Well fa la la, my friends, it's December! And you know what that means: time for decking the halls, and gobbling sugarplums (whatever the heck those may be), and generally making merry. And in the calmer moments of the holiday season (if there are in fact any of those) I like to try to stop careening around like an over-caffeinated elf for 10 seconds or so and reflect on the true meaning of this time of year. What's really important, here? Sparkly decorations? 10,000-calories feasts? Fancy new toys? Well, sure! Wait, no, I mean of course not! I know this one...oh yeah! Catching up with friends, reconnecting with family, and nourishing your spiritual side, whatever form that may take.
With this in mind, I began planning for our annual Holiday Open House, an event that, while it never fails to bring much "comfort and joy" (hey, just for kicks, let's see how many Christmas songs I can work into this post, shall we?) also causes me massive stress each year. Granted, I do recognize that it's 100% self-inflicted drama, as I concoct an ambitious scheme involving multiple kinds of food with varying preparation times and degrees of difficulty. By the time I've scurried around to different stores to secure the ingredients and undertaken the actual assembling of the edibles, I'm already frazzled and tired, which ends up ensuring that I don't enjoy my own "reindeer games" as much as I should. Why do I insist upon doing this to myself, you may wonder? I guess it's because I've always had this notion that--as an intelligent, detail-oriented Adult Female--I just ought to be a natural Hostess Extraordinaire and be able to pull off magical Feats of Entertaining. (Logically, I know that's utterly ridiculous...I mean it's not like I have a degree in Crafts and Cooking from...Ladies' Finishing School, right?)
But with my newfound (even if most likely temporary) sense of self-awareness and inner peace, I reached a moment of astonishing insight into my own character. I suddenly realized with crystal clarity: I am NOT Martha Stewart! (Now let's all pause for a second to breathe a collective sigh of heartfelt relief...for oh-so-many reasons!) I will never pull off a 25-step appetizer recipe. I absolutely refuse to create adorable little napkin-holder-thingies from fabric scraps and a hot-glue gun, just so the table can look more festive. And you know what? I could not care less! Much, much more importantly, my friends and family will still show up, have a complete blast at my shindig, and at the end of the day, will still love me just the same. (I know: DUH! But for me, it was a freakin' revelation, I tell ya.) So what did I do this year to get ready for the event? One word: C-O-S-T-C-O. That place is a veritable wonderland for the lazy--um, smart--Party Planner. (One example of many: they carry what is possibly the best item I have ever seen: pre-cut cheese slices, sized to fit on crackers. Seriously? That's soooo brilliant! Now if they only sold "figgy pudding"...)
Once I laid out the spread and had time to relax (yay!) and await the arrival of my guests, I was struck by one final bit of personal knowledge, something admittedly so obvious I should have recognized it all along: my specialty lies in envisioning the desired outcome ("enough food for a medium-sized throng of people"), drafting a plan of action (i.e: "choose menu"), and implementing the necessary procedures for success (which we now know means simply "shop at Costco"...and "artfully arrange food on table") rather than "preparing a Gourmet Banquet from scratch". In other words, if you need anything organized, I'm your girl...but if you want something flambeed, souffled, or...decoupaged (yeah, like I even know what that means) you're on your own! Now let's just step away from the glitter-paint and have another cannoli (made from a Costco kit, naturally)! After all, it is the "most wonderful time of the year"!
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