinley in school. Those are my favorites! But, I've added a little something old to this years decor. I put up my antique aluminum tree and all the antique Shiny Bright glass ornaments that we've found over the years. It's gorgeous! Oh, and did I mention that I have an old light color wheel? The whole look is perfection!

I have so many pins from Pinterest to share regarding a vintage inspired tablescape. And guess what? More than half are pink! I've never been a pink girl, but this year, I am over the moon for it! Maybe it's the whole Mid Century Mod thing or maybe it's the fact that Michael's has totally fed my obsession. I went in for ribbon the other day and walked out with an entire holiday decor of everything they had that was pink. Okay, not everything because there are still pieces I want, but let's say about 50%! Needless to say, I'm covered in pink glitter and I couldn't care less!

So here are the inspiring tablescapes I found on Pinterest.



 

And here are all the things I bought at Michael's!

I'm sorry, but there was no way I was going to pass up a pink Santa, at half off, wearing white fur! 

 
Isn't my aluminum tree gorgeous!!

So here's what I plan to do. I will add a white tablecloth to the kitchen table and arrange the bottle brushes, church, and a large glass hurricane full of pink and avocado green ornaments in the center of my table. I may even add candles. I have lovely silver candlesticks that hold tealights. And I plan on hitting up my local Home Depot to dig through their evergreen scrape pile like I did last year. The greenery lasted through the remainder of the holidays and allowed for a subtle hint of pine. I will arrange the greenery throughout the tablescape as well.

I will place the serving pieces around the table, black and white Christmas pieces I received as a gift from my aunt several years ago. And it just so happens that the pattern is very Mid Century Mod inspired, even though they came from Target! I plan on bringing out my bar cart, even though it's red, and decorating it as well. I may have to give that some thought regarding the clashing of colors. As Tim Gunn says, I will make it work.

Oh, and I found the coolest website that gives a tutorial on how to give everyday tumblers a little Mid Century update as well. Definitely going to have to give this a try! 

Lastly, here's a little sneak peek into a DIY drink stirrer I found that would look darling on the bar cart!

There you have it! My tablescape inspiration and the pieces I picked to create mine. Now that you have your theme, what would you use to decorate your table? Would you go completely DIY? Scour the amazing sales at places like Michael's is currently offering, or go brand new with your purchase?

I can't wait to hear what you're up to! What do you think of my party so far?

XO,
Andrea

Holiday Party Planning Guide - Picking a Theme

Well, the holiday season is finally upon us. I don't know about you, but I've been ready for this for a long time. Especially after the events of the election. This mama was in need of some cheer! And it's here. I have vowed for the past 15 years that I would never put my tree up before Thanksgiving! And guess what? I put up my tree a week early. I guess you could say I needed a little Christmas....

And with the holiday season comes party planning! By show of hands, how many of you are planning a gathering of some sort? Whether it be big or small, a gathering needs planning. I love to plan. And I love to party plan even more! Aside from birthday parties, we haven't thrown an adult party around here in quite some time. We had a holiday party the year McKinley was born, five years ago, and we haven't had one since. It's hard to plan a party with a child. Especially when you have a smaller home, and your child goes to bed early, and your parties tend to go long. And trust me, I love a party that never ends. It means my guests are having fun, feel at home, and never want to leave. Just the thing all hostess want to achieve.

I started thinking about party planning and wondered if anyone needed advice. And if you do, then maybe this little series is for you. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to talk about all that's involved in planning a party. Again, it doesn't matter if your gathering is big or small, you still need to plan. You need a plan of attack. And the first thing you need is a theme!

I love picking a theme for all of my parties. Whether it's McKinley's birthday, an outdoor BBQ, a Halloween party, or a school classroom party, a theme is always in order. Right now, or should I say forever, I've been obsessed with Mid Century Modern. The house designs, the furniture, the minimalist esthetic, the clothing, and the dinnerware. All of it speaks to me. And I own so much of it. I've always said that if I had the room in my home, I would design one space specifically to Mid Century Mod! 

So in thinking about a holiday party, I am immediatly drawn to the theme of a retro inspired cocktail party. No, not because of Mad Men (I never watched the show), but because who doesn't love a cocktail party! I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and scoured the internet for possible Mid Century invitation designs. I found several sites, but found everything I possibly needed at Zazzle! I discovered their Retro Urban Christmas designs and fell in love! And the amount of products available is amazing! I settled on an invitation, after narrowing it down to about five, and went to town! Here are some of my favorites.

Upon picking my theme, Retro Cocktail Party, and the invitation, it was time to start gathering all the other necessary party supplies. And Zazzle helped with that as well. Because everything can be customized, I was able to "design" my own paper goods. And yes, I use paper goods, First off, I don't have enough dinnerware to use for larger parties and I don't want to be up all night doing dishes! I use ceramic platters for the hors d'oeuvres and serve cocktails out of glass stemware, so I have my hands full of suds at the end of the night! Okay, back to the paper goods. I found the most adorable plates and napkins that I could make my own and can't wait for my guests to use them! 

So what's ahead? We've picked our theme, our party invites, and the paper goods (although we stumbled on those). Now it's time to start thinking decor. You know, the tablescape, serving pieces, stemware, and other accessories. And it just so happens, I've been thinking about those all weekend! I can't wait to share.

If you weren't planning a gathering before now, are you thinking of hosting? What would be your theme? Would it be a big soiree or just an intimate group? I would love to hear your thoughts! And, if you have questions, please don't hestitate to ask! I'm no expert party planner, but like I mentioned earlier, I do love to host them!

Happy Monday, party goers!

XO,

Andrea