boy am i glad THAT'S over!

Gourmet Girl had a gig on Christmas day. My first large party. Buffet dinner for 25 people.


My clients were so thrilled with everything, they have already booked me for next christmas.

barbie's annual ornament party...

way back on december 7th, i hosted my annual ornament exchange. normally i have it on the first saturday night in december, but this year i decided to do a bruch on the sunday morning. i cooked everyone waffles and we all made zip-loc omlettes. there were cookies, mimosas and egg nog for everyone.



inside that pretty blue box above were the handmade ornaments that notsoccer mom made. i took them from the table but they were promptly stolen from me. :(

this is the gorgeous hand made ornament i ended up with. it was made by notsoccer mom's sister.

moo in his christmas collar. not very happy about it as you can see...

barbie in moo's christmas antlers.

we can all be princesses.....

do you live in the south bay? (san jose, campbell, los gatos, sunnyvale, santa clara, cupertino)

do you have a daughter between the ages of 3 and 13?

you can make her feel like a princess on her special day.

contact Enchanted Events today to book a princess party for your little girl.

give her a birthday she will never forget!

annual ornament exchange party

i held my fourth annual ornament exchange party on saturday. this year we were the biggest group ever. eleven of us! i made a ton of mexican food and we talked and ate and had a few beers. the party started at around 3:00 pm and the last guest left at about 11:15. i am still exhausted but it was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls (and one guy).

so, it was another successful party and i got a start on planning for next years party. i try to always do it the first weekend in december because people get so busy as the holidays get closer. so next year it will be a brunch on the morning of december 7th.

if you are in the neighborhood and would like to be included, let me know! i always say, the more the merrier.

Oh, and NSM: i hope you need beer for the hawaiian christmas at your house because i have a bunch left over.

mandatory fun...

my company holiday party was held on saturday night at the lovely Cypress Hotel in cupertino.

i took roommate L as my guest. we had a nice time, the food was terrific and we left by 8:30 because i was just done. i had hit the wall.

left to right: roommate L, coworker susan, barbie2be

only saturday! YAY!

it's only saturday today. tonight i went up to my niece's condo. she finally had her house warming party. there waas a lot of food, and a lot of conversation. it was fun. and a nice change to get out.

Mixology Monday X - Festive Occasion...

The Spirit World is hosting MixMo for December. The theme for this month is "A Festive Occasion" so I chose to make Candy Cane Martinis for my Annual Ornament Exchange.

Candy Cane Martini

2 oz of vodka
1 oz of peppermint schnapps

shake with ice in cocktail mixer
rim martini glass with crushed candy cane or sugar and garnish with a candy cane.

the third annual holiday ornament extravaganza...

yesterday i hosted my third annual ornament exchange. i used to do a cookie exchange but then i had weight loss surgery. what on earth would i do with 8 dozen cookies?

anyway, i do this as a way to get together with friends and give everyone a little cheer before the holiday crunch sets in.

i am a cook. it's what i love to do. this year i made two different types of cookies (with my new PINK kitchen aid mixer!). i also made Ilva's pesto and a sun dried tomato pesto for the baguette that i bought at le boulanger. there was also some yummy cheese spead that i got at A.G. Ferrari in sunnyvale. We had a lovely veggie tray that one of the guests brought and then the main course was something new and different this year. i had pizza dough that i picked up from the nice folks at Premier Pizza. i had three different types of meat, plus olives, mushrooms, onions, and two different cheeses and everyone made their own pizza.

i made vanilla martinis and also came up with a special holiday martini for this event as well as the mixology monday event coming up... the Candy Cane Martini.

after dinner we drew numbers and then we started the ornament exchange. everyone was really happy with the ornament that they ended up with. i think the favorite this year was a toss up between the huge red ball that NSM brought and the purple pump shoe ornament that D brought. although, there was also the adorable snowman ornament that R brought that got stolen a few times.

all in all it was a fun afternoon/evening spent with friends laughing and chatting.

i am already looking forward to next year's party. i might just have to come up with some kind of event for the middle of the year just so we can do it again!

so i get this email...

from my friend P, late yesterday afternoon. it's all in caps, and it sounds panicked...

"ARE YOU STILL THERE?"

i write back that i am still in the office and ask what's up thinking it might be bad news about our friend S, who is still in the hospital.

P writes back immediately asking if i have any plans for last night and do i want to join her and some friends who have VIP tickets to see the Thunder from Down Under.

there was a limo, and dinner at pf chang's, and then the VIP seats at the show.



oh yeah... did i mention the half naked men? :)