T minus 5 days and counting...

This Saturday is our annual Christmas party.

Every year we invite everyone we know over for food and fun. One of the major draws is that my mother and sister-in-law makes a ton of sushi. Now, I am not a sushi person, but my friends sure are. Whenever the invites go out the first question is always, "Is Akiko making sushi?" I would like to think my friends would come even if she wasn't, but I'm a realist :0)

Every year the preparation routine is the same. On the Monday before, I get my carpets cleaned. I know some of you are thinking I'm crazy to clean the carpets before the party, but they REALLY need it and it just makes the house feel cleaner. It also forces me to deal with the piles of clutter that seem to accumulate in the corners. Once the carpets are cleaned, we set up the tree and start to decorate.
I don't have a ton of stuff, but I really like the things I have.
After the decorating, I go shopping for the food. Now I'm not a big "give everyone I know a gift" kind of girl, but I do love to entertain my friends, so I see this as my gift to them. I was smart last year and after the guests went home (around 3 am) Akiko and I sat down and made notes on what worked and what didn't. The biggest lesson from last year was let folks bring stuff.

Last year we killed ourselves and it was a lot of work. So this year when folks ask if they can bring stuff I say sure. That way they know there will be at least one thing they will like :0) Even though we are taking help we still have a pretty big menu. Appetizers are so fun to make and it seems like everyone has a favorite.

This year the tentative menu includes:
Various Sushi
Beef Satay w/ peanut sauce
Hot wings
Hot Artichoke and Crab dip
Bacon wrapped dates
Deviled Eggs
Piggies in a blanket
Sweat and Sour Meatballs.
Prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe
Bruchetta
Baked Brie
Hummus and veggies
Random Christmas cookies
Chocolate Fountain and stuff to dip

Yup, it will be a lot of work, but I'm hoping to spend most of Friday prepping the food and that will Saturday for last minute cleaning. We are still waiting for the RSVP's to come in. I'm so greatful for those who have already done it, but I'm still waiting to hear from over 20 couples. I just want a good crowd. I hate that awkward silence at parties. At least we have some stuff for our guests to do. We have darts and Foosball downstairs and Joj is wanting to get Guitar Hero for the Wii. I don't know about that, but it might be fun later in the evening once everyone is a little more loosened up.

I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving. We sure did, but it was go, go, go. As I look ahead at our calendar every weekend is full, but it is the good kind of full filled with lots of friends and family. My goal is not to stress this holiday. I'm trying to keep things simple and really only do the things that I WANT to do. We shall see how that goes.
Happy Monday everyone :0)