What does it take to have a great Party?

Over my lifetime I have been part of hundreds of great parties, big and small, formal and informal and all it really take to have a great party is people, now don't get me wrong I love all the little details that make a party extraordinary, I am all about the fluff and stuff, from the food to the table scape I want it to be amazing.
Six years ago I met Edd and I invited him to attend my annual Strawberry Festival party, when he arrived he was shocked because I had chaffing dishes and table cloths at a BBQ. For me that is important, can you have a great time with tin foil pans and plastic table cover? Absolutely, but my way of turning it up a notch is to have extra special touches. This year we served marinated and slow grilled tri tip, dill potato salad and sweet and spicy chicken Kabobs. The food was amazing and just seeing the people enjoy it made my day.
I am a foodie so for me it is all about the food, I will think about the flavors and textures and how they play off each other and my mind never stops trying to make the next meal better than the one before. I hate it when I walk away thinking I should have done it different. For some of you it might be about the decorations, or about the games and fellowship, we all have areas that are important to us. So when it is your turn to plan or host an event think of what is important to you and go from there, if you are not a cook ask for help, or go to Costco store bought items are just fine. And if you don't play games make sure you provide some kind of entertainment so that the party isn't a dud.
I love to entertain and it come very natural for me, I find it easier to feed 50 than 2, most of you are not this way, so find what works for you and get help when needed. Don't be afraid to entertain it is only as hard as you make it

Strawberry Festival

It is that time of year again, when the Sun comes out (well sometimes) and we start to venture outside. I know for me as soon as the rain slows down I find myself longing to be out in the yard getting it ready for the summer, I love to be outside, I love the smells and the sounds it just makes my world better. But also what happens about mid May around my house is full action get all the projects done before festival comes. This is the tenth year that we have been doing a big Festival party here at the house, I look forward to it all year long I think of the food that we are going to have and can't wait to make it bigger and better than the previous year.
Because this is the 10th anniversary I have been trying to come up with a way to make it extra special, I have had so many thoughts go through my head and I am having a hard time settling on one, so who knows what it will end up like but hopefully it will be a great time.
Each year around this time my family helps me get a major project done before the party, last year it was building a new back deck and this year it has been the kitchen, I am looking forward to having so much more counter space to work on. Sometimes it is hard to have people here working on things and not being able to put things away but, I feel so blessed for the family that I have that gives me so much and puts in so much time to help me have a nice home.
So for some of you who don't know there are several reasons that Festival is special, One of them being that My Grandma Byers is the oldest living Strawberry Festival Queen, she was Queen in 1934 and is 94 years old, secondly my Sister Tricia was Queen and I was Princess. So we have allot of reason to love our hometown festival, but also not everyone has a yard that the parade comes right in front of, so what a better time for a party.
I love to entertain, I love to cook great food, I like to make people happy and I get so much Joy out of watching everyone have a great time. II can't imagine going without this party and I am extra excited for the special things that we have planned for this year. If you are around you should be here because it is the party of the year

Living in a mess

Many of you who know me also know that I am pretty picky about the condition of my home, actually I am kinda a neat freak. Ok I admit it I am really a neat freak. There now are you happy? Ok so really, life has been a little crazy around here, I know that I wrote about the upcoming kitchen remodle, but what i didn't know is that when I left town for a few days that my family was going to come in and start the project, was very surprized when I got home and the walls were painted and they were setting new cabinets.
So here is an update on the project, I have new flooring down yea I love it I have new to me cabinets all painted to match and they look great, the countertops are done and most of the doors are hung. We are still working on the tile backsplash but hopfully that will be done this week.
Also during the whole remodle we had a work party on saturday in the pouring down rain and they got Lauries room painted, several trees cut down, a cabinet built and bark in the flowers beds, people were going in a million different directions a bit crazy but very productive. I can't even begin to thank my family and friends for all they have done for me.
I think the thing that has been hardest is not being able to do things mysels that I usually would just do, I know that this is only for a time though I struggle with being discouraged daily. I have so many blessing and I know that God is working even through this sittuation, but it is so hard to remember that when all you want is just to be you again.