chanukah and stuff

Chanukah ended last week (it was December 1-8 this year). Since my aunt that normally makes the family Chanukah party made a Bar Mitzvah on Thanksgiving and a Bat Mitzvah yesterday, I hosted the family Chanukah party this year. I checked with E first, and when I invited people I told them it's a 1-shot deal due to E hosting us all the weeks before & after - the goal is not to get "stuck" hosting Chanukah each year (or piss of E for stealing her holiday).

My immediate family had been over for Mom's birthday this summer, and most of the cousins came to the Cousins Dinner I hosted when I'd first moved it, but for the rest of the family it was the first time seeing my apartment. Out of the 30 people invited, 25 came to the party :) Only 2 of the no-shows are on my sh*t list, but we'll get to that later possibly. Or not.

Anyways, 25 people + 1 br apartment = kind of a tight squeeze, except that as expected (and advertised), people didn't stay for the whole 4 hour party. By the time my last aunt & uncle showed up with their 3 kids, at least 8 people had already left. I had 14 seats, and only for about 30 minutes at the end did we have more people than chairs. It worked out well for circulation. People couldn't cluster because if you got up you lost "your" seat and had to sit in a new spot and talk to new people. Plus, since there was enough seats for the most part, people weren't forced to stay sitting to retain their seat all night.

The food was good, I think. No complaints anyways ;) And I love my family: all but one of my aunts volunteered to bring a dish (pasta, blintz souffle, and quiches). Mom helped a lot, she made Salmon, Guacamole, and a last-minute chocolate cake. I did some quiches, apple-blueberry cobbler, veggie platter and fruit platter... I think I'm forgetting something, but whatever :) I need to remember not to ask E to bring a dish when I know she's going to be super late, that was a total rookie mistake, and I feel bad asking her to cook & then barely using her dish. It was good leftovers though :)

The best day of Chanukah was definitely December 6th, the day after the party. I was SUPER stressed about the party (to the point where I had trouble sleeping), but Monday I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday.

At Rochel's Chanukah party on Tuesday, everyone said they wanted sweaters for Harry Potter Christmas. (I'm hosting dinner that Friday night & we're doing an HP Xmas theme). I think they're all getting mini house sweaters from the Charmed Knits book instead. I need to size them to either fit a bottle of wine, or buy some scented lotions at Bath & Body Works and fit the sweaters to those. (The photo above is one I knit for a Slytherin Swap on Ravelry).

Last photos: this is what my spoiler sent me in the Slytherin Yule swap on Rav. OMG the doily is beautiful. It works really well with my glass vase, too. I just need to clear off the top of one of my bookcases so it can have a worthy display area.