Christmas 2013 Recap & Setting the Table

Hi guys! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that Santa was very good to you! ;) We started the day with a son stirring at 6:30 a.m. and quickly went downstairs to see that Santa had come!  James is really into Star Wars right now, so his big gifts from Santa were a 3-foot tall Darth Vader and a giant Darth Maul light saber.  He was very impressed that Santa left a thank you note for the milk and cookies.  This really is such a fun age!

My family came over and my brother brought his toy (a deep fryer) so we made hot chicken wings as appetizers and had Cajun fried turkey with dinner.  The grandparents brought James a giant arcade-style basketball hoop game that was assembled in the driveway.  I tried to take a bunch of photos throughout the day, but it was hard to get too many while I was cooking and chatting and drinking.

I did snap a few pictures of the table set-up process that I did the day before.  I like to semi- set the table complete with serving platters and serveware so I'm not scrambling at the last minute.  I do this with the appetizer area and dessert table too.  This year, I set the table to coordinate with the aqua and mint dining room decor.  

The table setting wasn't anything elaborate, just a burlap runner, aqua placemats and napkins, with silver chargers and china plates.  Two mercury glass candle holders with teal candles and an inexpensive centerpiece finished it off.  On the menu was beef tenderloin, cajun fried turkey, scalloped potatoes with bacon, jalepeno creamed corn, sauteed green beans with toasted almonds, cranberry sauce, and Hawaiian rolls.  

I used small sticky notes to indicate where everything would go and also for who would sit where.  

I found this basket of live greenery at Wal-Mart for $10 and added some ornaments.  I hear you can go to hardware stores and collect their tree clippings for free though- next year!

My son is out of school for two weeks, so we'll be relaxing and playing and cleaning and organizing in preparation for the new year soon.  I'm really looking forward to 2014 and excited for the fresh start January always brings!   See you soon!

On Honey We're Healthy: 10 Resolutions for a Healthy New Year 

We have planted 540 550 576 595 618 654 674 807 836 trees!  We are SO CLOSE to my 1,000 goal.  Thank you so much- YOU ROCK!  If you want to plant a tree, all you have to do is click the photo below and "LIKE" New Life Energy on FB.  

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