Well, I was hoping to see more white summer tables when I got back and I'm not disappointed! I'm over the moon crazy for your table, OA!! What an imaginative, original tablescape! Love the sandcastle and love the way you've surrounded it with the sand and the rope edging. Cute idea to add the beach shovel at one side, too! The menu sounds wonderful. Your friends were very blessed to get your invite. This should be in the Tablescape Hall of Fame, OA. It's that good! Lynn

F2BH - you are so right, it is a special culture unto its own ;-) I'm still trying to fit in 2 yrs later - I am from the other side of town! Thanks everyone, lots of great suggestions here. I will call Ducky Bobs and see if they have anything available at this point. Can't hurt to get an idea of the cost for the chair cover's rental and centerpieces. I'm going to have to wait until I can go over there to see what the club offers for centerpieces and everything else before I decide on that stuff. teacats - Emerald City????? Holy cow, I don't EVEN want to think about how much they would be - I'm sure Pres. would choke on the cost, but he would be the type to appreciate them, LOL! And I'll bet he's never heard of them - I'm telling you, Arlington might as well be another planet no matter how close it is to Dallas. I was right and the keyboardist is booked already. In desperation, I texted a friend who works at corporate for a local TexMex Restaurant chain and she's getting me some referrals from their event planner. I also asked the CC to recommend someone. Honestly, keyboardists are perfect for this party (very little if any vocals and more background than show), and hopefully I can find a good one at this late date! We did a White Elephant 2 yrs ago and it was a lot of fun and we will do that again this year. There are very few lags in convo, most of us who work there know how to yak, LOL! But after y'alls opinions, I think I'll leave the table size alone and use what we have in the past. It's really just the decs Pres. is talking about. Again, he'd just prefer to be at home than in a banquet room, even if it is at his home-away-from-home country club (sorry, Jen, somethings just aren't negotiable ;-) Actually, this party is best done in this space. I probably should have put this order-of-events in my OP: -Mix n Mingle/HH -Buffet, sit-down dinner. -Pres. speaks briefly, then recognizes and thanks each employee giving them Christmas cards ;-) -He then reads off raffle numbers and gives out Gift Cards to the winners. -Then we do the White Elephant This takes 4-ish hours, so it's from 6-10p. I'll follow up when I know more, thanks again!

Ahhhh yes! Those were the days when kids *were* kids! I remember my kids doing some of the same things, like playing outside until 10 at night, and not worrying about them being kidnapped. Parma, rat fink~I forgot that one, but remember saying it. LOL And my best friend of 50 years who lives back in IL still says supper, as do most small town mid-westerners. And then there were the 'grillers'. Those were the tough guys(and a few girls)who wore the leather jackets, and we would cross the street if they were walking on our side. Moonshadow, yep, lighting bugs, and we would catch them and put them in a jar!! Now if I find a bug in the house, i'll pick it up and put it outside, even an ant. I remember when you couldn't buy pantyhose, and had to wear that god-awful garder belt(no lace, plain elastic)and hose w/no stretch in them....but maybe seams. I wouldn't trade those days for anything!(((()))))

Mine was my childhood home until maybe 6th grade. It was a big house (well, I'm sure it seemed bigger than it actually was at that age!), the exterior was grey with white trim, black shutters and a red door, built atop a large hill with a retaining wall on one side, so high that the neighboring garage (2 story commercial building) had a roofline level with our yard. The stairs from the sidewalk was a chore, even in today's day and age, I couldn't imagine having to deal with that daily. There were huge oak trees in the back yard, it was a very private space, and we had a pool, my siblings would jump off the tree branches into the pool, I was too small at the time. I loved playing in the leaves in the fall, our back yard would be completely covered once all the leaves dropped. We had a large bathroom, the area with the sink was sunken, and on the elevation was the commode and bathtub, the walls and decor were black and white themed with ornate wallpaper. The kitchen was big, I'd love to have a kitchen that size, and there was a winding staircase going to the second floor, and on the landing was a window...looking out the window, given that we were on a hill, was a long way down. So, I remember as a child I always had this irrational fear that I would fall down the stairs and out the window from that landing. LOL. I loved that house, so many fond memories. Today, that house is no longer there, probably a liability due to it's location high up on a hill (all neighboring houses were at a lower grade) coupled with the maintenance that came with the retaining wall, but I just adore houses with similar color themes.