Let's Get This Party Started!

It's party day! And I'm beginning to think I've completely gone ape shit and lost my mind to have 8 boys sleeping over (plus my 2 which makes a grand total of 10). Oh well, we can always nap tomorrow.

After much hemming and hawing, I finally figured out the party favors and they are ADORABLE if I do say so myself (which of course, I'm going to). I ended up finding large red, white, and blue sports bottles and I custom created labels for each boy's bottle which also match the invites I designed. I'll go into more detail on the labels next week when I post a picture, but they are going to be great. Super easy, super easy on your wallet, and oh so cute!

I've got a million errands to run today so I had to reschedule my 9:30 hair appointment. I seriously don't think my hair has been this long since I was a senior in HS. I can't even reach all the way to the bottom of it when I brush the back of it, it is THAT. LONG. Ugh. At this point nothing would make me happier than for Vidal Sassoon to show up on my doorstep and just cut it already since I keep having to reschedule this appointment.

Anyway, before I rush off this morning I thought I'd share 2 fun little activities since 1) I am hosting an Olympic Birthday Sleepover tonight and 2) the Olympics end this weekend (BOOOOO!). Check 'em out...

• Fun Winter Olympics Bingo Game for the whole family (because as you know, the Monograms are some game loving people)
• 2010 Closing Ceremonies Drinking Game for the over 21 set. So this is really written for the opening ceremonies, but can totally still work for the closing ceremonies as well. Hell, let the kids play Bingo and the adults play this game and it's sure to make Vancouver 2010 memorable for all!
  

Party Favors

For once I am at a loss. With the help of Mr. M, I think I've gotten the details of this "Lego Olympics" party down. Although to be truthful, it is turning out to be more wii Olympics and notsomuch "lego" if you catch my drift. Anyhoo, I'm having an issue with party favors. I have a call into a local chocolate specialty shop to see if they can create a chocolate snowboarder or chocolate olympic rings or even a chocolate olympic medal. Fingers crossed on that but if not, what else can I do for a great party favor? I don't like to do the generic bag of crap and it's too late for me to call my favorite cookie lady to do favors.

Any ideas?

Let's Talk

So, it's been 3 long months since I've sat down and giving this blog any attention. Forgive me for ignoring all of you, but many of you I have kept up w/ and interacted with via Twitter, so I haven't been completely gone. At any rate, the past 3 months were super busy with Paper Concierge, my Etsy shop, my family, friends, and my fundraising at the mini's school. In a nut shell, it all turned me into a complete nut myself, but I am ready to sit back down at the keyboard and start giving my blog a little attention again.

Right now I'm working on planning mini #1's 8th birthday party. Talk about where did time go?! I can't believe my oldest is 8 when it seems like yesterday I was calling caterers for his 1st birthday party. Don't worry, there will be no caterers this year. At 8, it seems they want sleepovers and pizza and wii games, so that I shall provide. My theme this year is the "Lego Olympics" and I'm embarassed to admit I haven't even figured out what that exactly means yet (I did, however, design a super cute invitation that everyone has loved if that counts for anything!)! I do know that we will be doing some sort of lego building competition, and also doing the wii olympics w/ medal winners. However, I need prizes and treats and medals and all sorts of stuff I can't even figure out yet. This is so not like me! And then there's the cake. I always make a big deal about the cake, but do a I have Lego Cake done or an Olympics cake done? Decisions, decisions...

So I'm off for now to start to figure all this out, but I promise I'll be back this time. ;-)

Rewind: Tailgate Entertaining by Southern Standards

This weekend is the Auburn vs UT game and as Auburn Alums, Mr. M and I are beyond psyched that the game is being played in Knoxville this year. WooHOO!!! We've got amazing tickets on the 40 yard line, 50 rows up from the the field so we will be in rare form in our orange and navy, Auburn shakers, and Beam & cokes in hand.

Naturally, this means I am in full-on tailgating mode. What to wear, what to cook, what to pack, and will we even be able to utter a complete sentence after 7 hours of tailgating before out 8pm game? [Answer: Probably Not]

So, in honor of all the SEC excitement in our house this week, I thought it timely to do a Rewind of my post from September 27th, 2006. Enjoy and WAR EAGLE!!

Tailgate Entertaining by Southern Standards

I am fortunate enough to have attended a big SEC college. Trust me when I tell you, this is truly and experience like no other. And in the south, the most important and highly anticipated event for our colleges in the SEC, is college game day. And what defines our college game days at our colleges and makes them like no other game days in the country, is our tailgating. You see, tailgating in the south isn’t just a mere tradition. Oh no, no, no, my friends. It isn’t something we do to pass time before the game begins (you see the game is actually quite often the afterthought). It’s a gift that we pass down from one generation to another. Its social fanfare at it’s finest. It’s the epitome of southern hospitality showcased by good graces, good manners, good southern bar-b-que, and greeting strangers not with a “hello!” but with your school’s battle cry. I mean, don’t dare approach Mr. Monogram or I on a game day with a “Hi there!” as you’re going to receive back a “War Eagle” instead from us. Just like the UGA fans shout out “Go Dawgs” or the Alabama fans shake hands with a firm “Roll Tide” as a prelude to catching up on the latest news. This is just the way it is, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In college, game days meant getting dressed up in Sunday dress in hose and high heels (or at the very least, a cute little stacked loafer and a pair of tights and skirt, and I mean at the very least), and always wearing your sorority pin. Lord help the girl who went to the game on the arm of her date without her pin, I tell you! And as for the boys, well they always wore their standard uniform of khaki pants, loafers, a white button down, a tie with our school colors, and of course, fraternity pin as well. Although as I side note, I must mention that under these cute outfits, double –bagged zip lock bags of our faithful friend, Mr. Jim Beam, was always tucked and hidden somewhere in our undergarments (I recommend the bra, honestly). And yes, as briefly mentioned, you always go with a date, who will pick you up at your dorm at 9am to start tailgating for a 1pm game. I know many of you are sitting there thinking this is ridiculous and that this can not possibly still happen. But it does! And if you don’t believe me then I encourage you to turn on the next ESPN game day at an SEC school and look real closely and take good notes as the camera spans the crowd. You see this isn’t the way it used to be; this is the way it STILL is and always will be. Southern tradition at it’s finest.

So for those of you who went to one of our fine southern institutions, you are likely shaking your head with a smile on your face, re-living your own fond memories of dressing up for football games and waiting with giddy anticipation for your date to come pick you up, and of course, wondering what you’ll wear to the band party later. But for those of you who are reading this as if I’m speaking some foreign language, you might still be wondering what in the world makes our tailgating so spectacular. Well, where do I even begin?

First of all, what other colleges consider early tailgating (Friday or even Thursday), at my Alma Mater (Auburn University) and a few of the other big SEC colleges (i.e. Georgia, Alabama, LSU), it starts at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday before the game, when the massive caravan of RV's pull into our quiet little town on the plains (by massive I literally mean hundreds). And I’m not just talking your every day, run of the mill RV’s either. I am talking million dollar, fully outfitted, top dollar luxury RV’s that most of these people own SOLELY for tailgating and entertaining purposes. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the professional grade big black bar-b-que pits that many of them tote behind them as well. Because, you see, tailgating is an open door policy of booze and food and football and music. The food, if not authentic southern bar-b-que with all the fixings (or “finxin’s” as you will often hear it pronounced), is also often times catered. Sort of a come one, come all! But really I’m getting off the subject as I have heard from a few of you from various parts of the country who want some suggestions on jazzing up your own tailgating.
Now, if you don’t happen to have a million dollar RV at your disposal, then you will no doubt be either walking around, drink in hand to enjoy everyone else’s’ Southern Hospitality, or you will be throwing a bit of your own tailgating party right at home. And while I do not throw a football party with football shaped bowls and dishes and banners, I tend to use the colors as my theme. Or, pick a meal to be my theme. For instance, when Mr. Monogram and I were planning our Fall tailgating party (which we’ve since had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts), my theme was Ears & Beers, Chili & Cheer.
The invitations were very simple with my theme stated as shown in a really cool font and work layout, then followed by all the pertinent information such as time, date, location, etc.. Now, just for fun, at the bottom of my invitation it had read, Attire: Traditional Preppy Southern Sorority/Fraternity Game Day attire Requested, Greek pin optional! Cute, right? Mr. Monogram and I were going to break out our fraternity and sorority pins to wear with our cute little preppy college game day attire, and we were going to do a huge projection screen in the back yard and project the game from a projector. The lawn would be covered in quilts, scattered with pillows and chairs and even some large hay bales for sitting on, and the back deck would be set up for our plentiful buffet. The buffet would consist of mounds of corn of the cob, a half dozen different types and flavor of butter for the corn, and we would have our huge deep turkey fryer filled to the brim, cooking my chili over the burner. All the chili fixings (er, sorry, I mean finxin’s) and side dishes would also be laid out on the table in pretty bowls and different height levels, on top of quilts or table linens to match my team’s colors.

Now, if you are tailgating on campus, then these same entertaining ideas can still apply and it will be a tremendous treat for your tailgating companions and guests. You can even go to Kinko’s and have a banner made for your tailgate location with your party theme on it, to tie in with your invitations. Go to your local fabric store and pick up cute patterns and plaids and solids in your school colors and drape your tables with them to create interest. Whether you tailgate on campus or tailgate in the back yard or front porch, it shouldn’t mean skimping on your entertaining. There is no skimping at monogram mommas! It’s Fall! And what have we started talking about? Pumpkins! That’s right! So incorporate your pumpkins into your fall tailgating. Make a topiary like I showed on Tuesday, but use florals with your school colors instead of fall colors, and try putting your school logo on the top topiary pumpkin, and there’s your centerpiece. Again, instead of monogramming your pumpkins, incorporate your school spirit and school colors into them and onto your tailgating tables. Heck you can even cut off the top of a few synthetic pumpkins and drop a clear or white bowl into them (to make it look super cute, use different size pumpkins so it will also appear like you have different heights on your table) and they instantly become cute and decorative dishes to hold dips and side dishes.

Now, let’s talk about drinks. Now you know I insist on using your monogrammed galvanized drink tub, or even doing another one still with your monogram, but with your school colors. Naturally, beer is a staple for every tailgater, but that means a koozie is too. So bring along or have on hand cute colorful kozzies so your guests can cover up those unsightly beer bottles which you can literally pick up at your local craft store for about 50 cents each in an array of solid colors, and then I would also have some plastic stadium cups printed up with my theme and date on them. I like these from Shindigz and they have a great price too that you can’t beat. Of course, these cups are most helpful for mixed drinks, which in the South, this means two ingredients: Jim Beam and Coke. This is like our game day fuel and is a strict requirement along with the music selection of the Allman Brothers and Lynard Skynard.

As a final parting note, I leave you with these final parting words, sent to me in a timely email that does a good job of summing up College Football and Tailgating in the South. So grab your beam and coke, give it a good stir, and for those of you who are planning a football trip South, here are a few helpful hints that were sent to me, and do a good job summing up our fine tradition and staple of SEC Football.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance
by "Dave Matthews' Band," who comes over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Women's Accessories:
NORTH: Chap Stick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon.
Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Fathers:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America .

Heroes:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani
SOUTH: Archie & Peyton & Eli Manning

Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a
large financial contr ibution and put name on awaiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because
they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the
few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend
festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and Rushes over
to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to
the idiots up north who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never Broadcast from their campus.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it becomes the state's third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on
it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH : Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH: "Nice play."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Commentary (Female):
NORTH: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game.

And They're OFF!

While I will sitting in the baseball bleachers watching the mini's back to back baseball games and not attending Derby Day this Saturday, a good friend of mine will. She is from Lexington and all about the gorgeous dress and big hat for this annual event. Maybe if I beg enough, she'll let me post some pictures, but no promises on this one, girls.


Still wanting to get into the spirit, I've decided the least I can do is make these delicious treats, clearly worthy of the winners circle themselves.

MINT JULEP CUPCAKES
{adapted from Cooking and Booking}

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
4 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup bourbon (or whiskey)
1/2 cup Creme de Menthe

Icing
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mint extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter,
meltedmilk

Instructions:
Cupcakes
1) Preheat the oven to 350º F, and grease or line 30 cupcake cups.
2) Combine salt, baking powder, and 1 3/4 cups of the flour.
3) Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and extracts in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
4) Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
5) Add the milk and liquors to the batter, then the rest of the flour (1 cup).
6) Mix as little as possible, just until the batter comes together.
7) Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups.
8) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool.

Icing
1) Combine the powdered sugar, salt, extracts and melted butter and beat until creamy.
2) Gradually add milk until the texture is right for piping.
3) When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe or spread the icing on top.
4) Garnish with cake sparkles or sprinkles, a straw (trimmed to size), and mint leaves.

photo & source: hostessblog.com

Cut It Out

We are in full Thanksgiving prep mode here at the Monogram's (and by "we" I really mean me). As with every year since we moved away from our family, we host Thanksgiving and do a deep fried Turkey and lots of fabulous sides. Some traditional, some not so traditional. For instance, this year, Paula Dean's fried bacon mashed potatoe's will be on the table (no standard ole boring mashed potatoes for us!). But have I ever shared with you the correct way to cut a turkey? I don't think so, so here you go, just in case...

1. Place the chicken or the turkey (any size) on a cutting board with a trough to catch the juices. Cut through the crispy skin that connects the leg and the breast and slice down, pulling the thigh away from the bird. Continue until you reach the joint and cut through it to separate the leg.

2. Carve off the breast meat in one piece: Slide the knife along one side of the breastbone, as close to the bone as possible. Cut the breast off the carcass.

3. Place the breast meat on the cutting board and thinly slice. Transfer the meat to a platter (not shown).

4. Place the leg on the board and cut through the joint between the thigh and drumstick. Transfer to the platter. Detach the wing where it connects to the bird. Transfer it to the platter, then repeat steps on the other side.


Source: Real Simple

Fins to the Left! Fins to the Right!

Tuesday night was book club, and while I won't do a full Book Club review on this book because I didn't really care for it, I just have to share what I brought for book club as my treat (everyone brings an appetizer or desert to share to the hosts home). The book we read was called Grayson by Lynne Cox. Long story short, it's a a true, coming of age short story (about 170 pages or so) of a woman who is a competitive swimmer and found a lost 18-foot baby whale off the coast of California when she was seventeen years old, training in the dark early morning waters off Seal Beach. The whole story takes place in the water with grouper, sting ray, plankton, sharks, and all sorts of other disgusting stuff in the ocean swimming into her for I don't know how many hours while she tries to help this baby whale find it's mother. I know it's gotten rave reviews and truly, I think would be better suited for a young adult reader, but personally I was just ready for this woman to get the heck out of the water already (I mean really, this book could have been a short story and published in a magazine. It really did not need an entire book).

Anyway, while I don't recommend the book, I DO recommend my treat I took. Y'all know me, when I see the opportunity for a theme I take it and run with it (or rather, swim with it in this case!)!

Beach Themed Cupcakes

You Will Need
-cake batter recipe (or box) of your choosing
-frosting recipe (or container) of your choosing
-blue food coloring
-either blue fruit roll-ups OR grayish-blue card stock

Mmmmmmmmmmm...
Here are my cupcakes fresh out of the oven

I colored my frosting blue, then slathered it on creating peaks with a butter knife to resemble waves. While I had originally cut my shark fins out of blue fruit roll-ups, they started *mysteriously* disappearing so I was forced to use a gray folder as my shark fins.

Pretty cute and tasty treat to discuss a book about the creatures of the ocean, no?

But wait! That's not all !!*in my best infomercial voice*

Now, one step further... I had some leftover cake batter and poured it into a small corning ware dish. I baked it to golden perfection and leveled the top of the cake with a knife. Once I'd emptied the cake out and let it cool, I decorated it to resemble....

THE BEACH!!
The base is covered in the same blue buttercream frosting I used for my cupcakes. The top is covered is plain white buttercream frosting and covered in graham cracker crumbs (from the box that you'd buy to make a crust with). Insert a fun drink umbrella and a broken seashell the mini's brought home from the beach and VOILA!

And I left it behind as a surprise with this little note for all my guys....

Another great idea from Martha.

The Three Sheet Rule

This might come as a shock given that Fall is my favorite season of the year, but I never used to like Thanksgiving. It was always just so boring to me, and Mr. Monogram as well. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, blah, blah, blah. Of course, that was until we moved away and my family started coming here to spend Thanksgiving with us. Everyone (except sister #1 that is, who is here in spirit since she and her family live in Southern CA) comes on Wednesday night, dogs and all, and we pile in and have 3 nights and 2 days of food, fun, food, and games (did I say food?). The kids have such a great time with each other too, and even the canines become a bit frisky running around in the backyard in the cold weather, vying for the ball.

So today and tomorrow I’m looking ever so fashionable in my yoga pants and long sleeved layered tees as I tidy up, put away, and clean up to prepare for my guests. And in that tidying up, I of course will be changing sheets and making beds. I really try to make my guest room as comfy and cozy as possible. I love using a light lavender water/linen spray to really make the sheets smell extra fresh and clean, and in a basket on the table at the foot of the bed I keep extra sets of fluffy towels, and plenty of new shampoo, conditioner, body, hand, and foot lotions, body wash, powder, ibuprofen, etc. I even keep plenty of baby products in the basket too, for our guests who travel with small children. But to me, the most important part of preparing for guests, is the process of making the bed.

It used to be that traveling meant having to sacrifice your comfort when sleeping. But these days, whether you're lodging in a budget friendly establishment or 5 Star Hotel everyone seems to be stepping it up to make it a little easier for us to catch some good z's. So why not jump on the bandwagon and make your guest bed a little more inviting as well? Well I thought you might agree with me so I wanted to pass along the secret to how our favorite hotels make such a divine bed, and the secret is in the sheets. I learned this little fact from Southern Living that the luxury hotels all live by the triple sheet rule. One sheet is spread over the feathertop mattress, then the other two sheets sandwich a nice, thin down filled blanket (or down alternative for those of you with allergies). Place a heavier down duvet on top of all that and you've got yourself a 5 Star guest bed.

Moss Tablescape

When I last left you, I’d promised to walk you through my tablescape for the party (that party that isn’t, that is). So let’s just cut the chit-chat and get started.

Challenge Since the party was planned for 3 in the afternoon, and was going to be outside, I knew I’d have to have my umbrella up over my table to shield the food from the hot southern sun. But with the umbrella in full upright position, that meant there was no way I could have the beautiful centerpiece I’d been dreaming of. *sigh* Therefore, my table really had to be something spectacular. Thinking…Thinking….Thinking……

The Plan Originally I’d planned on literally sodding the entire table with fresh squares of sod, and casually laying fresh red roses and rose petals among the table. I had some beautiful horse head bookends to use, and was going to also float grass and red roses in hurricane’s and top them with serving plates to help me create the multiple levels I love to do so much. But the more I thought about the sod idea, the more risky it sounded to me. Sod is difficult to predict this time of year and what if I couldn’t get it green and pretty enough and I was just left with a table of dirt? That would just not be very “monogram momma,” would it? So flipping through my Southern Living last month I came across this picture. I know it’s a little hard to see, but they don’t have it online so I had to take a picture of the picture. Anyway, the basic concept is a table runner made out of crafting moss. It was perfect! Only I didn’t want to do a table runner, I wanted to cover my entire table.

Execution I checked out the materials list from Southern Living and just decided to triple the amount of moss they suggested (truthfully I had no idea, I was just estimating and I ended up filling an entire cart). My outdoor furniture is Teak, and as I mentioned, I really wanted this to cover my entire table. My plan was then to swag large amounts of ribbon around the table, to match the ribbons I was putting on the fence (the entire perimeter of the yard) and the torches along the back walkway.

You Will Need (for the runner only, not an entire table)
-Felt backed plastic tablecloth (I picked up a green one to blend in)
-2 bags chartreuse colored reindeer Moss-
1 box or 4 bags of decorative sheet moss
-glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions
1) Cut and 18” wide strip from the plastic tablecloth, and cut the length so it will overhang your table by about 7-9”.

2) Glue the chartreuse colored reindeer moss around the entire edge of the runner, then fill in the middle with the decorative sheet moss. It’s pretty much that easy.

A Few Things Since I was planning on covering my entire table, I laid my tablecloth over my table, then traced around the perimeter of my table with a Sharpie. Once I had my exact line drawn, I cut it to shape. Now, I also want to say a few things about the moss situation. There are some really cool different types of moss at the craft stores these days, and I even scored bags of full sheets of preserved moss, called SuperMoss, that is really green and beautiful. So when I picked up my moss, I bought 3 different types so I could make it really textured and colorful in different shades of green.

Another Variation I admit, all this was quite costly and time consuming. But if you like this idea of a more natural outdoorsy tablescape but don’t want to spend all the money on the moss, then here’s what I suggest. Go pick up a pretty floral tablecloth with lots of greens in it. Then buy just a few bags of the sheet moss. Break up the pieces and lay them on your table, both over and under the feet or pedestals of some of your dishes. For instance, lay a sheet under a fluted bowl of salad, then tear off smaller pieces to somewhat cover the bottom part of the bowl. Do this periodically around your tablescape, and the natural look of the moss will blend in beautifully with your tablecloth, but yet provide a more 3-D effect.

Derby Party Update (boy, will you be surprised...)

So, how was everyone’s weekend? Good? Mine was pretty decent. Nothing too exciting, other than preparing for the party. Yeah, THE party. The Derby Party that is. But I have some very sad news on that front. Due to some unfortunate circumstances (coughMr.Monogram) we had to unexpectedly cancel the party on Sunday evening. I know, I know. I’m beyond disappointed. You all know how excited I’ve been about this for a few months now, but with my husband not being here pretty much all week (which just came about on Sunday) there is just no way I can pull this together with completing the yard, the décor outside, the tablescape and all the food without assistance from him this week. And I didn’t even mention lending a helping hand with the mini monograms either. So my beautiful new Derby hat will have to remain hanging in the closet until next year I suppose, unless I get a wild hair and decide to don it to mass next Sunday (which if you knew me, you would know is entirely possible).

But don’t fret! You know what they say, Big Girls Don’t Cry! And once I personally made all the telephone calls to our guests, I do have to admit I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks. Ahhhh… No stress. So perhaps this was really a blessing in disguise although I’m still quite disappointed I will move past it and look forward to other fun and fresh parties to plan in the future. But that doesn’t mean you have to! In fact, quite a few of you have commented and/or emailed to ask me for all the details as you are planning your own Derby parties, so I’ll share with you my entire party outline and what was going to be shaking at the Monogram household. It’s never too late for ideas, right?


Invitations These beautiful invitations went out a month prior to the event. I always like to send invitations in plenty of time when I know the majority of my guests have children and need to make babystitter accomodations. This isn't actually the final result, as I had the printer move the two attire lines and the RSVP line to the bottom left and right of the invitations.

Garden/Yard Décor This is a picture I took to show you what our fence looks like. Originally I was going to do painted aluminum hanging wall bucket thingy on each post with fresh roses (similar to what I have on my front door during the spring and summer), but there were going to be too many. So I scratched that idea. Then I decided to do hanging cones, much like you see florists do at the end of church pews for a wedding. But I wasn’t in love with that idea either. I just really had in my mind I wanted lots and lots of pretty ribbon. So I purchase tons of Ribbon in different textures (gossamer, satin, etc.) and sizes in reds, pinks, and lime greens. I then decided to keep it simple and tie a large gathering of ribbon with really long tails so it would flow very pretty in the light afternoon breeze, to each fence post. Also, each fence post would have clusters of roses tied on with the ribbon as well.

The yard décor was also going to include natural wicker torches filled with fresh roses at the top (in lieu of the fire), and long strands of all the ribbon tied to each one as well, to match the fence décor. The wicker torches were to be placed along the backyard walkway from the entry gate to the back deck (where the food and bar was supposed to be). Speaking of the back deck, did I mention that we added onto our entire back deck specifically for this event? Ughh. Oh well, at least it’s ready for summer entertaining now!

Betting When I mentioned planning this party, a very sweet MM reader, Marie K emailed me and told me they were pro’s at doing Derby party’s and offered to share how they set up their betting. Since we were having a hard time figuring this out ourselves, I was all too happy to receive her advice! Marie wrote, “To keep things simple, each bet was only $1. We didn't take odds into account (image the math headache that would cause!). Before each race, betters would come to me and to place their bets (no limit on how many they could place). If three people bet on the winner, then they split the pot for that race. If one person wins, they get the entire pot (you get the idea) If no one bet on the winning horse, we would carry the pot over to the next race.” Simple enough, right? But another way to make is super simple also is to have everyone drop $2 into the pot upon entrance to the party, and in return, they pick out a folded piece of paper with a contender’s name on it. Whoever has the winning horse after the race, wins the entire pot.

Now, another thing Marie mentioned was going here and downloading racing programs the day before the Derby party. It only costs $1.50 and Marie also told me that she printed up racing cards to match her invitations (as an aside, you can also go to the official site of the Kentucky Derby to get the contenders and their stats). Now, what monogram momma was planning on doing was printing up the racing program onto nice, thick Kelly green cardstock. Using craft sticks, the plan was to make the racing programs into fans for each guest, much like you see done at outdoor Southern weddings with the wedding programs. My thought process was that the party was starting in the middle of the hot late spring day in the South and the fans would be useful on multiple levels. ;-)

Serve Ware Too many people were invited to use my monogrammed dinnerware. And besides, did I really want to spend the entire night after the party cleaning all those additional dishes? So what I finally settled on was clear plastic dishes that look like cut crystal. Normally, I would never do this, but while I did not want dishpan hands for the next two weeks, I knew the party was a little too dressy for paper products. Naturally, all the serving dishes and serving pieces were all going to be my silver and china, lots of hurricane’s and a basket or two for rolls (I love to turn the baskets on their side so the food is literally spilling out onto my buffet table). The napkins (both beverage and luncheon sized) were (are!) white with our monogram in green. They were pre-purchased from an ebay seller I was lucky enough to find, and highly recommend (I guess we’ll be eating off of these things for quite a while!).

Food & Drinks Typical Derby fare was to be served. Here is my menu: Louisville Benedictine, Fried Green Tomatoes, Grits Casserole, Miniature hot Browns (many thanks to MM reader, Kristie for the recipe), Cream Biscuits with Ham Filling, Cheese Straws, Horse Head & Rose shaped cookies, and Grasshopper Pie. As for the drinks, we were keeping it simple. Mint julep of course, sweet tea, iced water, and wine. For the bottles of wine, I’d made personalized wine labels to accompany the party theme, as you can see here.


Tablescape My plan for my table ended up changing a few times, and to be honest, I love the final idea so much that it’s really deserving of its own post. So, I’ll leave you with a picture of what I was somewhat going to do (I was changing this idea a bit) and write more on this later.

So those are the important key aspects of the party.

Okay, so hopefully I've given you one or two new ideas to add to your own Derby party this weekend. And really, don't feel bad for me that I had to cancel. Yes, I'm disapointed after all the planning and preparing I've put into it, but I truly can't pull this off on my own so it had to be done. Stay tuned for the tablescape post headed your way tomorrow!

Reader Requests: High Tea Party Theme

Alright. So there weren’t any jazz hands per say at the big musical program the other night, but there were definitely some rumba moves going on up there so somebody *coughMusicTeacher* has been watching herself a little Dancing with the Stars. So although there were no stars on stage (other than mini #1 that is!), it was a fun and fabulous night that we were sure to capture on camera for pure Rehearsal Dinner embarrassment in the future. A job well done, all around I’d say!

This morning I’m off to drop off the mini’s at preschool, stay for a little parent appreciation brunch in mini #2’s classroom, then meet up with my friend to go see the Southern Living Show House which is about a mile from my house. What’s really ridiculous is that we can’t just drive ourselves there and we have to drive to take a bus to the house, which is within spitting distance of my neighborhood. Apparently the organizers of this little shin-dig haven’t checked the gas prices lately! But before I dash out the door, I wanted to share a great reader request.


Melissa writes:
My daughter Isabelle is turning 3. The past few days we have discussed potential party themes...Spongebob, Lilo & Stitch, Princess...finally we (me) have settled on a "pink & green" theme. This is prob the last year I can get away with having the final say on party themes...so I want to make it nice. With that said...I have no idea what to do. Any thoughts for creative pink & green invite wording? I am planning on ordering cookies from the gal you recommended for the bowling birthday. That's all I've got. It's going to be in the afternoon in Bridgehampton, NY the weekend before Memorial Day. Any advice is most appreciated. You've always have such great ideas.

I love the idea of the tea party theme! I don't know if you'll like this, and I can't take credit for the idea, but I did do some digging and found a SUPER cute tea party idea... A Mad Hatter Tea Party!

Invitations Colorful and wacky. Instruct everyone to dress up in high-tea style.

Decorations As whimsically topsy-turvy as you remember from Alice in Wonderland. Cover the table with bright, clashing tablecloths. Put candlesticks of funny shapes and sizes down the center and adorn them with pink and yellow candles. Use chairs from different parts of the house: tall stools, upholstered uprights, dining-room standards, and so on. Play the Disney favorite in the background.

Activity Charades -- see who can best imitate the Queen, the Cheshire cat, and the rabbit.

Food Cupcakes frosted in green, blue, pink; sugar cookies with bright sprinkles; tea sandwiches cut into the shapes of stars and hearts. And of course tea served in a fancy old-fashioned pot. Hit yard sales beforehand for a mishmash of tea cups and saucers.

Now, if this is a little too "out there" for you, then you can still stick with the preppy pink and green theme. Still have the girls dress up in high-tea style, and purchase white gloves for all the little girls, sitting at their places. All the food and drinks should be pink and green. For instance, use pink lemonade or pink grapefruit juice, or make Shirley Temples for the little ladies as well for their tea party, and a separate special pink drink for the parents (hey, they did bring them to the party so we don't want to exclude them!). A pink and green cake, simple square low glass vases w/ pink and green roses, all stems and leaves clipped so all you see are the tops of the roses, is so elegant and pretty. Tie some pretty pink and green ribbons on the teacups and silverware, and even have them decorate a May Pole type activity, and at the top you could glue a vintage teacup. How beautiful would that be with all the ribbons streaming around the pole w/ a beautiful old delicate teacup on top?! I'm not sure what her room decor is like, but in my mind that would make for a pretty decoration and nice memory to keep in a little girls room.

I would also see if you could have a 3-D cake made in the shape of a teacup. Perhaps to match her invitations or the teacup on top of the little pole if you opt to do that activity. If you decide to do the Mad Hatter party, then you could also go online and print up some coloring pages for the children to color as well. For party favors, I would do a personalized teacup (name or monogram) and saucer for each little girl to take home with her, and maybe a custom cookie inside the cup. Try Laura Poland w/ Max's Mom's cookies (weddingcookie.com) who did my son's favor's for his b'day party in Feb. Call her up and tell her I sent you. She's wonderful and can pretty much do anything, even if you don't see it on the site. Sure, you could go to a much bigger company like Rolling Pin Productions, but I really like to try to support fellow mom's of small business whenever I can.

Oh, and don't forget you can also request your guests wear pink and green also, and have your family coordinate in the party theme as well! It will make for excellent photo opps! That's all I can come up with right now, but hopefully this will help a bit.

Good luck! I'm sure it will be smashing!

P.S. I have some cute photo's of cakes and the like that I'll try to post later. For some reason blogger was taking forever to upload photo's this morning.

Eminger Berries: My Heaven on Earth!

I'm stuck in the middle of decorating hell right now, but I had to stop in and tell you that Mr. Monogram and I had the most decadent deserts sent to us from Eminger Berries. You may remember I mentioned them back in December when we were talking about gifts of food. I had seen them on Food TV with those cuties Bobby & Jamie Dean, and their stuffed strawberries positively made my mouth water. Well I must say, we were fortunate enough to receive a lovely box of these treats, and let me just tell you they are PURE heaven on earth.

I really have no idea how on earth Susan over at Eminger Berries does this, but it's pure genious is all I have to say. It truly was the most decadent desert we've shared in a long time. So if you are looking for a special gift of food for someone special (I mean, how much would your parents love to receive these on their anniversary?), then I highly recommend this company. They are all so friendly and this was a truly memorable gift to receive that I will not forget!

Strikes & Spares

Whew! Am I tired or what?! It’s always amazing to me how hard I work to get the house clean and in order for out of town guests and then it ends up even messier by the end of the weekend. Oh well, it’s worth it. The boys had a great time with their grandparents in town for Mini #1’s birthday. The party was fantastic and all the kids had a really great time.

I’m sure you can decipher the party theme for yourself. Yep, bowling! It seems that day a couple months ago when I took the boys bowling, was a huge hit. So mini #1 really wanted a bowling party. I must say, I was a little skeptical at first about this idea, but it was really fun. And in my party planning process, I found two new absolutely fabulous vendors I am so excited to share with you!

Now, you all know me, so everything not only has to match but completely coordinate. And a lot of the times, I use colors as my theme but this time I used my invitation as my theme. I have to tell you, I had a really hard time finding a cute and original invitation that I was pleased with. Nothing was jumping out at me. I did find some really cute bowling shoe invitations but at over $100 for a very small quantity of invitations, that just was not going to go over too well with Mr. Monogram if you know what I mean. So I hit up my old standby, ebay. One of my friends always uses ebay for invitations and I never think to check there. But I was all over it this time! That’s when I found these adorable invitations from Paper Cuts LLC. I really wanted his monogram added to the top of the invitation and Kelly was so sweet to accommodate me and even included an extra invitation for keepsakes. She had them completed and in the mail to me the following day if you can believe that! I couldn’t have been more pleased with how cute they turned out and the 3-D bowling ball attached to the invitation was a such a fun detail!

So with the invitations all sent out, I had to work on the cake. I mean, we all know the cake is pretty much the main attraction at any party, right? And after scouring the internet I found an adorable cake design over at Family Fun (a really great parent/teacher resource, btw). I printed up the design, took it to the bakery and the final product was beyond cute. Mini #1 was super excited about his cake although I must say, I was not thrilled with the black and blue mouths the black icing from the bowling ball left!

Needless-to-say, the kids bowled and danced and had a really fabulous time at the party. The grandparents were a huge help and even bowled a little themselves. This was amusing to me since I don’t think my mother has ever throw a bowling ball in her life! But everyone had a fun. And when it was time for the party to end, I was most excited about the party favors. I am not a big fan of handing out bags of candy at the end of a party and really like to do something unique and memorable for the favors. So when my friend forwarded me Laura Poland’s cookie website, WeddingCookie.com, I knew I’d found my favor! Think Rolling Pin Productions but without the inflated price. I called Laura a week before my party and told her what I had in mind. And while she didn’t exactly have what I was looking for, she found the cookie cutter I was looking for and had the cookies finished and Fed-ex’d to me on Tuesday. By Thursday they were waiting for me at my front door, completely in tact and perfectly packaged. Laura was so great to customize the cookies to match the birthday party invitations for me, again, tying in my theme, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. They arrived already individually packaged and tied with a matching red ribbon and I must say they were a HUGE hit! So if you’re getting married, throwing a baby shower or some sort of party, make sure you call Laura. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on her website, call her anyway and see if she can help you out. Her prices are unreal for the quality and size of favor you are getting and I can’t recommend her enough.

So I guess it’s time for me to stop procrastinating and get back to picking up all the mess around the house. Thanks to everyone who left sweet Happy Birthday messages for mini #1! He was so excited for his party and his birthday that he was dressed and ready by 8 a.m.! I’ve got a great project for tomorrow, but right now I’ve got to go. Hope you all had a great weekend!

P.S. You know I can’t sign off without mentioning Britney’s shaved head! WHAT?!?!

Treats for your Sweet

Unfortunately I do not have a whole lot of time for chit-chat this week (you've probably figured that out already though). Never fear, I’ll be back to my Chatty-Cathy little self by next week. But this week has me getting things pulled together for both mini’s Valentine’s Party’s, getting ready for mini #1’s 5th Birthday party (which is Saturday), and doing a thorough cleaning in every corner and crevice of the house since our family will begin arriving on Friday morning. Top this off with another potential private school visit too. So this week is a little hectic for me, as it is every year.

At any rate, I realize today is Valentine’s day and while some of you like going overboard for this holiday, other’s of you are probably like me, and just prefer something low key. So I thought I’d give you a few really simple but memorable deserts you can whip up for your someone special. And don’t fret that you don’t have the ingredient’s sitting on your pantry shelf. One quick stop into the grocery on your way home from work will provide you with everything you need, but yet not leave you standing on your feet for hours attempting to make banana’s flambé.

Chocolate Mousse Box
5 Hershey‘s® (or a higher end brand such as Ghiradelli if you prefer) chocolate bars (1 cut in half)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Small plastic bag or piping bag

1 recipe chocolate mousse

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and pour into a small piping bag for “mortar.”

2. Use one whole Hershey’s® chocolate bar to form the base of the box.

3. Pipe melted chocolate along one long edge and press a second whole bar upright into the melted chocolate to form the back of the box. Hold in place for about 30 seconds until set.

4. Repeat using one of the half bars to form each end of the box. Pipe the melted chocolate along two sides of the bars to form the corners and set onto the base, making solid contact with the back. Allow time for each piece to set before moving to the next.

5. Finally, pipe the melted chocolate around the two ends and one long side edge of another whole chocolate bar and set it into place to create the front of the box. Let set. Box can be completed the day before serving.

To Serve: Pipe two spirals of your favorite mousse recipe into the box and gently rest the last chocolate bar on top to form the lid. Garnish with fresh flowers or berries.

Chocolate Balloon Bowls
1. Wash and sterilize a regular balloon. Blow up balloon to double the size of your fist and tie off (note: this picture shows smaller bowls than I recommend).
2. Melt any flavor chocolate and let cool to approximately 88 degrees. **Warning, if the chocolate is too hot the balloon will explode and create a mess*** I recommend melting chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute at 50% power. Always stir after each minute.
3. Hold balloon by the knot and dip halfway in chocolate. Roll balloon so it is coated well
4. Place dipped balloon on a wax paper or parchment paper covered tray and put in the fridge.
5. Once chocolate is hard 5 to 10 minutes, remove from fridge. Pop the balloon, which should peel right from chocolate and you have a beautiful bowl.

These bowls are a easy yet terrific way to wow and amaze your friends! Put a decadent mousse or pudding inside or even some homemade ice cream and it really creates a special treat.

Chocolate Custard Bags

1. Cut the top off of an unused, coated 1-lb coffee bag to a height of 2-3".

2. Melt semisweet chocolate chips in microwave (use my above directions and make sure to continuously stir!)

3. Using a pastry brish, apply several coats of the melted chocolate to the inside of the bag, allowing time to harden between coats. When fully set, peel the bag away from the chocolate.

4. Fill each bag with your favorite mousse or custard and garnish with fresh berries.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Getting in the Game

Naturally you love to entertain. That’s one reason you come here, right? I assume it’s one of the many things we have in common. But sometimes we all decide at the last minute to have friends over, kick back and relax (kids or not). So when Mr. Monogram and I have friends over, one of the things we love to do, is to play games. Yep, the secret’s out. We are BIG, HUGE, ENOURMOUS board game loving people. And if you come over, like it or not, be prepared to sketch your best rendition “crybaby” in the game of Pictionary (on dry erase boards no less because we are serious over here) or, whip off some quick descriptions for Taboo, or even sit down to challenge us in the Newlywed Game (sadly, no belated all expense paid honeymoon trips for prizes at the Monograms though). So sit back, grab your pen and pencil and take note of a few great games that can often be found at the Monogram’s and make fun housewarming gifts, shower gifts, and just gifts for your own game cabinet.

LCR Dice Game We were first intorduced to this simple little game back in August when we hosted the dinner party for Mr. Monogram's staff. And I must say, this is a super portable, easy, and FUN game. Seriuosly folks, this is a $6 game that fits easily in your pockets and is really fun to whip out. The more people the better, and we like to switch it up by putting money in the pot ($5 per person in the game for instance) or instead of using chips, use quarters. Just when you think you're out of the game, someone else can drag you back in!

UNO Attack I know we all grew up playing UNO and I have to say, to this day, it is our all time favorite card game. Our UNO cards have traveled the world with us from Italy to the Caribean! But UNO Attack is a new version where the cards are stacked in a little machine thingie (I know, I'm using strictly technical terms here today) and you never know when you draw a card if your going to get just one card or 12 cards could get spit out at you. It's tons of fun!!

Pictionary Another all-time favorite of the Monogram's! We like to play men against women (need I tell you usually ends up winning?) and as I briefly mentioned, we have white dry-erase boards that we break out when we play Pictionary. It's easier to draw and erase and also much easier for your team to see what your doing.

Dirty Minds I swear this game is PG! But this game is great for that group of people you get together with who tends to read something dirty into everything someone says. So the dirtier the mind you have, the worse you're going to be at this game because all the answers area actually clean!

Battle of the Sexes Another good game that puts men vs. women. The women answer male related questions and the men have to answer female related questions. Typically if there are one or two metrosexuals on the male team they do tend to dominate this game (although between you and I MR. Monogram is really horrible at this game!).

Scrabble So this one is only good for 2-4 players, but it is a true classic, and very nostalgic for Mr. M and myself. When Mr. Monogram and I were dating, we spent many a boring summer evenings challenging eachother in Scrabble to see who was smarter than the other! To this day, we regularly break out the scrabble board on vacation and here at home when there's nothing going on on a Friday or Saturday night (yes, I realize that is quite sad!).

Taboo One of my all time favorites! remember the Million Dollar Pyramid? Well it's sort of like that but with a really fun and annoying little buzzer you get to push when the other team messes up!

Catch Phrase Another portable game that is great to throw in your vacation bag or take with you to a casual dinner party. It's sort of like an electronic version of Taboo but at a much faster pace and a timer that soundd like a detonator. This one will really keep you on your feet!

Scene It TV Version We don't have this one ourselves, but I've played it and it's a blast! There is a movie version, a Friends version, etc.. but since we are big TV people at our house, I really enjoyed playing this game

Mad Gab We bought this game for our brother-in-law and it's a hilarous game that's a twist on words. This game is great for 2-12 players.

Ourburst Who doesn't love a game you can yell at?! This game is loads of fun and a great party game!

The Newlywed Game As I said, we also have this one and it's a really fun one! It doesn't matter if your newlyweds or not, but it is a ton of fun to play with a few other couples (and one of the only games where we don't put men against women!).

I would love ot know what games Martha like to play. Think she plays the Apprentice board game?! Anyway, this is by no means a complete list, but just a few of our favorites, that I highly reccomend for get togethers. So when you make that daily stroll into Target today, make sure you pick up one or two for your weekend social gathering, open a bottle of wine and have a fun evening of a little game competition!

Super Sunday

About this time last year, I remember hearing a statistic that the most commonly sold and consumed food on Super bowl Sunday is pizza. You probably aren’t too surprised to hear that though, because pizza commercials seem to double in on-air time the week leading up to the Super bowl, and then of course, they all know we’re watching and waiting to order at halftime anyway, so they really beef it up for the actual Super bowl Commercial (as every advertiser does). But just because Pizza Hut and Domino’s are vying for your thirty bucks this last weekend in January (first weekend of February?), doesn’t mean that’s what you necessarily have to serve your guests.

Now let me just say it right now. I do not host Super Bowl parties. Why, you ask? Well truthfully, I really just don’t care or get into the Super bowl. We are SEC people through and through. Don’t get me wrong. We always have the Super bowl on and if an invitation is extended, we do attend a party. But I myself do not care enough about the Super bowl to warrant throwing a party for it. But that being said, I know many of you are big Super bowl fans and are looking for some fresh ideas. So here goes.

Super Bowl Sundae instead of making burgers or pizza the half-time event on Sunday, why not create a Sundae bar complete with everything your guests need to make the ideal Super Bowl sundae? Make sure you pick up different types of candy bars (chopped up of course), cookies, brownies, toppings and fruit galore, and since everyone is already in the competitive sprit, have a Sundae Souper Bowl competition of your own, complete with prizes for the winners of the best and most creative sundaes!

Baked not Fried one of my favorite casual entertaining appetizers is blue cheese chips. Now, you can go all out and make homemade potato chips in the oven yourself, which is what I like to do a lot, or you can save yourself the trouble and pick up a few bags of regular Cape Cod Potato Chips (no funky flavors for this). Lay a nice full layer on large Pyrex, corning ware, or any large platter than can go in the oven. Then liberally put blue cheese all over. Then another layer of chips, another layer of cheese, and so on and so on until you’re at the top and it essentially looks like nachos. You then want to take Marie's Blue Cheese Dressing, and without saturating, cover the chips w/ the dressing (you could add some to each layer with the bleu cheese if you prefer as well). Pop in the oven at about 350 degrees until all the bleu cheese is nice and melted. Take out, and voila! An instant crowd pleaser!

It’s Chili Outside Setting up a chili buffet is one of my favorite fall and winter things to do when entertaining. It is so simple and so fun for everyone. It’s also easy to eat because everything is contained in a bowl so it makes for great football food. I myself, do not like beans, so I always make beanless chili, and then have a warm pot of beans on the side. This is a great option for any vegetarians too, because while they may not care to partake in the chili, they can still have fun with the buffet with a bowl of beans. When you put your buffet together, don’t forget things like baked potato’s (warm in the tin foil), sour cream, chives, bacon, different types of cheese, jalapeno’s, various hot sauces, Frito’s (yes, some people like to put Frito’s in their chili too!), and onions.

Dip Tip I know I know. You like dips on Super bowl Sunday. And that’s fine. Who doesn’t? But make it a little more special and fun on the table by hollowing out veggies such as red cabbage and artichokes. You can even hollow out bell peppers and use them to hold taller veggies such as asparagus!

Chinese New Year Keep celebrating the Chinese New Year and have a Chinese buffet for your guests. Put all those take-out menus to good use! The best part is, you don’t even have to worry about plates or dishes! Instead, hit up your local party store or ask your favorite Chinese restaurant if you can purchase extra Chinese take-out containers. Your guests can use those as their bowls for their food and it makes standing and eating so much easier because everything is self contained.

Okay, so now you hopefully have one or two new possibilities you hadn’t considered for your Super bowl Sunday bash. I have no idea what Mr. Monogram and I will be doing. Most likely it will be laundry for me, but here’s hoping you have a Super Sunday!

Help Needed

No, I'm not placing a Want Ad. Well, ok. Maybe I sort of am. Here's what I'm looking for...

A loyal monogram momma reader emailed me a request that I simply can not do on my own. Yes, that's right. Hence, the "Help Needed" notice above. So I now need the help of my fabulously creative and responsive readers to help out a fellow reader. And well, help out monogram momma because I have been wracking my brain for DAYS over this, literally writing all sorts of brainstorming lists, and I keep coming up with ZERO. So here are the specifics.

Reader J has just moved into a new abode. So since she was too busy unpacking boxes during the holidays, she decided, very cleverly I might add, to have a housewarming/Chinese New Year party. Like I said, clever, right? I mean, talk about a built in theme! So she's got all her decorations, food, linens and dishes figured out, but she's missing the key ingredient. The invitation. She needs help coming up with cute/creative/clever wording for her invitation. So there you have it.

Can you please help out a fellow reader and make any comments or suggestions as to how she should word her invitations? Any and all suggestions welcome since again, neither one of us has been able to come up with anything creative at all!

Now, in case this will help, here are a few things I've brainstormed that might help you put something together...

chinese new year
new house
housewarming
fortune cookie
chopsticks
good luck
year of the dog
food is ready, paper things al hung
Ni Hao 4707
New Year, a New Home!
Fortunes and Food
chopsticks & Rice

P.S. I'll be back with a preppy project later on! Would you believe I'm still vacuming pine needles and moving furniture back around? Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Help Needed

No, I'm not placing a Want Ad. Well, ok. Maybe I sort of am. Here's what I'm looking for...

A loyal monogram momma reader emailed me a request that I simply can not do on my own. Yes, that's right. Hence, the "Help Needed" notice above. So I now need the help of my fabulously creative and responsive readers to help out a fellow reader. And well, help out monogram momma because I have been wracking my brain for DAYS over this, literally writing all sorts of brainstorming lists, and I keep coming up with ZERO. So here are the specifics.

Reader J has just moved into a new abode. So since she was too busy unpacking boxes during the holidays, she decided, very cleverly I might add, to have a housewarming/Chinese New Year party. Cleaver, right? I mean, talk about a built in theme! So she's got all her decorations, food, linens and dishes figured out, but she's missing the key ingredient. The invitation. She needs help coming up with cute/creative/clever wording for her invitation. So there you have.

Can you please help out a fellow reader and make any comments or suggestions as to how she should word her invitations. Any and all suggestions welcome since again, neither one of us has been able to come up with anything creative at all!

Now, in case this will help, here are a few things I've brainstormed that might help you put something together...

chinese new year
new house
housewarming
fortune cookie
chopsticks
good luck
year of the dog
food is ready, paper things al hung
Ni Hao 4707
New Year, a New Home!
Fortunes and Food
chopsticks & Rice

P.S. I'll be back with a preppy project later on! Would you believe I'm still vacuming pine needles and moving furniture back around? Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Simple Silver Cleaning

I am so far behind in all my holiday endeavors this year, that I haven't even had time to polish my sterling yet. Not to worry! You know me, in the true spirit of Martha and all things proper I would never serve my guests with tarnished silver. But instead of spending hours upon endless hours with this daunting and boring task, I'm going to give this little trick a try. Actually, my job shouldn't be so difficult since I keep my sterling in it's proper box it was meant to live in, but I still have a few pieces here and there that could use a little sprucing up, as we all probably do.

Many thanks to one of my new favorite websites, the Consumerist, for posting this little gem. I knew you all would love this little silver polishing short-cut.

Add baking soda and a bit of aluminum foil to a pot of water, add the silver you want to polish and boil away to your hearts content!

In other news, I can't believe it's already Thursday and Christmas Eve is just 3 days away. Where have the days gone? I swear it's like I've been asleep all fall and now, all of the sudden, Christmas is here and this momma is just not ready. I've still got some shopping to do myself, all the wrapping has to be done, decorating the dining room, and the cleaning. OH, the cleaning. UGHH. If there ever was a time I needed a Christmas miracle, it would be now (okay, so technically, a second Christmas miracle since my first was the discovery of my heisted wedding set last week).


At any rate, I will be hopping on probably a few times today and making more posts than usual because well, I just have a lot to say I guess! We had a great time yesterday with friends and today we're making and baking our cookies. Kroger here we come! (that is really more of a warning than an announcement to you Kroger employees, btw, since I will have the mischievous mini monograms in tow)

Center Stage

If there’s one thing about my mother, she has always made a big to-do about setting the formal dining room. Even as a little girl, I can remember getting to help properly set the table with all the fine china, crystal and silver. What a treat to go pull everything ever so gently out of the large armoire in the entry way, listening to the bone china ding and rattle against each other as I carried the cups and saucers, one stacked inside another. Of course, by today’s standards it would be considered vintage given that they’ve been married 41 years, but I digress.

The table always looked beautiful with beautiful fine linens and napkins, place cards, and floral centerpieces. But it’s not just the centerpieces. Leave it to my mom to sporadically place other small accessories and decorative items along the table to as we sat and dined, there was always something to look at and see down the tablescape. I guess she was my first "Martha."

So really it should come as no small surprise, that I get a lot of joy in setting my own dining room. It just really brings me back to being a little girl in my Christmas finery, white tights and black patent leather mary-janes. And while I do no have the expansive 14’ table my parents do, I really enjoy setting my formal china, crystal and sterling at the holidays, and also coming up with creative centerpieces. Although I admit, mine never looks anything like my mom’s with the multiple fabrics and runners, ribbons, and flowers galore, but it’s it usually ends up being more than I end up having time for so it’s just fine for the Monograms.

Last year I was determined to be prepared with lots of great ideas for my table centerpieces this year, so I pulled some great ideas out of a "Christmas Ideas 2005" magazine (which I *think* was put out by MSLO). So I thought I'd share them in case you are hosting that final party or gather this weekend, or for Christmas Eve or Day, or even for New Years. Of course, you know monogram momma has your back so they are all simple and fresh ideas, that you can pull together in no time flat, but that will really sit center stage on your dining room table.



Cyndrilical Rose Arrangement I have picked up these glass cylinder vases for under $4 at my JoAnn's store, so I'm guessing you probably can too. Strip the rose stems of all thorns and leaves (saving the leaves), then cut each stem to the same length, which should be shorter than the height of the vase. Fill each vase inside with the roses, trying to make them stand up as straight as possible with on leaning. Then take your leaves and line them up around the outside of the vase, securing them with a rubber band, then topping that off (and hiding the rubber band) with a pretty red taffeta bow. Now THAT'S simple!



Coffee Bean Design If you've been hanging around me long enough, you already know that I love to decorate with natural things that I can easily pick up at the grocery, such as split peas, coffee beans, kumquats and cranberries. By sticking a smaller vase with your water and actual flowers inside the taller, large vase here, you can then pack the larger vase, surrounding the inner one, with coffee beans (to keep them dry). In shorter, smaller vases, just fill with coffee beans and place a votive inside. When the votive starts warming up, it will gently warm the coffee beans and exude that fresh coffee aroma.




Mint Julep There are so many things you can do with mint julep cups. Seriously. And although the hydrangea's (as shown here) are near impossible to find this time of year, you can still fill your mint julep cups, or small silver vases, with moss and minty green holiday balls for a festive table top look. How great would these look sporadically placed along a buffet table?







Rustic Holiday Table If you've got that more rustic or woodsy holiday look going for you, then I love this. This would look great even more casually on the kitchen table or island also. And I know we've all got extra greenery and tree branches at our disposal this time of year too. If you don't have any extra laying around your garage as I do, then run over to your local tree lot and they are usually happy to give the trimmings away for free to anyone who wants them. By placing them in a pretty red flower pot, including some burlap in the mix, a few red ornaments and pine cones, you've got yourself the perfect little pot.



White Christmas Artificial trees can pretty much be found anywhere right now. Heck I even saw small ones for sale at Walgreens Drug Store when I ran in there on Saturday to pick up a prescription. And this close to Christmas, everyone is practically giving them away too. So pop your head in, pick up a small one, spray paint it white, followed by a can of spray Snow, and you'll have yourself this lovely little white tree. They've used star ornaments here, and placed it in a very inexpensive aluminum tin that you can pick up in the paint department of your local home improvement store. And to create the look of snow in the bottom of the pail, pick up a large container of good old fashioned Epsom Rock Salt to add to that wintry, White Christmas look.



Rosemary I love these bushes. I love their shape, their smell, just everything about them is so wonderfully Christmassy to me. So dash on over to your local garden center and pick up two in whatever size you want (make it fit with the size of your dining room. For instance, if you're room is large with high ceilings, then get larger ones. But if it's on the smaller size with a low hanging chandelier, then pick up bushes on the smaller size), then place them in pretty decorative pots on the table. Add some festive ribbon and for little effort and cost, you've got a great statement.




Single Rose How simple is this? Well if you like a more streamlined and contemporary design, then place one single large bloom (either real or good quality faux) in a round vase. These vases are inexpensive in the floral section of the craft store. You can do several of these all the way down the center of your table at spaced intervals.




NOEL Who doesn't have extra candlesticks and ornaments hanging around this time of year? This is a simple and fast centerpiece but yet very eye catching, don't you think? It's a little casual for me, but this would also work on a mantle, sideboard, or sofa table and look very festive.








Low Lying Color Want something a little closer to the table and not hovering high above your head, obstucting your view from the person accross the table from you? Then this is just for you. If it were me, I'd use one of my elongated silver bread platters, lay down some festive greenery and leaves, then put some colorful Christmas balls on top for my low lying splash of color.







Wreath Who says it has to belong on the door? Run over to your local craft store and pick up a few wreaths and use them as centerpieces with candles in the center, or by placing your dishes in the center of the wreath. I love this idea for a buffet table, where you can put your caserole right in the center, while drawing attention to the dish with the greenery that surrounds it.




Wrap it Up You're already in the midst of wrapping, so why not wrap up a few extra packages and place them on the table for your centerpiece, or on teh buffet table. If you opt to use them on teh buffet table, then use lay the boxes so the bows are in the dront, and you can place dishes and napkins and food on top of the boxes, giving you all those levels and heights you know monogram momma is always so keen on doing.






Peppermint Sticks This is fun and kitschy but at the same time, sort of elegant. Either Glue or use a rubber band to affix the peppermint sticks to your glass vase, then wrap a ribbon around it, add a little florist foam inside and stick in all those beautiful roses to create that heaping festive mound.