10 Parties of Christmas

Well it was such a busy Christmas season and I cannot believe it is over..It started with our second annual Humane Society Wednesday Walkers party. There were twelve of us that attended dinner at Marciano's. It was delicious food and a lot of fun. We played the "Dirty Santa" game and everyone kept stealing gifts from one another, so that was a lot of fun, I ended up with the gift that Celia brought. Marciano's was a great place for a large group of people, they food and service was excellent. 

My second party was our annual Alpha Chi Omega Alum Dinner. There are six AX's here in Memphis but only four of us could attend. I really hope to see Lauren and Sara soon, its been too long! We started out at Spindini where we had a drink and some yummy calamari. I've been to Spindini many times, as had Brooke, but Andrea and Kelly really enjoyed it, especially it being their first time. We then had a truly wonderful dinner at The Five Spot. The Five Spot is located in the back of Ernestine and Hazel's. I believe it seats about 12 people and maybe 3 more at the small bar.  The host, waiter and chef was all in the same, a guy named Murphy. I had the blackened fish with some delicious mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini and squash. All of the entrees were about $15-$25 and well worth every penny. We were also able to bring in our own wine and sampled the yummy ice box pie. It was a little chilly in there, so we kept our coats on during dinner..

The third party was the Volunteer party at the Humane Society, it was a potluck and we had lots of delicious food from Costco Pizza to Popeye's Chicken to Vegetable Lasagna. I brought cupcakes. They are so easy to make and I know that they will always taste good, but I need to be on the lookout for some new recipes for my next year of parties. Hey, I'll go ahead and make it a New Year's resolution. Lots from my Wednesday walking group came as well as Tamara. I could only stay a little over an hour, because I was double booked that night..

After attending the volunteer party at the Humane Society, I made my way to Julie Ware's house for the Fourth Annual Jazzercise Cookie Exchange. There were almost 20 of us there and everyone brought six dozen cookie to exchange. I brought these. I have been trying to add Flax to my diet, so I decided to add it to everyone's diet. Courtney had some fun games planned and we played those most of the night as well as having fun in our Christmas socks. Julie preferred we take off our shoes in her home, so the Christmas sock contest was won by Randy in his green slippers with snowman heads on the toes.  

Saturday I had another back to back day of parties. Brooke started things off with an all girls Cupcakes and Cheer party. She baked 300 cupcakes (I cant stay away from them!) and provided everything to decorate them with including the boxes to take them home. I made two boxes and brought them to the next party as my 'potluck' item. Brooke's mom made the BEST meatballs!! I think I had about 25! 

After Cupcakes and Cheer I swung by the house to get Tony so we could go to Brenda and Jared's potluck dinner. I drove from one end of town to the complete other..Harbor Town to Arlington. It was good to see Brenda, we hadn't seen her since she has been expecting Grady. She looked adorable of course. There was lots of yummy food there, my favorite was a chicken dish that tasted like hot wings and cheese. I'm sure totally fat free too :) We played Dirty Santa there too and Tony ended up with a Starbuck's gift card and I got this heavy, heavy, glass frame. Now, which picture to put in it!???

Friday of the next week, again we were double booked. Randy and Diane hosted us for a dinner party. They had our usual Jazzercise group over and we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Diane. We took our usual group pictures and then Tony and I had to leave to make it out to Eads for Melvin's surprise party. 

Leslie had a surprise party to Melvin at their house, but we had to miss the surprise because we were already invited to Randy and Diane's for dinner. Since Melvin and Leslie are in Eads it was an easy drive over from Cordova after our first party. We made it in time for dessert and some yummy drinks. Melvin apparently was surprised and got to see a lot of his close friends for the celebration.  I'm really glad that we met Melvin and Leslie this year. 

Christmas Eve, Winter had us over her new house in Arlington. She just moved and already has it decorated and put together. It actually two streets over from her old place. Winter has a great family that we have been around several times. We played some fun games, ate some great food, and drank some wonderful wine. Winter had decorated her house with trees in every room, it looked great and so festive!

Christmas Day we woke up pretty early..I made us a yummy breakfast then we opened gifts. Tony did a great job getting me a lot of things that I wanted and needed. I think he was really happy to get his golf lessons and he really liked the two hats that I got him. Lane and Lennox had fun opening theirs too. The rest of my family was in Atlanta, but we had decided to have a non traveling holiday this year and stay in Memphis with our boys. It was really nice that we had lots of offers from our great friends to spend the day with them. We then went over to Randy and Diane's for lunch/dinner. Diane made another fabulous meal with some of my favorites and the best rolls I have ever had. We got to also hear a lot about their son Will's travels and meet their friends Bobby and Richard that we hear so much about and of course its always nice to see Carrie and Tres. We always have a great time with them and they are really good entertainers. We ended the night watching a movie. It was really a nice Christmas...