Hi kissthecook! Thanks for joining in the revelry! :) I am thoroughly intrigued by the open house idea and for the past 2 years, I have been trying to work up the guts to try it out! With a current guest list of over 100 (probably only 75 will show), the idea of staggering arrival times seems ideal. How much time do you allow for people to visit? Do you say something like 4pm-8pm, come when you like? Or do you "assign" arrival times to make sure the house isn't stuffed to the gills? I haven't done our invitations yet, but they will go out the same time as yours, so there's still an opportunity to change things up. I get the feeling, though, that "open houses" are much less common in SoCal, but I could be wrong. The only downside I can see is that we are planning on serving dinner-type food, not heavy hors d'oeuvres. The hot food items will be in chafing dishes, however, so do you think that could work? What is on everyone's menu? I am so loving your hot cocoa/chocolate giveaways. That's another thing I need to try--gifts in a jar: hot cocoa, brownie mix, cookie mixes, etc. One day I'll get to do these things! I would defnitely try out Alton's recipe before giving away, but I'm sure it's good. Here's another giveaway that's really a nice souvenir of the evening: I once went to a party where the host took a snapshot of everyone as they arrived. Sometime during the party, she (or her husband--I never figured it out) printed out these little pictures and put them in 2" x 2" frames. Then all of the sudden, they magically appeared on a tabletop tree! Each set of guests got to take theirs home with them when they left. Probably too much work for almost 100 people, but it might work really well for a smaller party. Another alternative is to take the pictures and send them in Thank You notes if you send those after the party. Lastly, I am extemely jealous of your old Victorian. They are gorgeous dressed up for the holidays! You just can't buy that charm, you know? Anyway, keep the ideas coming and I can't wait to hear how everything's going! It would be great to see pictures of the fruits of our labor at the end of the year (or beginning of the next), too!! :)

I too agree on the 'game' during an adult party-with the exception of one quick one that has always create laughter in lg parties I've done. Simply, you have each table of seated people split in to 2 teams (the one, two manner), then have all of the 'ones' stand together in a circle on the dance floor. Ditto with the two team. Direct them to remove their shoes & throw them into the center of their circle. Once done-you or the emcee-step into the circle & mixes them all up in a pile. On the count of 3..everyone must scramble to find their shoes, put them on & the 1st team who completes the race...wins. I also had a caricature artist on hand who worked for a minimal fee for those who wanted one done. Something else I did was set up an area for a photographer to take pics of couples, or buddies at the party. It could be a well set, candle lit table for two-toasting w/champagne glasss-or something funny-like the 'boss's desk with a swivel chair and a side chair-posing the couple with the man sitting in the swivel chair, feet upon the desk & the gal taking a memo. A placard on the desk in big print says:"IT's MY TURN"! or something funny! Pics could be passed out later in the evening as souvineers.

mari--The outlet to the left of the desk is for our central vacuum. DH also extended the ducting so we can have a vac-pan but it's not installed yet. lily 1342--The towel stand was from Home Outfitters and was $24.99. It's brushed silver and matches the faucet well. I think HO may only be in Canada but I've seen similar ones at Linens 'n Things which I believe is also in the States. Good luck with your choices and be sure to post photos! It took us so long to do the reno, since most of it was DIY, and I thought no one would remember me from when I was a newbie and soaking up info and asking for advice. lol. But I just had to pay it forward and give thanks where it was certainly due! deee--Our cabinet guy was a little uncertain about our choices, both in style and color especially since most glazing is done on cabinets with more detail; but, you're right, I wanted "depth and warmth" as you said--and those were my exact words to him regarding the look I wanted him to create! I also said I didn't want them to look 'dirty.' They actually look a little browner on my monitor than in real life. momto4boys--I've never thought of it as a happy face; I guess you're more creative than I am! But now that you've said that, guess what I think of every time I look at it?! mommyto4boys--I was posting when you were I think so I gave the info about the hardware in my previous post (above yours). I could find the part number for the Richelieu handles and pulls if need be. slc 2053--I started out loving soooo many kitchens and you wouldn't believe how many times I looked through the FKB! But eventually I followed the advice to see which ones I lingered longer over and was really drawn to and it came down to creamy ones. It was so hard to pick the color as it always looks different after the glazing so I picked 2 BM colors and the cabinet guy did a sample of each, each with 3 different colors of glaze. That was very handy but it was still hard to envision this little sample color in the whole kitchen. They turned out a bit darker than I thought they would and at first was concerned that they "matched" the walls too much. But I've learned to love everything. DH had no definite opinions about most of the remodel; he was very easy-going and said he trusted my decisions but it put a lot of decisions on my shoulders! Thankfully he, too, loves it. He did all the wiring (we removed the old sunshine-ceiling-from-hell & installed recessed lights) for the ceiling, under cabinet and in cabinet lighting, all the casings, trim, baseboards, flooring (done previously), installed all the appliances and faucet, Instahot, garbage disposal, etc. He even removed the old window and installed the garden window, built the ledge, etc. too. So he did more than his share! I really enjoyed viewing all of your pics too. I still can't believe your transformation! Regarding the collage....we recently had family photos taken as our son moved to Toronto this fall. We selected the 9 photos and the photographer had the collage made. It's coated (with some kind of subtle textured coating) so it doesn't need glass. We had it framed at a framing store. It's 35" x 35" and the frame and framing was under $200. It's actually an MDF frame but you would never know it by looking at it. saskatchewan girl--I guess we have the same range AND fridge. Love them both. Yes, we selected our slabs. We found quite a bit of difference between the shipments. Since we didn't want 3cm on the window ledge, the 2cm piece had to be from a different slab and there is a difference but with stuff on the windowsill, hopefully no one but us will notice! The counters are a much more random pattern, much less black and we like them even more than the window ledge. It was about $5500 for all the granite. We got it in Edmonton (we're in the country just NE of there) from a family shop (2 sons and their dad) and we didn't pay a dime for it until the invoice came in the mail about a month after it was all installed. Not many places do business like that! There was a slight crack so they took $450 off the $5500--and fixed the crack. jessie 21--Go ahead; steal away! As you can tell, I LOVE glass bulbs for Christmas decorating. I just added some more Christmas decorating shots to the Shutterfly album as well as a couple more kitchen shots. I just realized that I DID have a digital photo of the before kitchen taken before the garden window was installed; it's in the Before photo album. I'll attach the link again. Thanks for all the kind words. I owe so many thanks to so many people here--too many to mention and I wouldn't want to forget anyone! Here's a photo I just took today; we just installed the blinds. Here's the Shutterfly link to before, during and after photos as well as the new Christmas ones (it was the clickable link attached to my original post). I don't know how to insert a clickable link inside the post. (My computer skills have certainly progressed but I still have that to learn and I've spent waaayyyy too much time here this morning!) http://kimmohr.shutterfly.com And here's the better (or actually *worse*) picture from BEFORE! It shows the old window (before the garden one was installed). There actually used to be an upper row of cabinets over the peninsula but we took those out years ago (was way too claustrophobic). Here is a link that might be useful:

I have 3 "go to " things for that sort of get together....easy and allows me to spend time on other things. You say it's pot luck....so all you really need is the drinks and an "anchor" so people don' go hungry if everyone shows up with peppermint almond bark! My 3 things are a ham but would not do spiral sliced, would slice it in very thin slices myself and have small cocktail buns handy for sandwiches. Another is a sort of a sliced turkey in a light sauce....again have some buns for those wgho want to make a sandwich....and the 3rd thing is a whole salmon, poached in a court boullion, ( not olive oil) and chilled, the skin removed and served with sour cream and capers...or sour cream and dill....and lots of lemon and crackers and party rye bread. Keep the turkey BBQ thing hot with a sterno tray....or if you want ham, that can stay at room temp for several hours, but the salmon needs to be on a platter, which is on another platter of ice. Easy enough...I have a small platter which will fit into an oval casserole filled with ice. Happy party!