Before and After- Party Version

So in the interest of honesty I am going to show y'all what my house looked like an hour or two before my guests arrived. If you attended the NYE shindig, avert your eyes! My house is always perfect, I promise!

Hee.

 My fridge is full of sliced potatoes sitting in water to prevent browning. And pork. And cheese.  A pretty tasty fridge, although I had nothing to eat for lunch.

I want to thank you readers for all of your wonderful charger suggestions.  I ended up buying 2 dozen from J.C. Penney- $9.99 for a set 12.  Get thee to Penney's and buy you some on sale!  Cheaper than Wal-Mart with the added bonus of not having to go to Wal-Mart.

 The chargers looked lovely with my julep cups, cheap metallic glass candle holders from Cost Plus-World Market, burlap runners, and gold ornaments.

The living room was filled with two square card tables, each sitting four, and two long tables seating six.  I rented the chairs (the same ones I rented for the park party this summer), and ended up renting the silverware.  That was a stroke of genius!  Instead of counting the silver for 30 people, and scrabbling together a few sets, fretting whether a piece of my good silver got thrown away, I simply had to rinse everything in prep for the party rentals place dishwasher.  And it was about $25!

Mama brought me over some nandina and holly from her yard, which we stuck in my julep cups for the dining room table and the tables in the living room.

We sat down to eat around 10 PM (so continental and glamorous, no?).  My potatoes were a bit al dente, but I took a big gulp of wine and forgot about it. Well, not completely, as I just got irritated with myself thinking about it.  Bygones.

I'll be back with more pictures, and recipe reviews. Here's a spoiler- melted cheese is always a hit. . .

Saving Faith

I don't normally do this, but Shelley and I were laughing about how if I got all my reader to donate 75 cents, y'all could buy me that pink polka dot Milly dress I covet, when I received this e-mail-

Adopt A Golden Knoxville recently took in a 8 week old golden retriever who we named Faith. The breeder that originally had her could not sell her because of possible neurological issues. They refused to put her to sleep and asked us to help them. We could not say no. One of the many missions of Adopt A Golden Knoxville is to help goldens like Faith find the treatment they need and then on to the best home possible.

As I write this email, she is being looked over by neuro specialists at UT Vet Hospital. We are hoping they can save her but it will cost at least $2500 or more. We need your help. Even if it's $2.00, $10 or even $100, any amount will do
Adopt a Golden is the rescue organization from which we adopted Buddy.  If you have a spare dollar, please help save this little girl.  You can visit Adopt A Golden's website for more info-
http://www.adoptagoldenknoxville.org/
 
Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with recipes and such!

Starting 2011 in Shambles

 I have plenty to report on with the party- it was a hit (even though my potatoes were underdone).  However, in the resulting mess, my house looks like above.  It has slowly been put to rights, although my living room furniture is still scattered about the house.

Image from A Charmed Wife.

Resolution- be more of a cleaner, and don't procrastinate.  Oh, and I gave up Chick-fil-a yesterday.  Until my brother's wedding, (except on road trips).

I firmly believe that now I will magically lose five pounds before appearing in Kingsley's wedding.