Thanksgiving Candlesticks

On a recent trip to Upstate New York, my friend Jackie came across these fantastic Eagle Candlesticks and knew they needed to be part of my spooky display at my Annual Witches Tea. She was right, they add just the right eerie spooky vibe and a bonus is that every witch looks great bathed in candlelight.

Back at the first Thanksgiving, my relative, let's just call her Catherine for the sake of the story, was in attendance.  I'm super impressed that I have a relative that was on the Mayflower.  My family isn't really known for being the type to rough it, I mean, we love to sail so I can see that Catherine was like, "Oh, that sounds fun!" However, I kind of think when it came to building a new colony and camping and starving.. she was probably like... "Yikes I didn't think this through.. I want to go back!"

So, on the first Thanksgiving, Catherine ate and celebrated with gratitude their survival of that first year.  As the sun set on that day, they were not done celebrating, the men lit a bonfire, but they needed something to light the long table.

Catherine jumped up from the table and exclaimed, "I have just the thing."  She ran into her cabin and grabbed the Eagle Candlesticks she had brought over from England.   They had given her courage and sustained her with light.  They served as a reminder to fly high like an Eagle, especially during that first trying year in America. 

With pride Catherine placed the Eagle Candlesticks on the table and the Thanksgiving celebration continued on through the night. 

And now, those candlesticks grace my piano as a reminder to fly high and to give thanks for the sacrifice of those came to America before me. 

Well, at least that is the story I tell folks when people ask me about the Candlesticks.  But between you and me, Jackie says she just stumbled upon them in an antique store and the store owner said, "I dunno their history, they are just old." Personally, I like my story a whole lot better.

Five for Friday: Witches Tea Edition

Five things that are rolling around in my head today:

1.  I hosted my annual Witches Tea this week. It's a girls night to celebrate those witches in my life who have my back.  I love it, and I love celebrating my gal pals.  My friends are invited to wear black and wear their most glam witches hat. Every year I forget to invite someone... I have a love/hate relationship with Evite and it's app.  Seems like it doesn't always pick up my contacts list all the way.  I need a better way... anyone have any brilliant ideas?

2.  I think it's important for kids to see that "Mom has a thing tonight with her friends" to help them see mom as more than a maid and a short order cook.    But maybe I'm just grasping for some justification to ignoring them and also forcing them to do 100 chores while I panic about the state of my house.

3.  I don't bake, so something like this stresses me out a bit.  Last weekend's attempt at Blueberry Crostatas were a disaster and even the dog wouldn't eat them.  However, I'm crazy lucky to have talented friends who don't sleep and make amazing treats to share.

4.  My forte is drinks.. specifically mocktails. This year we had a Caramel Appletini, along with my signature drink. I like to call it.. Drugs, which is a medicine syringe of Cranberry Juice in Ginger Ale.

5. Every year I have grand plans for a lavish spread of appetizers and decorations, yet I get distracted by other projects.  Then at some point during the party I look around at my house full of my favorite witches and I realize I shouldn't have stressed.... these are my witches and they always have my back.

And I am one lucky witch!

The Second Annual Witches Tea

I'm pretty lucky, I'm surrounded by a  great group of friends and I love celebrating the ladies in my life.   Last year my Witches Tea was such a success, I decided to make it an annual event.. The Witches Tea has been my way of saying "Look Witch, thanks for having my back." 

I think getting the house ready is half the fun. 

 

The floating witches hats are my favorite.  They really creep the dogs out.

 

I'm grateful my family is supportive of this event, even though they are banished for the night. (We were trying to imitate a U2 Album cover in this pic.)  

What better way to welcome my Witches than with a giant W. 

I made my signature witchy drink, which is strawberry syrup in syringes.  It looks like drugs and tastes delish.  Everyone wonders why I have a bunch of medicine syringes handy, but it's pretty indicative of my life right now.  Some days I feel more like a medicine man than a witch. 

I really don't know how people had parties before Pinterest.  They must have partied like cavemen, because  I stole borrowed most of my ideas from Pinterest.

We had a caramel apple bar which was a great idea in theory, but my caramel got too hard as soon as you spooned it on your plate. It was a pretty big flop.   Thank goodness my friends Denise showed up to save the day with a cauldron full of cake pops.  She's the kind of person that basically invented all those great ideas you pin on  Pinterest.

Check out all my cute witches! 

Everyone dressed up to the nines and my poor neighbors must have been a little alarmed when they drove up and saw my house brimming with witches.

This party is by far one of my very favorites and I think it's a tradition I'll happily keep..

 See you later Witches!  Until next time.

Witches Tea

I love my family, I love Mr. Man, but I need some girl time every once in a while with my lady friends.   My life is just too busy to have meaningful conversations with my friends.  We might have a quick chat at school pick up or carpool, but it's not the same.

My friend Hillary told me about an idea she saw on Pinterest for a "Witches Tea" which sounded like a perfect girls night in. I rounded up all my Witches and had them over for a ladies night.  I had the best time prepping for the party.

I really am beginning to wonder how people planned for parties before the internet and specifically Pinterest.  I stole borrowed so many ideas from Pinterest, such as these floating witches hats which hung above my table.

I made Cranberry Spritzers which were Sprite with a syringe of Cranberry Juice.   They looked spooky and kind of like drugs, which meant it was a hit for my wild witchy friends.

I was running a little bit behind because AK's ballet rehearsal went long, but that's okay, my friends joined in with some of the prep.

In fact they enjoyed my demonstration of how easy it is to make caramel using Werthers Baking Caramels. #gotitfree  They also enjoyed watching me overcook the caramel and learned the proper technique to get it splattered all over the microwave.  Just a tip, melt it slow, a little bit at a time. 

I asked everyone to wear black and don your best witches hat and they all did.  Everyone looked great.

All these ladies are my "witches", they totally have my back.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be an annual event.  It was a lot of fun, and I needed this time to cast spells with my friends.

Of course, Pinterest provided me with the perfect party favor, "Witches Warts" and "Ghost Poop" which made me look like a rock star and gave my kids a project to help with while I prepped for the party.  

It's events like these that make me so grateful for the life I have.  We only moved here three years ago and it is humbling to look around my full house and kitchen and see that we have such an amazing circle of friends.  I am one lucky witch.