A Christmas Soiree

I invited my teagroup and their husbands, fiancees, etc over for a Christmas Soiree. It was actually an open house. I served appetizers and desserts. The forecast was for a blizzard and I had people coming from all over New England, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Luckily, the snow did not arrive until around 1AM and the party was over before rhe storm hit.

Hours before the event, my friend Don and I plumped the sofa pillows and carefully placed the throw only to have Oscar jump on it and undo all our hard work.



I hired my friend Mary to do the baking for the party. I wanted a sort of Hansel and Gretel cottage-like cake, a chocolate cake with a dusting of "snow". Mary made this gorgeous Midnight Velvet Cake, oh the smell of it! It was a feast for the eyes and the nose. Only one problem, it was so beautiful we didn't want to cut it!
Finally my Sister took the knife and cut out only the chimney so we could taste the cake and still enjoy it's beauty.



Here's another view. I took this one with a flash.



I have a very dark entrance to the condo. So I decided I would like to line the steps and walkway with luminarias. Cream colored bags were filled with kitty litter, glass votive cups and white votives. Ir was very windy and we only had to re-light one of the candles. We kept checking to make sure there were no fire hazards. It looked so beautiful! My Sister and Don went outside (it was bitter cold with the wind chill) and set up the luminarias for me.




We had little pinwheel sandwiches along with mini quiches and cheesy stuffed mushrooms (Paula Deen's recipe).




We had good conversations.




Is Roger feigning surprise? He knows I always have a camera in one hand.



Sheila was part of the "kitchen crew". She helped bag the gingerbread "snowangels" which would be given out as party favors at the end of the night.



Here's Mary stirring the hot chocolate. I served MarieBelle Aztec Hot Chocolate.
If you are a serious chocohoic used water instead of milk. But we used milk because we were going to float snowflakes in the hot chocolate.



A tray of snowflakes waiting to float in the hot chocolate. I saw the idea in a Martha Stewart Living magazine a few years ago. They're made with gelatin. Mary made them for the party and they came out so cute.



Look how sweet they look in the hot chocolate. We also had a White Christmas punch and mulled apple cider that made the condo smell heavenly!



We also had a red velvet cake as a secondary cake. Good thing since we did not want to cut the Hansel and Gretel cake.



Mary made her lemon cookies too. My Dad calls them snow drop cookies. I like the name!



Here are a few of the remaining snow angel favors. A few of them broke so we were calling them fallen angels. Mary said they all had Scarlett O'Hara waists so they would break in the middle. But they were cute and delicious so it was fine.

I had to keep the kitties in the bedroom. I did not want them underfoot and I didn't want to worry about them getting out so they stayed on my bed. Molly slept on top of the comforter and Oscar hid between the comforter and the throw that was on top of the comforter. He was hysterical, a little lump in the middle of the bed.

I think a good time was had by all. I know I had fun with the preparations. Well I had fun decorating and coming up with some of the ideas. I never enjoy housework.

I took photos of the condo and the decorations. I'll post them sometime this week.

Melrose Trolley Tour

Last Saturday, the City of Melrose held it's annual Trolley Tour, just one of the events of the Home for the Holidays weekend. The Trolleys run for most of the day taking riders to various venues in the City. Businesses host special events and open houses. There's lot of food and fun activities.

This year Victorian Carolers strolled the downtown area.



The heart of the City had a holiday feel. Victorian lightposts were decked out with wreaths
and snow was predicted for the afternoon.



The trolley made it's way to a stop.



Children made ornaments at one of the venues.



White Christmas punch for the trolley riders.



A piping hot cup of chowder or chowdah as we say in Boston hit the spot on a cold, windy day.



Our four legged friends enjoyed the tour too.

Home for the Holidays is the perfect family event and a great kickoff to the holiday season.
Melrose has a lot to offer, fabulous restaurants and shops. There's something for everyone!

More snow and Christmas decorations

Another snowstorm this week and a shot of my neighbor's barn. I love the red against the snow.


More snow scenes.



I'm continuing to decorate, probably overcompensating for the lack of decorating last year when I moved in December. I have so many Christmas trees in the condo you'd think I was holding my own festival of trees event. This one is in the hallway.




My French themed top of the bookcase vignette. An Eiffel Tower clock from Ebay (a present from my sister), grate from Home Goods, and a fleur de lis topped tree from an antique store, prelit garland from QVC.




Fluer de lis wreath hanger from Painted White and a wreath from Michael's. The wreath was plain with just a plaid bow. I brought the wreath to my friend Beth and I gave her a child's tea set I bought at Sage Farm last week. I asked her to put the set on the wreath for me. I knew she could make it beautiful and she did. I love the silky ivory bow and the mini tea things are adorable.



Remember the feather tree from a previous post? I added a little bling with some silver strands. I think it looks a little better now.



This is a reprodcution of a vintage sign. I bought it last year at a store called Valentine's in Lexington.



A bit more bling for the doorknob. i bought this piece in Beverly last Summer.



Now to the main tree in the living room, it's a small 4 foot prelit tree several years old from QVC. Notice the skate ornament. There's always skate ornaments on the tree.




I like how this ornament reflects the light.



Gotta have at least one cat ornament on the tree.




This Santa has the coolest robe. Green corduroy with faux fur trim. He came from BJ's Wholesale Club many moons ago.





Vintage ornaments and more prelit garland. Again a clock, this time it's faux, nestled into the greenery. What's with all the clocks? I think it's telling me to finish up with the decorating and start focusing on the baking.

What do you do on a Snowy Sunday?

You admire the beauty of the morning, soft white branches against a bright sky. And you thank God you are inside, looking outside from the warmth of the kitchen.



You realize that newly fallen snow is magical.



You notice the neighbor's house and shrubbery looks like a scene from a Christmas card.



When you get tired of looking at all that beauty...you can make goofy faces at the camera.




Or take some time to decorate the little feather tree you found at that great antique store in Melrose. Don't forget to throw in a little holiday music. Anything by Windham Hill will do.

And, there you have it, a perfect Snowy Sunday.

Daytrip to Sage Farm Antiques

A friend of a friend told me about a fantastic place for antiques. I love to go antiquing so I took a vacation day on Friday so I could see for myself.

My friend Kim joined me and we made the trip north to North Hampton, New Hampshire to check out Sage Farm Antiques. It only took about 1 hour and 1 toll to get there. The theme for the weekend was Over the River and Through the Woods.

This dress form was one of the first items I saw so I knew I was going to love this place. Kim and I both wanted the dress form but we decided to spend out dollars elsewhere.



I love anything to do with skating but these skates did not come home with me.




I thought this scale would be a fun addition to my kitchen but I didn't even price it.




Although I love this. I think it might be a little over the top for my home.



Every display was so interesting. This picnic basket had a tea set with it, cute!



Yes, of course I bought some vintage ornaments. I couldn't resist!



Cool doors and windows. If only I had the room!



How could you not go inside this place?



You know this went home with me.



Here's a view of the property. Perhaps I should have started with this photo.



After all the shopping madness, Kim and I went for breakfast at the Village Pancake House in Rowley. We were starving at this point. We each had a full breakfast and then we split an order of cinnamon pancakes! Ok it only amounted to one each and Kim took the other one home.

I would eat my shoe if it had cinnamon on it!

I got some really great things at Sage Farm and one of the items I bought I will post about very soon. I just don't have the photos yet, but, stay tuned.