Time to plan for the New Year- New Year's EVE that is!

Christmas was just over and the planning for New Year's Eve began a week ago. There are events and things to do all over town- frankly it's a good problem to have, having a hard time choosing which events to go to. But I will for SURE be downtown- all kinds of restaurants are having special dinners. Lemongrass and downtown grill and Dovetail for sure, and Kashmir will have a New Year's Eve Masquerade (but be sure to get your tickets in advance)! There will also be the Cherry Blossom Ball Drop and the ARC will have their annual ball at the Terminal Station.

My head is spinning already! How will we ever decide? And to top it off I am still debating outfits (would you expect anything less).

This I can tell you: we will eating at Dovetail this evening. Below is the menu according to the email they sent out:

The first course is an Amuse Bouch and is served with a glass of champagne. You get a choice of four different options with your appetizer and entree. To finish the meal Pastry Chef, Ashley Dunn, has prepared a dessert trio. You get to taste all three! It's going to be a night full of fun and flavor!

Amuse Bouch

Griulled Squab Breast - dill carrot puree, Dijon mustard, served with a glass of champagne

Appetizer

Choose One:

Pecan Smoked Corn Chowder - paprika biscotti, buttermilk creme fraiche

Grilled Endive Salad - roasted beets, toasted pecans, heavenly blue, whole grain vinaigrette

Chili Rubbed Pork - pecan bacon pesto, perimmon jam, sherry cider vinegar

Curry Rubbed King Crab Legs - aromatic Carolima rice, coriander crab hollandaise

Entree

Choose One:

Smoked BBQ Chicken - fried potato salad, creamed collard greens

Butter Pached Shelled Lobster - triple cream brie grits, three sisters succotash

Coriander Crusted Venison Rib Chop - whipped bananas, goat cheese, poblano pear chow chow

Beef Filet - horseradish rutabaga mash, charred tomato hollandaise, asparagus salad

Dessert Trio

Smoked sea salted creme caramel - Tarte noir Pernod ice cream - Pomegranate sabayon donut shooter

This wonderful New Year's Meal is $85 per person. Spots for this special dinner have been filling up quickly since it was first announced. So, we suggest you make your reservations as quickly as possible.

We look forward to dining with you on New Year's Eve at Dovetail.

I know yall are jealous ;) But there are a bunch of places offering special menus- I mentioned Lemongrass above but I believe Tic Toc is as well and I know downtown grill is. Afterwards, I'm not sure everything we're doing- I know we're going to Cox Capitol Theatre and Kashmir. What are your plans? I know one thing is for sure- it's gonna be a fantastic night with all of my wonderful friends! 2012 has been fantastic and 2013 will be even better.

Yes, Bishop and Lily Kate, Even Mommy Believes in Santa Claus

Christmas Morning:

Twas up til 3 am, putting the gifts together, I swear never again will I (er, Santa) get so much with parts to be put together

At 5 past 3 I fell asleep to such silence, that I dared not move an inch

But at half past 8 I was awoken with the little girls voice: " Mommy I have to tee tee- in the UPSTAIRS potty". So I rose with such reluctance, that of the parent who has zero sleep and a toddler who is doing so good with her potty training.

Up I rose to the little bell voiced child, and with even more reluctance awoke the eldest who cried and refused to wake

"No- we must all go upstairs together to see what Santa left us in his wake."

Slowly we trudged the steps, with one child dancing the pee pee dance merrily and the other crawling the floor- searching for his bed-

When at the top of the stairs oh! We saw- what Santa had left such good boys and girls:

Babies and trains and trucks, tracks and bottles and blankets and clothes- oh my!

Surely this Santa must be real to have left such wonder!

But Santa for Mommy is different, my dear Bishop and Lily Kate.

 Santa is very real indeed, for while there are no presents under the tree- he has left me small miracles throughout the year:

Reenrolling in college- and making an "A"!- first time in so many years;

Community leaders who care about this town and want to see it grow;

Progressing in a new job role- and even getting a new job altogether at the end of the year!

Family and friends who have been through it all with me, friends that have grown so close that I am now a part of "The Family";

Even if I did not have a roof over my head and plenty of presents for you, I am so very blessed;

All the love in the world and even more, I see through you two- dear little ones: the joy in your eyes and knowing you trust me so ever so much (even though sometimes it's scary- like when Bishop decided to jump off of the chair and trust Mommy would catch him)- knowing I will ALWAYS have you two is the best gift of all- even with all I listed above.

So yes, Santa is real, even for Mommy, no matter what his name is- Santa or Jesus or even God, Santa has been good to me this year, and I am looking forward to so many more.

Merry Christmas to all! Happy Holidays and whatever you celebrate, I wish you the best and all the love this world has.

It's Mid December- Time for Christmas Parties!

Holiday party season! So far I have managed to not totally overwhelm myself. Santa Claus (ie: Me) is finished with my children's Christmas shopping. I still need to wrap up shopping for everyone else. And last weekend kicked off the holiday parties. Perfect timing, really, with the opening of Cesare's newest hot spot: Kashmir. But we'll get to that in a moment...

Our group would first convene at David's house before the Jazz Association's Holiday Jam. When you invite people over, even if you have plenty of cocktails, you have to have food as well. That was my self appointed job. If I didn't have a regular 9-5 job and children I could have time to make appetizer type food, even though I say I can't cook I can make appetizers no problem. But again the problem is time. I do kind of like to get my sleep when I can. So, I made a phone call to Cesare who got me in touch with Mary- who handles all of his private room bookings and caterings. I didn't need a whole lot, just something for around 15 people during cocktails.

I wish I had taken pictures but we had three platters of food from Dolce Vita: cucumber and tomato sandwiches, fruit and cheese, turkey and avacado wraps, and more. They were beautiful and yummy. And a big hit.

From there we went to the Jazz Association's Holiday Jam at the Library Ballroom. The jazz band was amazing! However as per usual for our group we had to make the rounds. From there we stopped by the party in the alley outside of downtown grill before stepping inside. From there we went on to Tic Toc Room- which was packed for the performance by Tokyo Spa. Needless to say, we did not make it to Kashmir that night- we did the next night though- but we did stop by BJ's to tell my brother Happy Birthday.

We wrapped up the evening at David's house- needless to say I have a very fun group of friends. Ending the evening dancing with Ricky (who also had a birthday), Jonathan, Steven, David, Betsy, Keith, Tori, Jerry and David- simply priceless! There are pictures but I probably shouldn't post them.

The next day we tried to make it to Wesleyan Market, but I remembered the closing time wrong so it didn't happen. We did however go by Yesterday's Antique Market. That is one really cool place- I saw the coolest glass ball wall installation.

After that we also went to Payne City Antique Market. That evening we made it over to Dovetail because I had a serious craving for the Sweet Tea creme brulee- we then went to downtown grill but they were so busy we couldn't get it. Hey- it happens- which is honestly a great thing to see. So we went on to Kashmir, where I saw so many old friends especially from my days for working for Cesare: Mary, Paula, Sunshine... and sorority sister Caroline who then introduced me to Catherine- one of the girls working there who is also an ADPi.

And tonight is the Bravo's Christmas party! This is yet another fun group- so don't miss out on any of our fun activities next year. :)

All in all, it was a very fun weekend but I am super excited for this weekend- I already have playdates schedules for my sweet babies.

Also- be sure to check out my latest fashion blog post with my #TheMuseProject photos- more to come:
http://makeitworkmolly.com/themuseproject-take-1/

AND keep your eyes open for my updates regarding the Georgia Bridal Bash- yours truly will be hosting it! It's Sunday, January 13th 2013. It will be epic :) There will be a beauty bar, groom cigar lounge, VIP lounge, detail inspired galleries, fashion show, prizes and of course Central Georgia's finest wedding professionals.

Til next time yall!