On Sunday, the Sweet Magnolias celebrated our belated New Year’s party, that coincided with Chinese New Year. Originally set on January 3, but to accommodate family and career concerns, we finally made it happen.
And where else could we have held it if not in the the most coveted party place, the envy of many, from metro Manila to Samar; the elegant and charming home of Tess. I guess we were lucky.
Our host.
Finally we met the husbands and got to know them well; except two who are abroad. It would have been a million-fold lot merrier if Atle and Alfred were there.
First we had appetizers; the dips Cheska made were to die for. Tess brought out her charcuterie board with the usual delicacies; among those were two creamiest cheeses from Holland. We had those with our favorite moscato.
Finally, we found our designated places around the amazing dinner table setting in pink. First order was picture taking.
We each brought a dish and we were surprised that we had so much food.
Sorry I failed to take photos of the rest.
Then came the best part, the dessert!
Look at a serving of dessert, there’s peach jello, lychee-gelatin fruit salad and leche flan. Actually a buffet of desserts. And there’s that colorful goblet of buko sherbet too.
Wait! There’s more, but we begged off from having another dessert.. So the gallon of creamy cheese ice cream went to the freezer. Instead some requested for coffee while the rest had fresh tarragon-mint tea.
After dinner the drinking resumed while the singers started to clear their throats. We were surprised that our husbands gave amazing renditions.
“always on my mind”
“You raise me up”
“Be my lady”
Not to be outdone, the ladies also showed their talents.
“Tell me that you love me”
While there were singing and dancing our host started bringing out the hard drinks and we thought: : “ohh, the party is just starting”.
It was so difficult to break that pary; we almost didn’t want it to end; but one of us had to catch an early morning flight.
We were about to go; we even distributed the boxes of tikoy that Kim and Claire gave us.
All of a sudden AP got the microphone and belted Mambo # 5. Upon hearing the first 3 notes, there were cheers and dancing resumed. What a way to end such an amazing party.
Of course, we can’t thank Tess enough; our fabulous host for the Elar’s lechon, the bulalo soup, the wine and juices, etc.; the beautiful table setting in pink and all the hassles of hosting a party. Moreover, thank you for the joy, the fun and the laughter we shared; really incredible and truly a priceless experience.
A great way to start the year, Sweet Magnolias!
