The Secret of Staying Within a Budget

As I was sitting in a gala committee chair meeting, a friend, out of the blue decided to congratulate me in front of the entire group, as loudly as possible, on my 40th birthday. It was pretty embarrassing as I am a private person. The general conversation moved to the types of 40th birthday celebrations they had experienced. In quite a few cases, some unfortunate husbands forgot, and they have never lived it down.

Big birthday celebrations are generally thought of as high budget celebrations. If you have the budget – go for it, but if you don’t,

Paris, France or Paris in Texas

A friend celebrated her 50th birthday a couple of months ago. While it might have been on her wishlist to celebrate it in Paris, France, the celebration materialised right here in Texas, and not Paris, Texas either. The inability to do this in France was not a deterrent, in fact it was an impetus to see how close we could come to the French vibe. We celebrated with a decidedly french brunch in her living room for 30 guests. We did one of those quick change transformations I have become known for. So we started with her living room as it was, and within an hour

So What's Stopping You From Entertaining?

[fete (noun) - a festive celebration or entertainment]

I love to entertain. I love all aspects of the process. As the saying goes "give me an hour and I will find a reason to celebrate."

After one of my events, at least one of my friends will say, "I had the best time - the next one's on me" and that will be the end of that. It's sort of like saying "let's do lunch."

I am sure everyone absolutely means it when they say it, if even for a simple second. Shortly after that second however, the reality of the whole matter starts weighing down on them, at least from their point of view. Suddenly entertainment-phobia takes hold. Heads start pounding and screechy internal voices start saying: