After hosting Thanksgiving, I was feeling {relatively} good about my ability to throw a larger dinner party.  Bring on the holiday cheer!  Of course, every good dinner party needs a theme.  Ugly Christmas sweaters, anyone?

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We actually ended up on MSN for these sweaters – nothing related to the blog, I guess MSN just throught the sweaters were seriously ugly.  Haha. 

 

Anyway, I realized yesterday morning that I was a little in over my head… I’ve just been so busy with Henry, staying on top of work, trying to fit in my workouts.  The party was suddenly upon me, and I’d done very little to prep.  This necessitated 35 frantic texts to my BFF Nicole begging her for menu advice.  The day of the party.  Whooooops.  We decided the best way to handle my procrastination would be to do half-homemade and half-store bought.

 

And you know what?  It ended up working out just fine.  There was enough food, it was yummy, and everyone had fun.

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For 11 people:

 

Appetizer:  Olives and hummus + chips

Sweet potato casserole (this recipe but with less sugar and dairy-free)

Mixed greens with balsamic dressing, strawberries, and almonds

Quinoa dish, courtesy of Nicole

Macaroni and cheese, courtesy of Whole Foods

Potatoes latkes, courtesy of Whole Foods

Roasted carrots and parsnips

Perfect Baked Tofu

Roasted squash

Loads and loads of wine (drastically improving the  menu, one sip at time)

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Even the bebes had on ugly Christmas sweaters.  Well, ugly-cute… it’s impossible for babies to look ugly in anything Christmas-themed. 

 

The only dinner fail?  I forgot the cooked squash in the fridge!  I opened the fridge this morning and gasped.  Awww, man.

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You know what I had for breakfast…. Squash + spicy eggs + toast.  And coffee!

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Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a crawler to catch. 

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Lord help me.

{ 20 comments }

 

  • Catherine December 16, 2012, 10:39 am

    I always buy some, cook some. Parties are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable. Driving yourself crazy with prep defeats the purpose. Oh, and I think you guys have the tackiest sweaters of the bunch. Congrats!

    Good luck with baby proofing! I’m beginning to realize that 100% baby proofing is impossible, especially once they’re mobile. They will always find a way to hurt themselves. I tried gating off an area of the house, and within 5 minutes, my baby bumped her head on the wall. She was born June 10, and my mother in-law said that babies born on a date ending with zero are injury-prone. I’m not superstitious, but I’m kind of believing it now…

  • Katie @ Peace Love & Oats December 16, 2012, 10:40 am

    Haha well at least now you have all the squash to yourself! Good luck catching Henry, he looks speedy!

  • Laura December 16, 2012, 10:57 am

    Ugly christmas sweater parties are the best. Everyone secretly really wants to wear a christmas sweater!

  • Luv What You Do December 16, 2012, 11:35 am

    That looks like such a fun night. I wish we had the space to host a dinner party!
    Good for you for taking it easy on yourself with the half store bought. It’s perfect…this way you still get to enjoy the prep, the party, your adorable Henry and host an awesome party!

  • Katya December 16, 2012, 11:42 am

    awesome sweaters!!

  • Alex @ Raw Recovery December 16, 2012, 11:48 am

    Oh gosh, Henry is growing up so fast! Crawling already?? I bet he’s loving it!

  • rebecca @ blueberry smiles December 16, 2012, 12:05 pm

    Such a fun party theme! Dinner parties are my favorite to spend an evening– and your house seems like the perfect set-up for them!

  • Jessica @ Dairy Free Betty December 16, 2012, 12:45 pm

    Fun!! This was our first year with no ugly sweater party! So sad!! They are so much fun – yours were great!!

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat December 16, 2012, 12:53 pm

    Those are some fabulous sweaters you’ve got there! 😉 That’s so funny about forgetting the squash – I’d have the same initial thought, but it would quickly turn to – “Well, more for me I suppose!” It sounds like you guys had a great time. I think a combo feast of homemade + Whole Foods is a great idea!

  • Melissa December 16, 2012, 1:10 pm

    Henry looks so adorable exploring the house!

  • Aja December 16, 2012, 1:42 pm

    We had an ugly Christmas sweater contest at school before I left for break. I don’t have any but I saw some pretty bad ones. I like yours though!

  • Heather December 16, 2012, 1:54 pm

    love the matching sweaters! never a bad thing to have leftover squash 🙂

  • Katie @ Talk Less, Say More December 16, 2012, 4:41 pm

    Love the matching ugly sweaters and I’ve been loving the ugly christmas sweater party themes lately. Now I just need to get invited to one! 😉

  • Janie Kaiser December 16, 2012, 9:23 pm

    You pull off an all veggie party so well! I wish I was as talented and my friends as receptive. Nice work on the sweaters!

  • Angela December 16, 2012, 9:26 pm

    Wow! Way to pull it together, girl! Everything looked like so much fun.

  • Allison@commitcomplete December 17, 2012, 8:59 am

    Those matching sweaters are great!

  • Heather December 17, 2012, 5:54 pm

    Holiday sweaters are so fun! And ugly. Really… 😉

    Side note – I LOVE that console table you have in your foyer! Do you remember where you found it?

    • Caitlin December 17, 2012, 5:56 pm

      Home goods!

  • Amber K December 17, 2012, 8:49 pm

    So crazy that he’s crawling already! Precious little guy.

  • Ugly Christmas Sweaters November 14, 2014, 11:26 pm

    These are some great ideas! Thanks!!

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