I am so excited to announce that I will be taking over the VIETRI Instagram account all day tomorrow, so be sure to follow @vietriinc to get in on all the action as I prep and prepare for a little Christmas dinner party at my home tomorrow evening. It is an honor to be working with such a fabulous Italian china and serveware company, and I cannot wait to feature their festive Old St. Nick china collection. You can check out their entire spread of holiday goodness for purchase here. The plan is to wake up bright and early tomorrow and begin posting a day in the life of cookingandaconvo as I shop, prep and cook my way into a hopefully fun and joyful night of entertaining some very special friends. I own a set of the Old St. Nick dinner plates which I look forward to serving the main course on. Initially, I planned to get out the silver and crystal, but felt the feel of the plates warranted a more masculine Vagabond House horn feel, so I nixed the fancy shmancy idea and am running with the rustic upscale look (you’ll see). After I set the tone a few days ago for my tablescape, the menu just fell into place. Horn steak knives, antlers around the centerpiece, and so on certainly calls for red meat and red wine and my “steak house themed” menu was rolling into action. Stay tuned for recipes for a few of the dishes I will be serving: mini wedge salads, beef tender with a sauce duo, lobster mac and cheese and a sweet surprise dessert.  I will have mulling spices simmering on the stove, Christmas tunes blaring and party poppers at each place setting. So hop on the party sleigh and follow @vietriinc to see all the merry merry party making tomorrow with me (hashtag #VIETRIxCourtlandMcBroom) – !!!! Below are a few sneak peeks of my draft 1 tablescape (ignore the flowers as much of that will change!) and our tree that is finally trimmed!