Christmas in Georgetown

Georgetown?  Not THAT  Georgetown, I'm talking about Georgetown, Massachusetts.  Last night, my sister and I and my sister's friend attended a fabulous Christmas party in this lovely north of Boston town.

I have so much to tell about the party. I thought I threw a good party but this one was really fantastic.

First of all, I got invited to the party as a guest of my sister.  My sister is friends with the home owner/party hostess. You can add a number of titles to home owner and party hostess such as gourmet cook, interior decorator, etc. Jolie is one talented woman and all of her guests benefited from her talents.

I'm sorry but many of the photos came out blurry. I guess the low light made for a beautiful ambiance but not for beautiful photographs. This shot of the dining room shows how charming this home really is. It is very old, built in the 1700's old and it has many wonderful details.

Our hostess made her own garlands. She is an artist by profession and her home decor is elegant with a touch of whimsy. Just the kind of style I admire.

Just look at that mantel. Fantastic architectural details. So elegant and Jolie of course made the wreath. Oh to have such talent!

Stockings complete the look of the fireplace. I think the fireplace actually works but it was not needed last night. There were so many attendees at the party there was enough body heat to go around!

There is a bar off the living room. Some of the guests relaxed in the pub atmosphere.  I loved the green doors leading to the bar.

Jolie's sister played keyboard and my sister accompanied her on the violin.  We even had a sing along. It put everyone in the Christmas spirit.

And then it was time to eat. Morgan, the English Mastiff was well behaved.  He did not go after anyone's food. What a gentle giant! I have never seen a dog that big!

Did I mention that Jolie is also a gourmet cook? She and her daughter made all the food for the party. We had crab cake appetizers and they cooked a turkey, pork loin and a ham! The scalloped potatoes were my personal favorite and they went fast.

There were so many desserts and again they were works of art. A buche de noel.

Assorted cookies, swedish wafers, greek cookies, spritz, and so many more! Cheesecake and a tart. I could not possibly try everything. Jolie gave boxes for any one who wanted to bring some treats home.

These "mushroom men" were made from marzipan and look at their adorable faces! So cute.

I forget what this dessert is called.  It's french and made with cream puffs and a spun sugar accent. It was tres magnifique!

Eating in the kitchen and eating in the dining room. No one was going to go hungry at this house!

I told you Morgan is a very large dog!

A beautiful tree at the back entrance.

The Christmas village took up an entire wall in one of the rooms. It was magical!

After all the eating, we had a Christmas concert. We relaxed and enjoyed our favorite Christmas tunes.

It was a most enjoyable evening.

Jolie created such a warm atmosphere in her home and I

am very grateful that I could enjoy the experience. Thank you Jolie for inviting me

and making me feel so welcome! 

Wakefield Holiday Stroll

The weekends have been so busy that sometimes I forget to post about an event I attended because I attended multiple events that day and night.  Such was the case with the Wakefield Holiday Stroll. I had attended the Home for the Holidays in Melrose that morning and posted about it.  That evening I attended the Wakefield Holiday Stroll.

 I almost didn't attend the Stroll because I was tired from attending the Melrose event, an antiques fair in Malden, and a visit to my Mom's nursing home.

I am glad I did attend. There were bonfires.

And lots of freebies like free popcorn and mulled cider, hot chocolate, cookies, and coffee.  The merchants decided what they would offer. The popcorn guy was outside of Century 21 Real Estate.

 And the Carolers were inside of Christopher Barrett realtors and outside of The Savings Bank.

An ice sculptor worked his magic on Main Street. Actually he did a few ice sculptures in front of various businesses.  Dancers performed on the impressive steps of the library.

 A concert from Wakefield  Music took place at East Boston Savings Bank's Wakefield branch. Such a talented group of children!

Some people dressed in their winter best. I loved this woman's ensemble especially the cool hat!

I love this shot of this little one anticipating a visit to Santa inside The Savings Bank.

 This church looked so lovely with it's green doors and simple wreaths. Perfect!

The tree in the Square looked wonderful when illuminated.  Wish I had a better shot of it.

So there you have it, the Wakefield Holiday Stroll. Something for everyone really, sort of a mini First Night with a small town twist to it.  I hope you enjoyed strolling around with me.

Recap of the Christmas Soiree and my 400th post!

Last night I held my 3rd annual Christmas Soiree.  Luminarias once again lined

the walkway. I got the idea from Martha Stewart's blog.

I ordered all of the food from Zuzu's Cafe in Wakefield and I have to say everything was perfect! They delivered my food at exactly the time I asked them to. Everyone loved the appetizers and sandwiches.

We had caprese bites with balsamic dressing and mini phyllo cups filled with salmon salad with mango salsa, buffalo chicken salad and one with spinach and feta.

The caprese bites were delicous, Tomato, mozzarella, and basil on a skewer, yum!

I ordered two small baked bries, one with fig jam and one with cranberry orange relish. They were complemented with crackers and berries.

The finger sandwiches were also delicious. There were three kinds: roasted vegetables with goat cheese, roast beef with cheddar and horseradish,and chicken salad with cranberries and almonds.

My friend Diane works at Starbucks and I hired her to make lattes and espressos at the party. She had a lot of customers and some people wemt back for three or four drinks. I really enjoyed my gingerbread latte.  If you are a long time reader of my blog, you will know that Diane is Oscar's foster mother.  They had a wonderful reunion prior to the party. Diane's beau, Michael, also helped with the drinks.

Diane makes a perfect latte.

I used tea cups for the hot drinks.

My friends Roger and Deborah surprised me with a visit from Santa. Their son Nathan was making the rounds last night and he stopped by briefly.

And he posed for photos with the guests. I was totally surprised and when he walked in the door I wanted to say you've got the wrong house but I was polite. Then I thought is he going to rob me?

There was not much left of my White Christmas Punch by the time I took this photo.

Lots of conversation with friends. And the party lasted about 5 hours.

I ordered these little Marie Antoinette angels from Australia. They arrived in time for the party but I had thought they would have been perforated and I would just pop them out off the sheet.  No, they had to be cut out. My sister cut all 16 of them out for me the night before the party.

This cake was the showstopper. Midnight Velvet cake made by my friend Mary. She also made

snowdrop cookies and shortbread and also gingerbread cookies and red velevet cupcakes.

Paul enjoyed many espressos.

I took a few shots the night before the party. My tabletop living room tree. I don't put up a large tree as Percy would climb it and destroy it.

I used some twinkle lights to illuminate the bird cage and later I added a flameless candle.

Percy loves to watch the "fire" in the fireplace.

Here's another shot of the teenage Santa Claus.  I think there's a seasonal career in the making!

Today, we were all exhausted and we lazed around a bit. The kitties loved my new Rachel Ashwell comforter.

The two boys looked so cute, I just had to take another photo of them.

As I mentioned in the title, this is my 400th post. Wow, it's amazing that I found 400 things to write about!

Hopefully, there will be many more.

I am linking to The Inspired Room's Christmas House Tour blog party.  Click here to see more posts.

Prepping for the Christmas Soiree

My annual Christmas Soiree is this Saturday.  As usual, I feel  like I am behind the eight ball. I barely have the condo decorated. I need to clean and shop for food.

If we don't have rain I will put out the luninarias again. They always make a statement at the entrance.

Hopefully, the TV will be wall mounted over the fireplace by Friday. I have a friend of a friend coming to do that on Thursday.  He will also hang the new chandelier in my dining room.

I still do not have curtains on the windows so the living room will probably look like this. Actually I have a new tree. Last year's tabletop tree had to be tossed, the lights went out on it. So a new small tree for the living room.  Also the lit garland has half of it's lights out so I think I will either put up some real greenery and a string of lights or scour my storage space in the basement to see if I have another prelit garland..

There will be another show stopper cake. Midnight Velvet, yum!  This is the cake from Soiree #1. No one would cut the cake because it was too pretty. Finally my sister cut the chimney off and finally the guests began to eat it.

Last year for Christmas Soiree #2, I served this cake. A little less impressive so the guests ate it.

I may go back to the cake from Soiree #1. It really is impressive.  We will also have red velvet cupcakes and assorted cookies.

ZuZu's Cafe is doing the appetizers and sandwiches for me.  I can't wait to try the brioche sandwiches and mini phyllo cups.

And I am having a barista at the party.  Yup, my friend (and Oscar's foster mom) is going to be serving gingerbread lattes and peppermint mochas. 

So there's lots to do before Saturday I'd better get started..

Home for the Holidays

Every year in the City of Melrose, Massachusetts, there is a downtown celebration called Home for the Holidays.  The businesses in several sections of the city open their doors for some holiday cheer.

Each business decides what they will offer whether it is discounts on merchandise, free gifts, or food and drink.  They usually cater to the kids so there are lots of activities for children like cookie decorating and story telling.

Carolers stroll the downtown streets and add some Victorian flair to this City noted for it's Victorian homes.

This window at Breads 'N Bits of Ireland reminds me of an old fashioned display.

Lots of smiles today.  The weather was perfect.,  Not cold but just chilly enough to make it feel like Christmas time.

City Hall looked elegant as always.

My bank offered the children an ornament making activity.  We also had cookies and Elaine's famous White Christmas Punch.

Reindeer rides at Cedar Park were a big hit.

Bohemian Coffeehouse had a raffle for a basket of baked goods.

Turner's Seafood sold cups and pints of clam chowder.  I can attest it is delicious!

Santa arrived at the Cedar Park train station.

Coffee Tea & Me had lots of goodies to be enjoyed.

There were trolleys to transport the attendees from one neighborhood to another. I am so thankful the weather cooperated .  One year it was bitter cold with a wind chill that made it even worse and no one rode the trolleys. Everyone drove their children to the events that year.

But today was perfect in every way. Thanks to the Melrose Chamber for pulling it all together.  It was a great success!