It is Cold, but Spring is Coming! Spring Color Report.

It is hard to think of Spring when it is so cold here in the East, however it is coming and here are the colors for Spring. Hopefully this will bring some warmth to your heart, if not your body. :)

A Morning Mommy Coffee

Here's a great idea for a simple get together with fellow moms! It is much more intimate than meeting at Starbucks and better for moms with young ones to come and relax or feel comfortable to breast feed. Host a coffee party! Send the kids off to school and call up your friends. Offer food or don't, no pressure.

I found this great idea for a coffee party in I style magazine's February edition.  Plan to have different roasts or exotic roasts from around the world. Arrange samples of each of them in small glass bowls or glass mugs under glass cloches. Make flags out of paper, pen and a toothpick or jean material and a white paint marker.  Put the flags in each bowl or cup of beans with the name of where it is from ( ex: Indonesia, France, etc.).  Guests can lift each cloche to smell the beans and decide which roast they would like. Have various coffee presses with the individual coffees in it ready to add hot water. Make sure to have a pot of hot water on hand to refill the presses.
WARNING: Some of us are coffee snobs so probably you will need to have a grinder on hand, in the other room due to the noise for fresh ground brews. You can also always have everything pre ground. Decant the milk, cream, and sugar in pretty vessels. If you choose to have food,  make a quick frittata or a breakfast casserole in advance and serve with fruit.  Another easier option is to have some scones or muffins on hand from the local bakery. Keep it simple. Your friends will just love the thought. Make sure you invite some new moms in the neighborhood or area to come over too! We all know how isolated new moms can be. Another idea is to have new pretty mugs on hand, like those you can find at Anthropologie http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/category/mugs+%26+glassware/home-glassware.jsp for your friends to use and then take home with them as a sweet party favor.  These are some of my favs!

Another idea is to offer a winter daytime cocktail like:

Poet's Song
1 1/2 oz spiced apple cider well chilled
1/4 oz Becherovka liqueur or a cheaper choice would be Hiram Walker cinnamon schnapps.
1/8 oz. maple syrup
Top with sparkling wine
OR offer Apple Cider Sangria

I plan to host one of these soon, so I will let you know how it goes and share pictures!

Here are some more ideas from some great other blogs as well:
Simple Savannah Events talks about a coffee party at a wedding or reception, but there are some great ideas here: http://simplysavannahevents.blogspot.com/2011/07/bright-idea-thursday-sunday-wedding.html
Divine Party Concepts has some great links for some great ideas
http://divinepartyconcepts.com/2009/09/18/coffee-coffee-and-more-coffee/
Flour On My Face talks about having an International Delight Coffee Party and she has lots of pictures http://www.flouronmyface.com/2012/10/happy-coffee-day-with-international-delight-iced-coffee-idcoffeeday.html
Betty Crocker has some great advice on hosting a coffee party http://www.bettycrocker.com/tips/tipslibrary/entertaining/hosting-a-coffee-tasting