NEW YEARS EVE PARTY!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!

 "New year's day is every one's birthday" Charles Lamb

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right"  Oprah Winfrey

"Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account"  Oscar Wilde

 I am wishing you all the happiest, brightest and most successful new year of your life!

Join us back here next year...you never know what you'll find!

Love to you all,
Braxton and Yancey

PARTY DRESSES AND MORE!

What will you be wearing this New Year's Eve?

 Is there anything more fun to shop for than a party dress?  I've hunted around and found some really great ones.....many are sparkly....can we all agree that this is the year of the sequin?  What will you be wearing?

I seriously love this blue dress.  The color! The tassels!

This one would flatter almost anyone at any age...Can't you see Michelle Obama in this?

Thank God someone has finally made a long sleeved party dress....so rare.

 Like I said, the year of the sequin.  I do hope this trend will be around for a while..sequins + heels + champagne = fun!

 The dress below is actually quite similar to the one I've been wearing for the past couple of new year's eve's.  Mine is red satin and I'm pretty sure it was someones bridesmaids dress.  My daughter had me pose for a painting in it, which now hangs in my breakfast room, immortalized forever. Oh, and I found it at Goodwill for $5.00!!  Happy New Year!

Mine is cut almost exactly like this...yes the skirt really is this wide.

 Let's talk about party hair! 
Do you style you hair differently for special occasions?  I love to do different things with my hair, although for special occasions I usually wear it down like I do on most days....it's just to nerve wracking to worry about an updo all night.

I love braids!

Temporary color for a party?

This looks like it requires much more hair than I possess, but isn't it lovely?

 Let's talk about party makeup! 
 Have you ever hired a professional to do your party makeup?  Do real people actually do that?
Makeup is one of my great pleasures in life.  I have so many lipsticks and eyeshadow I could rock a completely different look everyday for a year.  Really.
One thing I've haven't tried yet it false eyelashes....tempted...New Years Eve perhaps!
What's your party makeup style?

Love the retro look.

Why not?

I have a thing for masks...I loath them...they seriously scare the bejessus out of me.  If I had the nerve to ever attend a masked party (and I don't) I would do something like this instead. 

Would you consider matching your eyeshadow to your dress?

I assume this woman doesn't wish to be kissed at midnight.

If you went to a party with a friend, would it be fun to match your makeup?

Have a beautiful day.
YANCEY

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

Let's get this party started with some examples of my (and hopefully your) favorite party scenes.....

Betty Draper throws a dinner party on MadMen.

I know it's cliche...but I really think my favorite party ever was my own wedding reception.  It was at the Virginia Museum in Richmond, a place I spent a lot (and I do mean a lot) of time as a teenager....wandering the halls, pretending I actually lived there, pretending I was a princess and the blue man in the Egyptian room was my prince.  Is it too extreme to say that art saved my life?

Fast forward a couple of years...I've met my prince, Braxton is his name, and we are to be married.  My dad and I were planning the reception and he suggested the Virginia Museum, and I knew right away it would be perfect....and it was.  We had a really small guest list, only immediate family, meaning we could splurge on the food and champagne.

I've been lucky enough to have visited some of the greatest art museums in the world, and the Virginia Museum is still my favorite....and a really great party venue! 

Sixteen Candles

Animal House.

Gone With the Wind.....remember when Rhett left Scarlett at the door and made her enter Melanie's party all alone?

Atonement....the scene where, as Braxton says, he pinned her to the wall like a butterfly.  Seriously sexy moment.

High Society

A Single Man

Breakfast at Tiffany's

ManMen

MadMen.....remember when pregnant women could drink?

My favorite movie of this year....Midnight in Paris.  So beautiful you could cry....and you probably will.

Midnight in Paris

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Now it's your turn...where was you best ever party?

Have a beautiful day.
YANCEY

PARTY!

Welcome to a new week and a new muse.

  When contemplating  posting ideas, I couldn't think of a better muse for the week between Christmas and New Years than......PARTY!

 What's your party style?  Big, loud and crowded?  Intimate with a sit down meal?  Games and costumes? The kind you don't remember very well the next day, or wish you didn't?

When we were in college, Braxton's and my idea of a party was... another like minded couple, a six pack or bottle of wine, and deep philosophical questions such as.....the meaning of life?  Is there a god?  The Beatles or the Rolling stones?  What are the chances any of us will actually graduate?

These days our parties generally involve a birthday or holiday, although sometimes we're just celebrating life, and it's usually just the two of us, a bottle of champagne, and deep philosophical questions such as....the meaning of life?  Is there a god?  What are the chances our children will finish their advanced degrees in our lifetime?  We finally figured out the whole Beatles Vs. Stones thing.

 Let's talk about great party ideas and venues.

Let's talk about party clothes.

 Let's explore celebrations around the world.  Have you ever participated in another cultures holiday or celebration?

 Let's talk about favorite party food.  I absolutely adore making horderves and always make tons for New Years Eve.

 Let's talk about the best party you've ever been to....the best party you've ever hosted....the dream party in your head....where would it be...what would you serve...wear...what's the occasion?

Let's talk about PARTIES!

Have a festive day.
YANCEY