Having spent enough time being indecisive, Lucy finally committed herself to hosting a Christmas potluck for her friends. An informal event, she decided, she sent the invites via text message. Saturday, December 23rd at 8pm, Christmas potluck! Please come!
Lucy's loft apartment was located on a narrow street in New Haven that felt more like Paris than New York, the bare trees glittering with snow and ice under the street lamps. It was not the largest place in the world, with kitchen and living room flowing right into the bedroom, so it made sense that the party was smallish. The walls of the apartment were mostly brick, covered in art, with the street-facing wall almost entirely large windows sporting views of the city. The only closed door led to the bathroom.
It was decorated in twinkling white lights with a real Christmas tree in the corner of the living room area beside the fireplace. The tree was tastefully decorated in pretty (but impersonal) ornaments with a mostly gold and cream theme with the occasional pop of red. Mistletoe hung overhead to one side of the room near one of the windows. Extra seating had been added to the always present couch and armchair with large pillows on the floor in front of the fire in case people wanted to get comfortable there.
The evening was set as a casual affair with people eating and drinking for the most part at their own leisure, with Lucy hoping that people would just hang around and enjoy each other's company. Drinks (alcohol, mostly) were set up on the end of the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the loft, including a bowl of spiked seasonal punch and bottles of chilled champagne.
No formal seating was set for dinner, the buffet served on the small dining table with Lucy providing the main courses of roast turkey (for the meat-eaters) and stuffed-roasted butternut squash (for the vegetarians). The rest of the table had plenty of room for anything others might bring (though Lucy had some back-up side-dishes just in case). There was seating at the kitchen counter where three high-top stools stood, as well as a couple seats at the desk by the window, but those who might be braver would likely have to use their laps, or sit on the floor to use the coffee table for their meal.
With the apartment relatively noisy and crowded, Kitty stayed mostly out of the way, curled up on a window sill nearer to the bedroom part of the open space. Liath, Fin's Scottish deerhound, greeted each guest with enthusiasm before finding someone friendly to pal around with.
The record player had music going, Christmas-themed but nothing too treacly, and Lucy made sure to flip it over and put on the next thing to keep up the festive mood. Gifts were piled beneath the tree. Guests should take a moment to peek beneath it to see if there is one with their name!
Lucy also invited anyone who wanted to join her in the kitchen for baking cookies! While Lucy was no expert, Martta, her housekeeper had left plenty of recipes and instructions for the party-goers to try their hands at cookies both simple and complicated. Hope they don't burn anything!
((This is a board event! Post at your leisure. You're welcome to write something longer to go here, or just a brief note about your character's attendance. If anyone is interested in writing with me, especially a gift exchange, I would be delighted!))
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Originally posted on Fri Dec 15, 2017
The full thread is available here.