I can't believe Thanksgiving is a few short weeks away then Christmas soon after. It definitely seems like the holidays have snuck up on me! I was faced with this reality after I received two holiday party invitations this week. At first I was like, "What? Already?!" but then I remembered in my pre-baby days how I would sent my Evites out 2 months in advance to ensure maximum attendance. It didn't really help but I felt good about getting my date set on the calendar early.
The past two Christmases I've done cookie exchange parties. I would make brunch and my friends would bring cookies and we'd swap. Unfortunately these were poorly attended but now that I have a baby I'm hoping she will help entice attendees. I mean, who wouldn't want to come see this cute face?:
Now I was chatting with Mr. Love Bird about making the cookie exchange co-ed this year but he doesn't think it's a very manly thing to do so now I'm considering doing a couples holiday potluck. Perhaps on an early Sunday night. I definitely don't want to eat up people's Saturdays between the cookie party and the potluck.
I was thinking a white elephant gift exchange/Yankee swap might be fun. I ended up with The Devil Wears Prada one year from one of those! I so love that movie!
Typically, when I have a party I like to go to Trader Joe's and stock up on frozen hors d'oeuvres. The lemongrass chicken sticks are my favorite! I go nuts buying stuff there and everyone always enjoys the food. I don't think I could pull this together this time around so a potluck is going to be a lot easier for us. Then maybe next year I can get more creative. We'll see. . .
Do any of our readers have fun holiday party traditions?