Halloween has always seemed like the point at which someone signals that the race to the ‘Holiday Season’ is on… Thanksgiving, Christmas (in our home, Hanukkah in others), New Year’s Eve, New Years day… and then…. WHEW!

I was caught in this race year after year until I eased the pain a bit with pre planning. This year I am relying totally on a timeline list. It works for me in every other area of my life… when I remember! I have been delaying a huge project in my life due to many factors, most of which were unavoidable. Yesterday, Hubby insisted that I set a deadline (in 3 VERY short weeks) to get it finished and off of our minds. To make this happen in the midst of work, family and the coming festive season will require long days and short nights, but strangely enough I feel released. I also know that this pre planning will make life so much better.

I suggest to everyone that a reasonable timeline  is a great guide for anything that you need to tackle, be it work or play. Just remember to not cram too many chores into the Holiday schedule… it only creates more stress…. I know that from experience! I have been guilty of that very thing more times that I care to count! An example follows:

• Do your deep cleaning first and soon. However, unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t attack a huge project now.
• Make a list or lists of events, guests, menus, chores, gifts… everything should be committed to a list and off of your mind.
• With your lists in hand (or on the computer), plan your calendar so that you can allot some play time in between to ‘must dos’. Of course the more you do early, the more stress you remove from the Holidays… or so I’ve heard!
• With early planning, bundling your entertaining ventures together into consecutive days is a favorite trick of many hosts and hostesses. The major prep is done once so that cleanup and set up for the next event is much easier! Just make sure that you build from small to large party so that the last event is the one that will require the most after the fact cleanup.
• Research early to find what events are planned for your community that you are interested in attending or that your guests would find fun. Planning a party around a community carrolling stroll, a production of a holiday play, a concert, a parade or lighting show… whatever is happening in your area… gives you an instant theme and entertainment all in one!

• Leave time for simple pleasures: driving to see the Christmas lights, a cold weather picnic while choosing a tree, gathered around the fireplace with hot chocolate and cookies looking at photos of Christmas’ past. The memories are the gifts we give ourselves!

Every year, for the last twenty or so, I have vowed that in July I would plant a variety of pumpkins to use for holiday decorating in the fall. I haven’t done it yet… for many reasons that all seem reasonable at the time. However, as fall approaches, I am always disappointed in myself that I didn’t do it… again.

Certainly I can head to the farmers market or even the grocery store to procure my giant squash, but somehow I miss the charm of growing them myself. Not to mention the savings! (I only the count the cost of the seed packet and tend to ignore such things as soil enrichment, fertilizer and water!) Yet, once again, I’ll be searching for the most interesting pumpkins, squash and gourds I can find to set the mood for fall. Luckily for me, my husband is ready to began that task on Labor Day every year! Jumping the gun a bit, I think, but never look a gift horse (or squash) in the mouth! Oh, look, I made a little Jack-o-Lantern pun!

So, for those of you so inclined, mark your calendars to plant pumpkins in 2010. Remember that it takes about 100 – 125 days ’start to harvest’ to grow pumpkins. Assuming that you will want to start harvesting them in October, not at Labor Day, aim at mid-June to early July for your plant date. Seek out all the fun varieties that you want to try, but remember unless you are going to sell them commercially, one or two mounds per type would be enough… depending on how many different types you select. So what to do with the other seeds? SHARE!! Spread the love and get other friends to join the fun by planting their own crop. Or even more fun, do it together and divide the chores out!

Happy planning! Enjoy the coming season!

This past weekend I entertained two of my friends from high school and college years… well, I would have liked to have entertain them, but none of my usual ‘weekend guests’ plans actually panned out.

While not an excuse, I must mention here that 1) we are living in limbo between houses as one is on the market and the other is a tear down… literally, 2) to the point of their arrival, I had only spent 5 days that month in town, two of which were working on the before and aft of a wedding and 3) due to issue #1, many of my belongings (including things I actually need) are in storage. Thereby the saga begins…

It is, admittedly, very poor form to invite friends to stay with you and then not actually be home upon their arrival. Poor form indeed. I arrived back in town a full two hours after my guests arrival. Luckily, they were able to squeeze in a visit with other relatives and friends while waiting on me. So late was I, that the dinner I had planned to prepare was postponed for another day while they ate out with the above mentioned friends and family. Oops. I must defend myself a bit here… car trouble delayed our leaving town that morning, which pushed our entire work schedule off, then it was blown entirely while we aided our daughter’s search for a sold out lab book she needed for a college class… and by aided, I mean we paid for it.

Finally I arrived and my husband retreated to the other house to allow us some ‘girl time’… I’m sure he thought that it was for his own safety and sanity. He would be correct. It was in the few minutes between my arrival and my friends’ that I realized that I had no clean sheets for the twin beds we had ’staged’ in our daughter’s bedroom. She took her bed to college with her a couple of years before when she moved out of the dorm. I borrowed twin beds from my sister to use while selling the house. We only had one set of sheets for the beds and I had NO IDEA where they were. Too late to run to the department store now. That was also about the time that I realized that the lamp from the other guest room (formerly our son’s) had no lamp on the night stand as I had snatched it to put in an apartment he had years ago. What a way to welcome guests… one in the semi-dark, the other with a king-sized sheet set on a twin bed… looking like a dressed up Olson Twin, all swallowed in fabric!

The rest of the weekend, while fun, was hardly gracious! Meals were slapped together, I had to squeeze a few hours of work in here and there, and nothing was ‘on schedule’. Perhaps that is what made it fun. Flying by the seat of our pants much as we did in high school and college. We’ve known each other for so long, been through dating, weddings, the birth of children, the death of all but one of our parents, one of us has suffered the loss of her husband, but we three have been there for each other through it all. So I’m guessing that darkness and excess sheeting are easily overlooked. Not sure about the chihuahua ‘treasure’ left in one room as they departed…

Can’t wait until November when we will all have the opportunity to be together again!

Sometimes a party is a party because of the people you are with. Such was the case this past week of non-stop party merriment with my son, Winn, his lady, Cheryl, my daughter, Jordan, and good friends and travel mates, Babette and Morgan. Jordan and I traveled with Babs and Morgan to NYC for a semi-impromptu trip to have a fun mother-daughter weekend, do some bargain shopping along Canal Street in Manhattan and on Fulton Street in Brooklyn and best of all, spend fun times with these great folks.

My son lives and works in NYC and the opportunity to see him doesn’t come very often. Our group dined well, had great mini cocktail parties at sidewalk venues and laughed often. Our time together was a party!

Here is the key to traveling with a group… you don’t have to do everything together. Simple as that. When some of our party was worn out from shopping (my daughter and myself), but others were ready to see the new exhibit at the Met, we readily parted company and then rejoined later in the evening. That gave our traveling companions the opportunity to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and discover an outdoor free movie event at a park near the bridge! In the meantime after a brief rest, Jordan and I were able to meet up with Winn when he finished at the studio, have dinner together and have a great time, Babs and Morgan joining us for an after dinner refreshment!

We spent those 5 days celebrating Babette’s birthday, which gave a reason to celebrate, but being with people you enjoy is the beginning for any great party. However, that said, a couple of phone calls made a fun evening at a theme restaurant more fun when Babette and her birthday cake became part of the floor show and the entire restaurant joined the fun! The more the merrier and the usually ‘not wanting to be in the limelight, Babette’ had grand fun as well!

Morgan and Jordan in Times Square

Brother and sister!

After several months of painstaking rebuilding, LovedTheParty.com is finally back up and open for business. I have been marketing the heck of the site and have gotten some interesting calls from friends and clients. Now, I thought that I had been pretty open about what I’ve been doing for the last year and developing since January of 2007. Apparently, I don’t get out much! I have been surprised how many of my friends had no idea what I am doing with the site. Several folks have asked if LTP is a franchise that I have purchased. No. Although there are some franchises out there and I did check them out, I felt that my years of retail experience would allow me to use my own contacts to put this business together.

I suppose since all of my ‘non-working on my interior design business’ hours have been consumed with LovedTheParty.com, I assumed that those close to me would know. I thought I mentioned it…

Well, they know now and thanks to Chris McNabb and Tim Lewis at KeyCreative.com the site looks wonderful! Many thanks to them!

Nest Place Card Holder

Spring is such a great time… especially here in Texas when summer can just be so overwhelming with heat. There are lots of things to celebrate in this great weather: weddings, showers, and graduations. Don’t forget birthdays, new babies and religious celebrations.

With that thought in mind, I have so enjoyed watching the baby barn swallows who have taken up residence on top of my ceiling fan on the covered porch of our boat house. They cheep a lot and peer over the edge of their nest to see what we are doing. Mom and Dad Swallow are not very fond of us being there, but they don’t need to worry! We enjoy watching their babies!

This annual avaian rite touches many hearts, which makes me just love these wonderful place card holders.

Twig Nest Place Card Holder

They also make great favors when filled with edible eggs! Perfect for garden, spring and woodland themes.

We are in the middle of Spring Fever at LovedTheParty.com! Not only are we doing house cleaning, by way of a TOTAL redo of our website, but there are LOTS of parties for young brides, graduations, Mother’s Day celebrations, weddings, proms, and many other fun gatherings! This weekend alone, I am co-hosting 2 bridal showers and attending an engagement party!

The purpose of this blog is to share some personal experiences in the planning business and ideas for hosting your own parties and events!

I hope to make this a daily posting! However… I know myself well enough to know not to promise anything!

In the mean time, grab a pad of paper, a calendar and a pen and start making a list of when you would like to have some parties… large or small… and who you would like to invite. Parties can be simple and don’t have to breeak your budget at all! As a matter of fact, one of the best things that you can do for your soul during tough economic times is to gather friends together to laugh, share life stories and enjoy a meal. Remember it is perfectly OK to provide the entree and ask your guests to potluck the side dishes when it is a casual gathering of close friends!

You can also offer a simple casserole and salad or plan a festive hot dog cookout with ice cream sundaes. It’s in the other details that make a good party great and will have your guests enjoying themselves so much that they don’t want to go home!!

This Entry

“Spring Events” was written April 23rd, 2009