For the last seven years, six of which I have been a part, our friends Mark and Brigid have thrown the most fabulous holiday party. It started out with five or six people and has morphed into a gathering of more than 30 of us. Each year, there are some old faces, some new faces and, this year, some really new faces.
Begun with the idea that we really don't need to give each other any more stuff (or at least that's how I imagine this began), Mark and Brigid a started different kind of secret santa gift exchange among our group of friends. We pull the name of another person who will be at the party, but instead of buying the person something small for themselves, we buy a toy that reminds us of them. This is a no-holds-barred gift exchange where you can spend $15 or $50 because it's really the thought that counts. And for those of us who don't get to shop much for toys, it's a lot of fun to wander the toy aisles!
This year, a friend who loves to bake opened an Easy Bake Oven, our soccer-playing friend got a blow-up miniature soccer ball field with balls, and Chad gave Brigid one of those creepy "Fur Real" cats that purrs and moves its head. (Lucy growled at it the whole time we were wrapping the gift.)
At the end of the night, we load up all the toys and donate them to Toys for Tots so that children in our area who might not otherwise get much will have something to open on Christmas Day. This year, two Marines joined us for the party and they took the toys with them.
We've told many others about this party who have started doing something similar among their friends or family. It's a great way to spend time with people we don't get to see as often as we'd like and make someone else's Christmas just a little bit better. That's what this is all about, right?
Begun with the idea that we really don't need to give each other any more stuff (or at least that's how I imagine this began), Mark and Brigid a started different kind of secret santa gift exchange among our group of friends. We pull the name of another person who will be at the party, but instead of buying the person something small for themselves, we buy a toy that reminds us of them. This is a no-holds-barred gift exchange where you can spend $15 or $50 because it's really the thought that counts. And for those of us who don't get to shop much for toys, it's a lot of fun to wander the toy aisles!
This year, a friend who loves to bake opened an Easy Bake Oven, our soccer-playing friend got a blow-up miniature soccer ball field with balls, and Chad gave Brigid one of those creepy "Fur Real" cats that purrs and moves its head. (Lucy growled at it the whole time we were wrapping the gift.)
At the end of the night, we load up all the toys and donate them to Toys for Tots so that children in our area who might not otherwise get much will have something to open on Christmas Day. This year, two Marines joined us for the party and they took the toys with them.
We've told many others about this party who have started doing something similar among their friends or family. It's a great way to spend time with people we don't get to see as often as we'd like and make someone else's Christmas just a little bit better. That's what this is all about, right?
Presents under the tree
A huge holiday feast (with Brigid's specialty, seafood pie)
A huge holiday feast (with Brigid's specialty, seafood pie)
Paul's fancy Christmas sweater
(there is a long story behind this but let's just say it was
lovingly cross-stitched by his mother-in-law)
Janice and Nick all decked out
The wrapping is more fun than the present when you're one year old
The littlest guest (just three weeks old!)
Packing up all the presents
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