I’m sure you’ll all be relieved to know I made it through all of Downton Abbey last night. It felt like the right thing to do. And I was so glad because clearly Lady Mary has had a rough go of it over the last six months.
P and I watched it together and after it was over he asked, “So why do people like this show?”
It’s safe to assume British soap operas aren’t his favorite.
And as for right this moment, I’m wrapped in a blanket in front of the fire while watching the National Championship game. I also just ate a bowl of soup. I didn’t mean for 2014 to start off with such a fast-paced, glamorous lifestyle, but so be it.
Several of you asked about the favorite things party, specifically how it works and what gifts we gave so I thought I’d write about it today. Assuming you wouldn’t rather hear about how hard it was to get up this morning and how Caroline wanted a toasted ham and cheese sandwich packed in her lunch and she only ended up eating half of it even though I’d slaved to toast that bread at 7:00 a.m.
Also, math homework.
You know what I remember about prime numbers versus composite numbers? Absolutely nothing. I don’t think there was even such a thing as composite numbers in the 1980’s.
Okay, but back to the favorite things party.
I originally read about the idea from the Nester and then of course there used to be a talk show host on T.V. named Oprah and she used to have a Favorite Things show every year that was kind of a big deal.
Ideally it works best for a small group because you buy your favorite thing for each person. There are five girls in my group besides myself, so everyone brings five of their favorite thing. You can make the price point whatever is best for everyone, but we keep it between $5-$15. This makes it affordable and more fun because you have to be creative.
We’ve done it three years now and I’m going to do my best to remember some of the different things we’ve given over the years. I’ll start with this year. I gave everyone a cute pack of styrofoam cups and a small bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream. The other girls brought pj pants, a wine stopper, a small Voluspa candle, Kiehl’s lip balm and Ikea cutting boards with matching knives.
Last year I gave everyone a pair of fuzzy socks and the other girls gave a small set of Sephora lipgloss, St. Ives face cream, Trapp room fragrance, earrings and a cute bag to put your wet swimsuit in when you travel.
And then the year before that is nothing but a vague memory, but I remember that I gave everyone pajama pants and that someone brought the latest People magazine and some chocolate.
So there you have it. And not one time has anyone brought raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens or brown paper packages or warm woolen mittens. Just a disclaimer.
Now I’m going to finish the last of the holiday mint M&M’s, wrap back up in my blanket and see how this game turns out. My money is on Auburn.
Not really because I’d never bet money on a football game. I might, however, bet holiday mint M&M’s.
If you’re interested in reading about more of my favorites from 2013, I wrote a post over on Ree’s blog yesterday. You can read it right here.