Top 10 Things I learned while hosting a Christmas party...

1. No shows will happen causing even more extra food- 3 , but people will ask to take good food home
2. People offering to bring dessert that need your kitchen tools & kitchen to put finishing touches on said dessert *should* arrive earlier
3. Kids just want to have fun too!
4. Not everyone is hip on GPS and may arrive 2.5 hours late SMH
5. No one cares about putting ornaments on a tree ( great because I did 97% of it myself before the party)
6. My black nutcracker was a conversation piece
7. People are not as into fancy vinaigrette that compliment fancy sounding salad, maybe Ranch will make people eat more?
8. Six desserts are four too many What happened to everyone's sweet tooth?
9. Swollen, sore feet make for a very pained host
10. Tables have officially turned my: my dad is the best sous chef ever!

There were some other things I learned about my group that will serve me well if I host again regarding food and logistics. All in all, what really matters at any party and mine was no exception, is that people had a good time. They did! I did too thanks to my girlfriends coming especially my OOT gf.

TY to everyone that replied to my decor thread. At the end of the night after cleaning up the kitchen I put my regular decor back out and my OOT gf noticed the difference! That's what I wanted- subtle, but impactful changes.

I didn't take any pics at the party. Will this change once baby is here and I want to actually document everything??? IDK But, from this morning here's a pic of the main attraction!

* We ended up going with a slim profile tree to fit the original space we planned to put the tree; however, in this area we could have gone with the full profile. (Ugh, always room for improvement )