when i grow up, i want to be just like my cousin jordy

Party number two was officially a success!  And I have pictures to prove it.  

Although it wasn't as eventful as Saturday night, it was very Christmassy and everyone enjoyed it!  

Here is a picture of the invitations that Amanda Evans designed for me.  I think they're precious!  

And I forgot to include this picture of the SMU Christmas party invitation.  Greg, our director of MarCom hand drew this comic about how he and Luke saved Christmas from an evil Santa by blowing up the North Pole.  You're probably not surprised at the difference in invitations.  

And here's the inside of the invitation.  They turned out really well.  

After shopping for hours and cooking all evening in preparation for the two parties, here is what the dining room looked like.  You can see my English Toffee sitting there waiting to be broken and all of the groceries on the floor.  I think on Friday night I spent from 7:30pm until around 2am to finish all the baking and mixing and everything that needed to get done.  It was worth it!  

As I stood in the kitchen amidst this mess, I thought of our dear Jordy and how this is like NOTHING for him.  I was thinking up an impressive list that could rival his.  It felt like a TON of stuff, but then I read through his Thanksgiving list again and I decided to stop complaining in my mind and wondering why I didn't just go to Costco and buy a cheesecake!  

BUT!  It was all worth it when that evening at the party I heard a girl lean across the counter to grab a cookie and say, 'This feels like the kind of party that Martha Stewart might throw, Caitlin, did you make all of this stuff from scratch?!'  

Like music to my years.  I think since being homeschooled and having mom teach me how to cook and watching Martha Stewart everyday then, I've dreamed of throwing a party with someone else's money that exemplified beauty and fun.  And it was really beautiful!  Take a look.  

This is the Cranberry-Pistachio Icebox Cooke platter.  Oh!  And bargain find. . . these square chargers/platters were only $2.50 at Vons!  

English Toffee/Peppermint Fudge

Cheese platter. . . a favorite among students, I might add.  

And the hot chocolate bar.  I had trouble getting a good picture because we had some pretty good mood lighting going. 

It was SO fun and everyone enjoyed eating some good treats.  Maybe Jordy will hire me to come out to Martha's Vineyard and be the Martha for his catering!  I might need a little more practice, but this was a start!