Walk Down Hostessing Memory Lane

At one of my bridal showers a good family friend gave me a hostess diary.  As a person who faithfully wrote in a diary everyday for 5 years, I can say I like the concept.  I have actually used it and written down many of the parties we have hosted here.  I pulled it out tonight to write down the details of my supper club party next Monday and enjoyed looking back.
This was the invitation front of the Parisian Brunch travel themed bridal shower I gave for my friend Karen.  She LOVES Paris, minored in French and is an adventurous traveler. 

The invitation read:

Bonjour!

Karen's wedding is on the way

so let's her her prepared for the big day.

Join us for a Parisian Brunch Shower

for our dear friend the adventurous traveler.

Enclosed is one of her favorite destinations

please use it for your gift's inspiration.

So each person got a card like this with a city and a brief description.  The name cards on the table were luggage tags I made, I framed black and white pictures of Paris scenes and we had LOTS of flowers.  I think this was one of the cutest shower themes...felt very clever with this one!

Here is the invite for our Texas Holdem party.  That was a lot of fun.  I made homemade BBQ which was awesome.  Just the basic recipe from Joy of Cooking.  We had a signature drink Texas Tea, lots of other good picnic food and of course lots of card playing.

For Christmas one year we gave Rudy's parents a Tuscan Dinner Party.  We cooked and served all the food, decorated, made the invitations...it was lovely.

I traveled to Italy and painted with a group.  We had our own chef who made meals for us every night.  I followed his lead and walked guests through each course.  Before we sat down we gave a toast to Tuscany..."The sweetness of doing nothing".

I also found the first entry which was such a fond memory.  8 girls came over for dinner and to help me assemble my programs and wedding favors.  And I even noted the first time I had my in-laws over for dinner as a married couple.  Our first Christmas Eve dinner.  It was fun to look back and remember.

If you would like to purchase the diary for someone who likes to entertain, you can find it here.