Christmas Open House

    Last night we had the Christmas Open House for our street. It was a great time and we were able to meet many of our neighbors that we had not had the chance to meet since moving in the house a little over a year ago.  While some of our neighbors have gone back up north to spend Christmas with family, many of our "snowbird" neighbors have arrived and were able to come last night.  One of the advantages to living in south Florida is being able to have your house opened up - have seating outside for a party so people can sit out by the pool in the middle of December. 

Now, I know that some of you that live up north will balk at this statement, BUT we were actually hoping for weather that was a little cooler so we could have a fire in the fireplace, but that was NOT to be.  To be a little off topic, I don't think we will have 'fireplace' weather through the entire month of December and it is not looking good for January or February.  However I'll tell you a little secret (and it doesn't have anything to do with the party) - even if it isn't cold enough for a fire Christmas - we will have one - even if I have to turn on the A/C.  I just HAVE to have a fire on Christmas!

Okay, back to the party.  I took a few pictures before everyone showed up and I'll let you see what everything looked like.

I set up all the food up in the dining room except for the coffee and hot apple cider - I had those two things in the kitchen - Just figured it would be easier.

I did put the punch in the dining room on the buffet. We thought it would easier for people to get to things if we separated the drinks.  We also put the Little Smokies on the hutch in a small crockpot.

Here are pictures of some of the food that we served --------------

I tried to make sure that we had a large variety of food for people to choose from - from sweets to vegetables and a little of just about everything in between.

To make my $.25 punch bowl a little prettier we sat it inside a wreath that we put white lights around.  Then we put another string of white lights under the punch bowl so they made the punch shimmer and shine.

I think that the extra lights just made the punch look a little more special.  (Oh, in case you are wondering, this was BEFORE I added the Ginger Ale to the punch - I really did serve more than just half a bowl of punch!  I just didn't want to add it too early and have it go flat.)

I think everyone had a good time and Dan and I enjoyed spending time with our neighbors at this special time of the year.