Usually the phrase"I'm seeing Red" is understood to mean that I'm mad, maybe not just mad, but furious. W-e-l-l, as many of you know I have an addiction to the color Red. It does not make me mad, sad or otherwise. It makes me happy:) So today, honoring the 2nd best day of the year(Christmas being the first) we are having a Sweetheart Dinner. This tradition started some 25 years ago. Our little family, all boys, lived in Gilbert at the time. Our Gilbert 1st Ward had a dinner where a few couples(Parker and I and some others) hosted 3-4 other couples and fed, entertained, delighted etc. them. Well, our young boys thought that all the preparations were fun but when we sent them to their rooms to bed, banished for the evening, one of them asked, "Why don't you ever make a party for us?" Pretty pathetic don't you think? Well, the next evening (since I was already set up) I repeated the party for our little family complete with the gourmet meal, the favors, the games and the kids loved it! We repeated the tradition, and over the years have had some big fun. Each person eligible(16 yrs +)must bring a date. We also include some minor etiquette training for example, which fork to use, or pleasant table conversation(using a game called {Roll The Dice}).
Some of our Sweetheart Dinner Highlights include -
"My Big Fat Greek Valentine's Day", where we ate Greek food inspired by our Nephew who served his mission in Greece and learned some things about the Greek Alphabet etc then of course we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
One year all the food was Red! Come on, you know Tomato soup, Red meat, Red Velvet Cake, you get the idea. That was fun and following the food was a game of Red Playdoh pictionary. That year, Red was the theme and it will be again Tonight. We will be Celebrating the 7th Day of Chinese New Year! You might be saying, "Peg, Isn't that a stretch?" Well no, actually Chinese New Year Started on the 7th of February and lasts 15 days. On this day, in celebration, people gather with their families and eat noodles for longevity, prosperity etc. I'm in for both of those.
So we will eat noodles or know the reason why! And what about my fixation on Red? W-e-l-l, don't you worry, wearing red, decorating in red, and anything you might want to do with red is positive in the Chinese culture. I can definitely wrap my brain around a Culture with so much "taste."
The flamingos are just for a favorite blogger friend who asked about them! Enjoy! Happy Friday the 15th of Who cares now that Valentines Day is over. Sorry this post had to be worked around a ton of prep for our S.D. Which, by the way, was a great success! Heart you all, Peg
