There is a Method to my Madness

In spite of all evidence to the contrary, there is a system of organization that holds the Furber house together, and it's about to be put to the ultimate test. We're looking forward to the arrival of eleven relatives for Thanksgiving. During the week of November 23rd, the occupancy of my house will range anywhere from 0 to 16 people, depending on time and day. This is the week when all of the various organizational and space saving tricks that I employ all year round come together to pay off big. For example:

My giant 120" kitchen table is too big for my family of five most of the year, but will be just the right size for the extended family.

Those Tolix french stacking chairs that I bought on sale in June will now come off the back porch, and sit around my table for the week so there's always room for everyone at the table.


My refrigerator will be filled with cleaned and chopped fruit and vegetables so everyone can help themselves throughout the week. (See post "I Love My Fridge" May 2008)

There's plenty of room for everyone (or nearly everyone) to crash. (See post "Welcome to Casa de los Furbers. Checkout is at Noon." August 2008)

We have lots of tiny bars of soap and tiny bottles of shampoo that we've collected. Perfect for guests. (See post "I Bought My House for the Bathtub." June 2008.)

I can find anything in my linen closet at a moment's notice. (See post "A Linen Closet Expose" May 2008)

I invested last year in Pottery Barn's Caterer's Box dessert plates and wine glasses, which will be put to good use as we blow through three meals worth of dishes each day. That will save us from the temptation of using paper plates and plastic glasses at every meal.


The foundation of my house is mostly white, so when everyone leaves, all I need is some hot water and bottle of bleach to get it all spotless again. (See post "Life in the White House" June 2008)

I expect the week of Thanksgiving to be fun and happy, with very little stress related to the care and keeping of the house. I still wish I had that cement floor with the drain in the middle, though. (See post "Get the Hose!" June 2008)

Is it November Already?

Halloween is over, and now the freight train of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's starts rolling. Most of my girlfriends are appalled to see Christmas in the stores before Thanksgiving is even here. I love it though -- it gets me in the mood to get a head start on all my Holiday chores. With three kids in the house, I've found that planning ahead and staying organized are essential to having a calm and fun Holiday season. I've also found that I spend less money on the little things when I plan ahead. There are a few things I like to do the weekend after Halloween to make the rest of the season much easier. They are:

Put away my Halloween Mugs and get out my Reindeer Mugs. Drinking my coffee out of a Reindeer Mug every morning puts me in a Christmas-y mood.

Get my centerpiece on my dining table all pretty so I don't have to think about it through the rest of the season. This year my leaves, pumpkin candles, and vintage glass jars should hold me over at least through the end of November. (See post "T-6 Weeks to Halloween" on 9/16)

Make about 10 dozen sugar cookies that can go into the freezer so we can pull them out and decorate them whenever the kids need a fun activity. I like to stock some spare reindeer plates in my cupboard, then when the kids are invited to a Christmas party, they can take a reindeer plate full of cookies with them for the hostess.











Stock up on my favorite hostess gift of the season so when we are invited to a party we're ready to rip. My Mom taught me never to show up at someone's house empty handed. However, when left to the last minute, the joy of gift giving can become the nightmare of rifling through your cupboards an hour before the party. This year I think it will be a bottle of wine, and these pretty bottle stoppers:




Plan ahead for the Advent Calendar, which comes out right after Thanksgiving. I've found that it's much easier (and cheaper) to buy all 25 gifts that go into the Advent calendar way ahead and stash them away for later. I can't show you what I'm thinking this year -- as you know, the Furber children are extremely involved with Suburban Zen.

Have the kids draft the first round of their Christmas list. That way they have a little time to add, subtract and narrow it down to their top three contenders before JP and I start our shopping in December.

Orchestrating a holiday season with three kids in the house is not for the faint of heart, but JP and I are pros. Bring it on Santa -- we can handle whatever you've got!

T minus Six Weeks to Halloween. Time to Decorate!

Because I'm in the mail order business, I tend to start shopping and planning early for holidays. Halloween is still six weeks away, but feels like it's right around the corner to me.

My kids are big into decorating for each holiday, and so the boxes are about to come out with our Halloween mugs, our big hairy spiders, and Mr. and Mrs. Bones, the plastic skeletons that hang out on our front porch throughout the month of October. Each year we add a few new things to round out our decorating statement, but they have to work with spiders and the Bones family -- they're non-negotiable.

I've decided the focus this year will be to replace the centerpiece I always have on my kitchen table. For several years it's been black slate tiles with ghost candles on them. I think it's time to enhance the level of sophistication, as the ghosts are looking pretty sad after five long years of spending 11 months of the year in a box in the garage. I've decided to do a pumpkin centerpiece that will be a mixture of real pumpkins and pumpkin candles on vintage breadboards. My kids love pumpkins.
When I started shopping, I was surprised how many good pumpkin candles there were in the market.
I found these at Pottery Barn:












I found these at Williams-Sonoma:












and I found these at Crate and Barrel:












When I mix these pumpkin candles up with some real pumpkins and gourds from the Farmer's Market, I think this centerpiece will be worthy of the kind of status Mr. and Mrs. Bones hold in my house. My son Jack, who does not like change at all, says I cannot retire the ghosts. However, I think when Jack sees my fabulous ode to pumpkins, he will change his mind. I'll let you know how it goes in a later post.