{a new years eve dinner party}

New Years Eve is one of my favorite holidays- probably because it's a holiday that requires getting dressed up and I'll practically take any excuse I can get to throw on some sequins.  If you saw my inspiration board earlier this week, then you know that we decided to throw a little dinner party on new years eve for 11 of our closest friends.  Everyone came dressed in their best, we served light appetizers, sat down for dinner around 9:30 and then rang in the new year followed by a very southern California late night pool sesh!

Originally I had wanted to try to re-create this party for the decor of our NYE dinner, but many of the elements I would have needed to execute this theme well were back in our Chicago place.  After spotting this Monte Carlo NYE boxed set at Moskatel's, I decided the loud color scheme would be perfect for an extra vibrant table setting.  I picked up a few yards of silver sequin fabric to use as a tablecloth and gold chargers to make each place setting really pop.  Details on some of the other smaller table elements are under some of the photos below.

We discussed different menu options for a while, but ended up going with a classic steak frites with filet mignon topped with herbed compound butter served alongside white truffle fries with garlic aoili and sauteed cauliflower with romesco.  We started the meal with our our go to Kale Caesar salad and ended with a trio of mini ice cream sandwiches. There is no better New Year's Eve (or any night for that matter) than one surrounded by great food, champagne and close friends.  Hopefully there is some truth to theory that how you spend your New Year's Eve indicates how the rest of your year will be because if it is then 2013 is looking like it's going to be pretty great... 

 {I threw together this backdrop using 2 packs each of gold metallic and white tissue fringe as well as 1 pack each of silver metallic and purple metallic fringe.  I simply cut pieces of the garland and arranged it in messy strips that I stapled onto on old sheet.  I also couldn't pass up picking up two of these awesome champagne bottle balloons}

 {NYE crowns from the boxed set, gold chargers from Sur La Table & custom menus I created}

{I re-purposed a box of silver Christmas crackers by using them as placecards with each guest's name printed on regular copy paper then adhered around the cracker with some spray adhesive}

 {Cheers coasters from Sugar Paper LA}

 {Raspberries for cocktails and champagne displayed in a vintage martini glass}

 {two batches of make-ahead Manhattans in vintage decanters}

 {one of my new favorite frozen appetizers from Trader Joe's}

 {frozen mini Eggos paired with box of KFC's popcorn chicken and a light drizzle of maple syrup created a mini take on "Chicken & Waffles"}

 {a little herbed compound butter never hurts anything}

 {guest's resolutions that we burned in the fire right before midnight}

 {for dessert we served a trio of mini ice cream sandwiches. from left: Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Sugar cookies with strawberry ice cream, Oreo Cakester cookies with dirty mint chip ice cream, and Trader Joe's soft baked Chocolate Chip cookies with Ducle de Leche ice cream.  This dessert is so easy to make and is always a crowd pleaser.  You can prepare the sandwiches hours ahead of time, pop them back into the freezer and then remove them 5 minutes before you want to serve.  Always make sure to get soft baked cookies- plus a little sparkler never hurts}

{my girlfriends and I with our favorite prop of the night- a gigantic glass champagne flute that we filled with an entire bottle of champagne!}