Party Night Cold Snap

Wouldn't you know it........ we've had very warm temperatures here for the longest time, and then last night a cold front moved in and the temperature dropped below 50 degrees. That's freezing in my book. The other day when it was warm, I picked out my clothes for our Valentine's party tonight-- a sleeveless black dress with a red ruffled poncho-type of shawl that goes over it. I'm not going to change outfits now, so this sleeveless will have to do. The ruffles of the shawl go to my elbows, plus I'm always up and down and back and forth during the parties, so this should be fine. This shawl is very Valentine-y.... the ruffles look like petals on a rose. I bought my husband a bright red tie with white hearts on it, and he didn't think it was too silly to wear, so we'll both look like a Valentine card. (Thankfully, my sister in NY won't see me, or I'd never hear the end of it.)

Our cats have been out on the screen-porch since yesterday. I hate to keep them out there when it isn't warm, but I really have no choice once I start preparing the house for a party. It's days like this when I wish we'd opted for a glass-enclosed sun room instead of a screened-in porch. The only reason we didn't do that was because our breakfast room is all glass-enclosed, and it's pretty much a sun room in there, which is right next to the screen-porch. But I can't keep the cats in the breakfast room during a party because half of our friends end up in there at some point during the night.

Well, I've done all I can to make sure the cats can keep warm out there on the porch. I've got blankets covering the little house that AngelBoy sleeps in, and blankets covering the crates that they curl up in. And to make things even more cozy for Mickey Kitty, I took the leopard throw off of our bed and put it outside on the porch. Mickey loves that leopard throw, and he cuddles up in it and rolls around on it when it's on the bed. When I put it on the porch this morning, Mickey and ShadowBaby were fighting over it, so I had to fix it so they could both share it. Half of the leopard throw is now draped on a cushion of one of the deep wicker chairs, and the other half is tucked into the vintage doll bed which I put in front of the wicker chair. Last I looked, Mickey was curled up in the doll bed, and ShadowBaby was curled up on the chair, and both of them were warm and content with their part of the leopard fur throw. Kids....

Everything is ready now for the party. All I have to do is plug in the coffee urn, turn on the oven for the casseroles I made this afternoon, and light all the candles. Oh.... I also have to make the punch. Because the weather was so warm, I bought all the ingredients for a pink Valentine's punch--- pink grapefruit juice, 7-Up, and strawberry sherbet. You mix equal amounts of the juice and the soda, then add in scoops of the sherbet. As the sherbet melts, the punch gets thicker and sweeter, and pinker. I also bought fresh strawberries to float in the punch bowl. It will look very Valentine-y, but I guess I'd better turn up the heat and make the house good and warm or no one will be interested in a cold punch. Had I known we'd be in the middle of a cold snap, I would've bought what I needed for hot apple cider. I could've used a cookie cutter to make heart-shaped apple slices to float in the cider. Oh well....... that's an idea for another party.