Grooving into 2007!

This time we decided to host the New Years party at our place. The planning for the event started in the previous year itself...well the last few days of 2006, so here's how it all unfolded, Once the venue was decided, the next thing everyone wanted to finalize on was the cuisine..Indian Chinese was the unanimous choice and so aji placed the order at our next door Minerva restaurant. We also decided to do a secret santa for the kids and all the parents picked up the lots. The last thing on the list was to decide on the games and that was settled towards the very last.... The day before the party is when we though of the kids menu and Shankar and Bhavani graciously offered to pick up the fetuccine alfredo from Olive Garden. We started thinking about games and music and once again shankar offered to put together some jammin songs in time for the party :) Our trusted cleaning lady had a family emergency and was out for almost 4 weeks so what do we have in our hands...a very dirty floors and a broken vaccum cleaner..a trip to Costco solved that problem and soon aji revved up the vaccum cleaner and put it to work hard...Vrooom...Vroom..Vroom…

I decided on a few appetizers and finally the list was shortened to a reasonable 4 - Pita chips and egg plant dip, cutlet balls for the meat eaters, Patra for the veggies, fruits and veggies served with a delectable cheese fondue and chips for the junkies...i mean the kids.. We had ordered for gulab jamun from Minerva but I wanted to make an assortment of sweet bites. Aji wanted to try something new and different and suggested a trifle. I was wary at first coz I was unsure how much everyone will enjoy it but decided to give it a try. The night before the party Rhea slept with Appachan and Ammachi and Sean slept on the couch as I worked on the Trifle listening to all the songs shanker had compiled while Aji loaded it on the ipod. Aji also helped me cut the congo bars and the brownies that I packed into tiny goodie bags, and I also set the table and we were up till 12:30am..it was fun and for some reason reminded me of my paying guest days in Bangalore when my friends and I used to be up late night chatting and munching and just having fun..

Morning rolled in fast and after all the last minute cleaning and cooking and setting up we managed to dash in for the 12:45 mass. Made a quick stop by party store and got some hats for the kiddo game and some streamers and we were all set..Shanker and Bhavani are always the early birds and they didn’t disappoint this time too...anishchayan made some rockin’ cosmos and soon thereafter everyone rolled in slowly... We had music in full blast and everyone had a round of jiving before we did the kids game..a modified passing the parcel...anytime someone gets the parcel they had to perform....the kids were really good and were outsmarting each other...but the night belonged to Aashay with his brilliant dance moves...we then did the secret Santa and the kid couldn’t be happier...

The Kids strike apose after secret santa!

This followed with more jiving. Dinner ensued soon after for the kids and the adults had the apple dance which was such a huge hit.

Apple dance
After more music and dancing we decided to take a break and everyone had dinner. food was spicy and a tad bit greasy but everyone enjoyed it.

Yum Yum Yum
The trifle was enjoyed thereafter and them more dancing and games followed...we celebrated the new year with champagne and sparkling cider and streamers all over..More dancing followed and we had the white elephant and the 'How well you know your spouse'. This was followed by ‘Patron shots’ …not for the feeble hearts.

It was well past 2:30 am and the kids were still very wired up....we decided to call it a day ...with a goodie bag and a calender for the new year...everyone parted ways.. A great time was had by all!!