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Celebrations

Holiday celebrations practically plan themselves. Berries, holly and plenty of red ribbon are Christmas-party staples.
Think pink and hearts for Valentine’s Day. And spooky cobwebs, dripping candles and black napkins spell Halloween.

My love of celebrations probably comes from my early experiences giving parties when I lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
We didn’t have the opera or theatre companies or a symphony to attend, so we created our own entertainment. We went all out for birthday parties, holiday parties and no-reason-at-all parties. By far the most successful, and still my favorite today, are costume parties.

Encouraging your guests to come in costume lets everyone share in the fun of decorating. One party that I’ll never forget was an Academy Awards party where everyone dressed as their favorite nominee. The winner, Hannibal Lecter (my friend, Nancy Ingram), arrived carried on a board, bound in a straitjacket and wearing a baseball catcher’s mask. That was an evening to remember! —Charles