Tree trimming/birthday party

Yesterday Spouse & I hosted our tree trimming/birthday party.  It was a lot of fun!

We had set up and lit the tree in advance, and had all the boxes of ornaments out and ready.  20 of our friends came over about 4pm and some of us began hanging the ornaments.  (Several just came for the food and social aspect.)  About an hour later the tree was done and it looked beautiful.

We used to trim the tree ourselves until just a few years ago.  With all those ornaments it took a long time with just the 2 of us, especially since Spouse would always lose interest after 15 minutes, leaving me to finish the tree.  After the 1st time we had a tree trimming party I realized that in addition to the tree getting decorated quicker, it also looks different each year.  With other people hanging the ornaments in different places, different ornaments are 'highlighted' each year due to their location.  I love it!

Once the tree was done we ate dinner.  Spouse made ziti with Italian sausage and homemade meatballs, salad, and garlic bread.  Along with it we had wine, soda, tea, and Prosecco with St Germain.  We served this at our wedding reception and it was a big hit again last night.  I have a feeling this will become our signature celebration drink.  Since my birthday was on Fri, we celebrated it on Sun along with the tree trimming. 

After dinner our friend Tim brought a homemade version of Jeopardy, with categories like "Honey Boo Boo" and "Holiday Movies".  At 1st I thought it was going to be lame, but it was actually quite fun.  Tim did a terrific job writing the questions/answers and creating the Jeopardy board.

Afterward we had birthday cake and cupcakes.

It was a great party and everyone had fun!