LauderBlog
Dec 22: Festive, Alfresco
Posted On: December 22, 2008 2:18 PM
Posted By: LauderBLOGGER
Related Subjects: Greater Fort Lauderdale
This has been a delightful holiday season for me so far. Partly because I’ve been to an unusual number of memorable holiday parties. I have attended several great get-togethers already, with a few more to come. And the thing that strikes me about these festive occasions is how they’re enhanced by our South Florida weather. In this part of the world, we can throw our holiday shindigs outdoors if and when we care to do so. Normally the parties tend to be focused on an inside setting, with the food set up on a dining table in a private home or on buffet tables in a restaurant or whatever. But the partiers often gravitate outdoors and the laughing and drinking and general holiday fun spill into the fresh air.
As you can imagine, this really adds something special to those parties. There’s nothing quite like sipping a Christmas cocktail late in the evening while standing under a coconut palm twinkling with red lights. Which is to say, the coconut palm is twinkling with red lights. Not me. I may twinkle now and then during the holidays, especially after that Christmas cocktail. But only rarely do I twinkle red.
Ahem. Holiday silliness aside, I must note that the most recent party I attended was a perfect example of the indoor/outdoor thing I’m talking about here. It was held on Saturday at the lovely Fort Lauderdale house of an actress friend, a talented musical theater type. She also owns an art gallery. As you might imagine, this was a large and artsy crowd. Lots of actors, painters, singers, dancers, models – and at least one writer. It was a blast. The food was indoors and that’s where my girlfriend and I began the evening, standing and chatting and chewing. Not necessarily in that order. But the bar, with a bartender, was outside. So was the hired entertainment, a solo singer who played both keyboards and trumpet. Naturally, it wasn’t long before the other singers did what singers do. One by one, these theatrical folks grabbed the mike and began to perform with the keyboardist. Christmas songs, cabaret tunes, Broadway ballads. All of it outdoors in the lighted garden, in shirtsleeve weather under clear skies. The stars were twinkling, the palm trees were twinkling. By then, I may have even been twinkling a bit too, in my own private way, listening to the music and sharing the holiday cheer. This was one of those wonderful Fort Lauderdale December moments, enjoyed outside, breathing in the holiday season right along with the salt sea air.
As you can imagine, this really adds something special to those parties. There’s nothing quite like sipping a Christmas cocktail late in the evening while standing under a coconut palm twinkling with red lights. Which is to say, the coconut palm is twinkling with red lights. Not me. I may twinkle now and then during the holidays, especially after that Christmas cocktail. But only rarely do I twinkle red.
Ahem. Holiday silliness aside, I must note that the most recent party I attended was a perfect example of the indoor/outdoor thing I’m talking about here. It was held on Saturday at the lovely Fort Lauderdale house of an actress friend, a talented musical theater type. She also owns an art gallery. As you might imagine, this was a large and artsy crowd. Lots of actors, painters, singers, dancers, models – and at least one writer. It was a blast. The food was indoors and that’s where my girlfriend and I began the evening, standing and chatting and chewing. Not necessarily in that order. But the bar, with a bartender, was outside. So was the hired entertainment, a solo singer who played both keyboards and trumpet. Naturally, it wasn’t long before the other singers did what singers do. One by one, these theatrical folks grabbed the mike and began to perform with the keyboardist. Christmas songs, cabaret tunes, Broadway ballads. All of it outdoors in the lighted garden, in shirtsleeve weather under clear skies. The stars were twinkling, the palm trees were twinkling. By then, I may have even been twinkling a bit too, in my own private way, listening to the music and sharing the holiday cheer. This was one of those wonderful Fort Lauderdale December moments, enjoyed outside, breathing in the holiday season right along with the salt sea air.
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