Palentines Party 2018

january and february are always my least favorite months. long and cold and dark. each december i brace myself for the inevitable blues that are going to take up residence. this year has been made much worse by the fact that i have been stuck in the house (mostly stuck in bed) and unable to participate in so many social activities. ive missed friend's birthday parties and play dates and ladies' nights, and nature co op and Bible study, and im not even singing at church any more. its been really discouraging. not only do i love attending events, but i am usually blissfully up to my eyeballs in planning some event or other. which i also have been missing.

so, with valentines day approaching, i decided to throw a palentines party for eden and etta mae and some of their gal pals. eden worked diligently on valentines and we prepared all sorts of yummy treats for the event.

i stuck to a very simple decor. just some roses and eucalyptus, and a mix of china tea cups. i ended up using mostly paper products because i had to be realistic about my capacity for work at this point in my pregnancy. my friend jessi wrote all the girl's names on these simple envelopes.

when all the little girls arrived they put valentines into each other's envelopes. each girl arrived dressed in her best, hair done just so, and even a little rouge on lips and cheeks. i was delighted to watch them greet each other and compliment each other and pass out their carefully made cards.

there were eight big girls, four little girls, three baby girls, and a bunch of us ladies all milling about. we enjoyed heart shaped sandwiches, with either pimento cheese or chicken salad, and assorted veggies for lunch. (eden had cut out all the heart shaped pieces of bread a few days prior to the party and we stored them in an air tight container which made prep the day of more simple). then on to fruit with whipped creme, hand dipped chocolate covered pretzels, and homemade hot chocolate for dessert. the conversation around the table was too good to ignore, including comments bemoaning the way lip stick comes off your lips if you drink from your cup, and how long certain hair styles take.

the little girl table was also absurdly cute, in much messier ways. it was a little crazy to see all them sitting around at a table, so very proud of themselves.

next was cooking decorating, which was really sweet. i was very happy with how our cookies and icing turned out. i used some new recipes and will certainly be using them any time we do cookie decorating. i added coconut extract to the icing which was really delicious.