Holiday Hostessing

Who else loves Brad Paisley? I was fortunate enough to hear the CMA Entertainer of the Year perform live in concert this past weekend.  He does a fantastic job, obviously.  My co-worker won tickets to the show and invited me to go with.  We had a great time.  My only complaint was that Darius Rucker played so many Hootie & the Blowfish tunes.  Hello! This is a country concert. If you have the chance to see sexy Brad, do it.  My favorite song is Then.  Melts. My. Heart. 

Via.

This week I'm also going to watch the musical Legally Blonde with my friend's mom.  I'm excited!

Have I mentioned that I am hosting a Christmas celebration at our little apartment?  Tim says it's "my party," so he is really just sitting back and letting me dream up my big plans.  Today the invites were mailed, making the party official.  Originally my idea was to have some kind of a small holiday gathering so our families could spend some time together.  (He's coming to Florida with my and my family for Christmas and I wanted to do something with everyone beforehand.)  But now my idea has expanded into a full-blown party.  At this point it's pretty much all of my family and friends and then Tim's parents and sister.  (I have more family here than he does.) Either way, I'm excited. I hope his family enjoys themselves.

I've never hosted a themed party before, so if you have any advice or great party planning links, please send my way. Currently, I'm enjoying Hostesswiththemostess.com.

Have you ever shopped at Christmas Tree Shops before?  If not, try to find one.  It's always an adventure at the store due to the barrels of bargains and bus loads of seniors roaming throughout the aisles. I did pick up some cute holiday themed plates, napkins, cups and decorations on my lunch break yesterday.  Target also had some super cute goodies that I picked up.

Today I ordered homemade Italian cookies from a co-worker whose prayer group is making and selling them to raise money for a family in need this holiday season.  A great idea and I know my guests will enjoy them. 

My co-worker brought this sample platter to work today to encourage orders! 

Now I need to see how many people are coming.  Make sure I have enough seating.  Determine the menu for both food and drink.  Does anyone have a great alcoholic festive punch recipe? 

That's what's up with the Dining Diva.

Happy Humpy Day!