Thursday, December 27, 2012

It was a Christmas Dinner Luau!

 Everyone knows I love a good dinner party -- especially if I get to do the decorating.  Christmas day here in New Brunswick dawned sunny and bright (and just a tad cooler than in the Hawaiian Islands!).  It was a perfect day for our Christmas Dinner Luau for 20. 
I spent part of the weekend before digging about in my stash of decorating bits and pieces, searching the supermarket for whole pineapples and papaya and hacking fronds from my tropical house plants. A sale at a local department store yielded garlands of white silk poinsettias, two dozen flower leis, palm tree foil confetti and some citrus-y hued ornaments.  I even found a Tiki balloon on a stake and planted him in a flower pot in the corner. The finishing touch was my set of 8 tropical leaf plates that I received as a gift a few years ago.  The number and variety of plates in our house is a long-standing joke around here -- my husband often asking if I'm expecting 50 for dinner :)  My philosophy is you never know when you'll need 8 tropical leaf plates and clearly, I have been proven right!
 
My niece greeted everyone with a flower lei and a welcoming Aloha! She and her brothers were very excited -- Santa brought them a trip to visit Maui in March so their gifts from us followed a perfectly tropical theme as well -  'coupons' for boogie boards and dinner with their aunt and uncle while they are on the island. We were grateful for a wonderful dinner and especially having everyone together -- A good time was had by all!

Mele Kalikimaka!


Thursday, December 20, 2012