February 12, 2011—First off, a huge thank you to the gals who helped in the pre-party preparation—Gina with shopping all afternoon the day before (Giant, Trader Joe’s, Michael’s, World Market, etc.), for coming up with fabulous decorating ideas (and wrapping vases in fabric, gluing glitter to anything and everything, and punching out heart shaped confetti until her fingers gave out—we crafted until 1:30 a.m.!), for making her yummy cornbread, for creating her “Sweet Dreams” candy party favors, and for bringing real chocolate (Leonidas) straight from her recent work jaunt to Belgium (and also for those fun birthday boy eyeglasses); for Carmen for all her help decorating (especially our annual-joint-effort over-the-top chandelier creation), for Michael‘s chocolate covered strawberry birthday box and giant pinata in the shape of the big 5-0, filled with chocolate candies for his birthday, and for all her help (as well as Karen W.‘s) cleaning up afterward. Carmen came the farthest to join us (from South Carolina), but we also had a guest from Lexington, Kentucky (hello, Bob!).
Thanks also to Michael P., who proved to be an extraordinary photo assistant when I was down in my studio doing the sweetheart portraits. I’m keeping him in mind the next time I need help! As you can see, this year’s collage of portraits is quite colorful—I let each guest choose which background they wanted—the pink and red swirly roses from Chocoholic Party #4, brown & blue fabric that echoed this year’s color palette, or a bright yellow abstract painting I began working on a few weeks ago.
Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate our first party of 2011, for all of your culinary contributions (from desserts to appetizers to side dishes to wine and beer), and for the special gifts you gave to Michael for his birthday. Special thanks to Judy for bringing a birthday cake and for having the baker write Happy Birthday to our Feb. 12 birthday boy (Michael), the lovely Hannah (Feb. 11) and Paul (Feb. 14). It was nice to celebrate the birthdays of all three of these V.I.P’s! Earlier in the day Michael said, “doesn’t seem fair that I have to make my own birthday dinner.” He made two huge pots of chili and as in years past, it was consumed quickly. He makes one pot of “two alarm” chili and one we label “mild stuff.” It seems our guests dole out a little of both and mix it together. I never got one taste of the stuff (I never eat anything at our parties—I’m too busy greeting, mingling and photographing to do so). And Rob, lest you think your rice offering didn’t get consumed, it did. Michael has used it in three different meals this past week, using up the last bit in a tasty stuffed pepper concoction.
I hope everyone enjoyed the musical stylings of our acoustic guitarist, Jim Canfield. We met Jim a few weeks before when he was playing for tips at IKEA (of all places). Jim performs at various restaurants around the Woodbridge area and we hired him to play for us—it was a real treat, doncha think? Thanks for celebrating with us—Nanda, Bob, Carmen, Gina, Karen W., Karen B., Hannah, Margot, Dana, Gordon, Eric, Rob, Leda, Norma, Paula, Ken, Judy, Paul, CJ, Regina, Tom, Holly, Jim, Sudha, Lynn, Jeff E., Amy, Jeff M., Jonathan, Rob, Pat, and Michael P.
Our next party is slated for late May in the great outdoors! This will be a new event for us. I’ll be co-hosting with Gina, a fervently fanatic Francophile, with consultation from my French-born friend Karen B. This affair will be based on the annual “Le Diner en Blanc” in Paris. Anyone know any French musicians, torch singers or mimes who will work for food?
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=diner+en+blanc&cp=7&bav=on.1,or.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6mtkTbbvIojAtgf0ip2wDA&sqi=2&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=1407&bih=1172
http://www.demotix.com/news/85439/diner-en-blanc-white-dinner
This annual White Dinner is kept secret from authorities and participants are only told where they are going 15 minutes before the event via text and twitter. Too fun! We’ll give you more advance notice than 15 minutes and although our venue won’t be quite as exotic as the Eiffel Tower, Arche de Triomphe or Place de la Concorde, we promise you a memorable evening. We intentionally kept the guest list smaller for the Chocoholic Party this year (since it’s held indoors in a townhouse), but we’ll be able to expand the roster for this big outdoor soiree.
Our guests won’t have to bring their own tables, linens or chairs, but they will be asked to wear white (white + khaki permitted) and it will be our usual semi-potluck. Yes, there will be photos (in front of a lighted Eiffel Tower) and lots of white stuff (no, the food will not be all white, although really—what beats mashed potatoes, whipped cream, bread and a slab of brie?).
Thank you to Norma and Nanda for supplying some of the photos in the collage above.
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