Tag Archives: Parties

新年快乐 (Happy New Year!)

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Last night Frit and I hosted 20 friends for a Chinese New Year Party. None of us are Chinese, nor have any of us been to China, but I love (!) that there even is such a thing. It’s usually about a month or so after the rest of the world’s New Year. Meaning … if I’ve not been good about my Jan. 1 resolutions, I can just start again with my Chinese friends. :)

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit which means: “A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year” (source). I for one couldn’t be more grateful for that.  After the year I had last year, I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t something to the whole Chinese zodiac.

Anyhow, Frit came up with the idea for this shindig a few weeks ago, and as it takes absolutely nothing to talk me into a party, I was on board in all of 2 seconds. First up? Invitations … homemade fortune cookies with a different piece of party info inside each cookie. We then put the cookies inside Chinese take out boxes and delivered them to our guest list.

On to the menu: Egg rolls. Dumplings (pot stickers). Sesame noodles. Fried rice. Lettuce wraps. Stir fry veggies. Orange chicken. Beef & broccoli. And caramel apple spring rolls with ice-cream for dessert (not really authentic, but we were hard pressed to find a Chinese dessert that looked good to us). Some of it was homemade. Some of it was from the frozen food section at Costco. And some of it was ordered from the Pei Wei around the corner.

All day yesterday we hung garlands and streamers and lanterns and dragons, we painted a New Year’s couplet for the entryway (a couplet is the red banner hung around Chinese doorways for New Year’s…I didn’t know that until last week), and chop, chop, chopped onions and mushrooms and chicken and a whole slew of other goodies until our hands were blistered. No really. I have a blister on my index finger from chopping the chicken for the lettuce wraps. It kills. (Que sympathy)

Our costumes …

The gift bags for each guest …

And after filling our bellies with dumplings and fried rice, we banged open a pinata, played a chopstick relay race, and then sent everyone on their merry way. It was quite a night. And quite a successful party. But the best part of the night? My New Year Fortune …

I’m pretty excited about those hidden treasures. ‘Specially where I “least expected”! :)

It Was a MONSTER Mash!

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Well the Monster Mash is in full swing downstairs, but I thought I’d take a quick break from the graveyard smash to share some photos of the monsters we made for the kids. I’ll upload all the details on the decorations, food, and games next week as well as “must-see” pictures of the kids gettin’ their groove on. (Zombie Jamborie ‘ll do it every time!)

So last week before the kids received their invitations in the mail, we had their moms ask them to draw the best monster of their imagination. They had no idea what it was for and we secretly gathered the pictures. I then raided the fabric store and made them come to life. Here are the results …

The kids LOVE them and can’t believe their monsters have “come to life”!

Can’t wait to share more fun with you tomorrow! Sleep tight. xo

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an Invitation … [Farewell to Summer: A Ladies' Dinner]

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This weekend I did a lot of thinking.

And in the midst of that thinking I received a few emails and comments from strangers who read this here blog. Kind comments. Thankful emails. The kind of emails and comments that make me grateful for this big world (that isn’t so big).

Now, I’ve always known there were strangers reading, and I’ve received comments and an occasional email from someone I don’t know. But by and large, the majority of people I hear from are friends. (Hi friends! xo!) So this weekend, to have received such a high volume of notes from strangers was both curious and heart-warming.

It made me really think about who is reading. And it made me want to throw one big whopping party and force you all to come so that I can get to know each one of you. I mean really. Really. This weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Who you are. Where you live. What you like. What’s important to you. What you want most. What makes you happy. What makes you sad. If you’re struggling. Or if you’re epically happy. I just wanted to know you. And while I totally understand the urge to stop by here to read and simply stay silent (it’s what I do most often when I read other people’s blogs), I’d honestly and sincerely like to invite you to tell me who you are. Tell me something about yourself. Anything. Tell me lots or tell me a little. And if you have a blog or a site, please please please leave me the link. I really really really want to know you.

And in the spirit of parties … while I can’t throw one, big party for you all to come to, I do want to extend an invitation. Frit and I are hostessing a small, ladies dinner next Tuesday, Sept. 21 in honor of the last day of summer and I have reserved two places at the table for someone who reads this blog to come (with a guest) and join us. I wish I had a bigger table and could invite more. Then again, maybe no one will want to come (ha!) and this will turn out to be a totally embarrassing idea. But if this sounds like fun (and it will be) and if you need a night out sans children or husband or homework or work or dishes or whatever it is you need to leave behind, please leave a comment or send me an email. In the event that more than one person wants to come, I’ll randomly draw a name at the end of the week.

(The invitations … )

Lastly, I thought you might like to know that my next segment on Good Things Utah is tomorrow at 10 a.m. MST. Tune in to ABC4 if you can. I’ll be demonstrating how to make a chic boutique-quality clutch from a placemat. Seriously.

Oh, and like I said … Quiet readers are always welcome so feel free to stay silent. But I’d also love to get to know you. So if you feel inclined, do leave a note and tell me a little something about you. I can’t wait to meet you.

Much love,

Krista