The 3 “F’s”… Friends, Food and Fellowship…

Tonight we had a few married couples come to our house for a Christmas party and it was even better than I had hoped it would be. I was making cookie dough and putting together German meatballs at 1 a.m. this morning and then when I did get to bed, I was so wound up I couldn’t get to sleep. The last time I looked at the clock it was 5:33 and I was still awake…too many things running around in my mind. We put in hours of work to get ready for it (if I was a better housekeeper, that shouldn’t have been the case…) and just before our guests arrived my hubby…bless his heart… was outside stringing up Christmas lights on our gazebo! There were cookies to be baked, platters to find and wash, garland to string up, dusting, sweeping, mopping, did I say dusting?, meatballs to bake, fudge to be made, and lots more jobs. It was my idea… this is what I wanted for Christmas…to have some close friends over and just visit and of course eat! I was more than pleased and the night was just what I envisioned…non stop catch-up-chatter from the women and the men talked about electrical and plumbing issues…and a few other things…

Oh, I did get to show off my sewing room and my dolls to some of the ladies who hadn’t seen them “up close” before. One lady had never seen a ball jointed doll before and she was quite intrigued. See…this is a dolly post after all…

After they all left, I opened up a gift of some pretty cards that one of my guests had given me (thank you Beth!), and just took a moment to think about how grateful I am to have such wonderful friends. There aren’t many gifts that are as special as your close friends…We are truly blessed and I am so thankful to Lord for the friends He has allowed to be in my life. I wish I could express it better just how nice a good friend feels when they hug you or when they just “get” you when you don’t even say a thing. I have those kinds of friends and hope you do too. Treasure them…they are precious!

Okay, how about some pictures, because I know everyone likes to see pictures… I wanted to show you some if you don’t mind… of what my living room and dining room looked like. I don’t have any pictures of people in the shots because I’m not sure how they felt about being “famous” on my blog! (Ha!) So you’ll just have to look at decorations and platters of food. …and don’t forget, my house is a work in progress, but we tried to cover up the areas that aren’t finished…
My hubby wanted to “paint” the floors this week… I told him, “It’s not gonna happen, honey, it’s not gonna happen!” …but maybe some day!

I decorated my buffet and a library table with a bit of whimsy…

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I snapped a branch off our huge magnolia tree and used it on my light fixture…

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We don’t have the trim up around our living room window (yet…) so my hubby came up with an ingenious way of camouflaging the area without trim where the insulation shows… garland..who’d of thought?? Great job honey!

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Here’s a natural shot of the room as the sun went down and it got a little darker outside…

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My dining room table in the works…

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…and the F-O-O-D…

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Merry Christmas from my house to yours…

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See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

6 thoughts on “The 3 “F’s”… Friends, Food and Fellowship…”

  1. Oh, how festive your living and dining room look! That one shot of the living room in natural light is so pretty with the lights out on the gazebo! And all that food!!!! Do you have leftovers, by any chance? If you do, I’ll be right over to finish them off! You mean, you made all that yourself? No potluck? Wow, Jeanne, just wow!

    Now, you just go and relax, Jeanne, and let Santa do all the rest! Merry Christmas to you and yours, and I’m so grateful to have you for a friend, although we have yet to meet in person!

    1. HI Linda,
      Thanks for thinking my house looks lovely. Sometimes it gets to me that we don’t have flooring or trim or a new kitchen, but when I hear someone mention that my house looks pretty, it makes my day… or night!
      I made most of the food…let’s see…German meatballs, pepperoni pizza puffs with pizza sauce for dipping, wassail, candied pecans, rocky road fudge, red and white Christmas fudge, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate mint cookie bark, a veggie tray and ranch dip, chips, mango salsa, and apple turnovers. Then one of my guests brought these little pastry like desserts called Congress Tarts, another guest brought Cherry Garcia ice cream, and a meat pie, and someone brought cranberry ginger ale punch with limes.
      We had plenty and at the end of the party I passed out decorative boxes and all sorts of cellophane baggies and ties and told them to fill up their baggies and boxes with what THEY liked… it was much more fun to let them pick what they wanted than for me to do it ahead of time and guess what they’d like. It was funny to see people putting German meatballs down in a baggie and loading up their boxes.
      My dishes are almost done from the party and now it’s time to move on to my next party…one for someone very special…I’m sure I’ll write about it soon…
      Thanks Linda…and sometime this next year…we HAVE to meet!
      Blessings and a very Merry Christmas to you, Jeanne

  2. Jeanne, Everything looks so lovely! Getting ready for a gathering IS a lot of work but it is so worth it to share with others. I know your guests had a wonderful evening as you opened your heart and home to them in this very busy time of the year. It is a precious “gift” that they will remember LONG past the holiday season! Thank you for sharing! I hope to see your decor in person real soon 🙂 Merry Christmas!!!

    1. Thanks Cindy,
      I can’t wait to see you either! It WAS a wonderful evening and having my house all cleaned up feels SO good!
      Love you, me

  3. How lovely your home looks, warm and inviting, especially with the perfect touch of Christmas accenting it. Your buffet…mouthwatering and delicious looking. I would agree, you had a successful couples’ dinner, building memories and enjoying the camaraderie of friends.
    We are down to that excitably final week of a very special birthday, I hope you can relax a bit now and enjoy the beauty of the season. Merry Christmas, dear friend.

    1. Hi Paula and yes, we are very close to the most wonderful event of all time… at least that’s the way I see it.
      My party was fun and now it’s time to get some new things done.
      What a wonderful year this has been and I have loved getting to know you better…
      Merry Christmas Paula,
      Blessings, Jeanne

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