A few months ago my dad told me about how his neighborhood gathers for a summer solstice party each year. Its a chance for everyone to get together to kick off the beginning of summer with a bang. Blinn and I really liked the sound of that and decided to put our own spin on it: a winter solstice party! The darkest night of the year, the beginning of winter, is almost always forgotten and usually passed us by without notice. Not this year though! We opened up 215 Byall for an open house from 6 to 9 p.m. that turned into more of a par-tay if I say so m'self! Final head count? 62 people! Who says you can't throw a party on a weeknight a few days before Christmas? Pshhh!
We kept things pretty simple. We had minimal lighting (to further emphasize the darkness of the night) with white Christmas lights and lots of candles. We provided warm drinks, a few appetizers and desserts and the rest was potluck style and boy, did our guests deliver! Our dining room table was covered with tasty goodness, our kitchen was taken over by bottles of wine, a holiday ale 6-pack, a so-rich-and-delicious spiked hot chocolate, and friends a-plenty. In the mudroom we set up a painting station and two small canvases were covered by night's end. Some guests were extra generous and left us with host/hostess gifts and one friend felt comfortable enough to stick around til 11:15 p.m. - it was grrreat!
Blinn and I felt truly blessed to have a house full of good people on a wintery evening and our home felt alive and corny as it might sound, electric! We've been on a high from the party we threw and hope to be able to do it again next year. Doesn't hurt that two or three people said something along the lines of "You MUST make this annual thing!" Um well, okay then!
Unfortunately, when you're the hosts with the mosts (or something like that), its hard to make time for photo-takin'. Here's a shot of the table before it got totally full with deliciousness. Sorta lame, but its all I've got. Maybe my boy got some shots? Not holing my breath there...
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