What the? Really? I mean come on now...

It is Halloween and someone has stolen Scrawny the Skeleton.
He has lived at the Catering Company for months and then on All Hallows Eve, his one day to shine he is kidnapped. That is just not right. Who would do such a thing?
This is most distressing.
I am going to need some answers pronto.
poor Scrawny...... if I listen hard enough I can almost hear his girlish cackle:(

Operation "Plucked Up"

As if the owners of the Catering Company were not busy enough running any one of their three successful businesses they have decided to add a fourth venture to the collection. This venture will here forth be known as Operation "Plucked Up". A former cafe in the area has recently gone up for sale and there is a distinct possibility that it will soon be owned by some of the most brilliant masterminds in Williamsburg. However, you did not hear it from me:) As part of the research for the new business Lauren, my faithful partner in catering crime and I have been given the task of mystery shopping local rotisserie chicken selling establishments and reporting back to headquarters.
Now before you get all jealous and huffy that I am being paid to eat massive amounts of chicken consider this - rotisserie chicken, every night. For a week. It sounds amazing in theory but the reality is much more well lets just say greasy. Lauren and I have so far eaten a chicken at the Fresh Market, Food Lion, and not one but two Farm Fresh Supermarkets. Still on the list are Ukrops, KFC and Wal-Mart. In our trench coats and tinted glasses we survey the atmosphere making notes with ninja like stealth and then report back on our experiences. Not really though. We have been asked to go at peak chicken traffic time, between five and six so essentially we are dealing with exhausted soccer moms and screaming children. Eww. I cannot really complain though, I for one am awful at making decisions and my dinner choices have been predetermined for me all week which has been very convenient. Hurray for a lack of choice:)
The research will continue for the remainder of the week and formal reports will be typed up and submitted, but ultimately I have great confidence that whatever the masterminds at the Catering Company come up with will be a massive success and will set the standard for all the other chicken mongers in town. Can you be a chicken monger? Or is it only a fish monger....hmmm. I should add that to my research. Stay tuned for more updates on the developing rotisserie business and Operation 'Plucked Up' :)

Well BOO on you too!

A new phenomenon is sweeping the Williamsburg community. It is a blend of doorbell ditching, a chain letter and a fun Halloween gift basket and its called getting 'Booed'. This is when a neighbor (who has been previously Booed) leaves a basket of fun Halloween goodies on your doorstep, rings the doorbell and then runs away. Once you have been Booed you in turn 'Boo' two other people and the cycle continues. It is all anonymous although it is often very obvious who the Booer is based upon the contents of the basket. I had never heard of this practice and I for one think that it should be instituted at random times of the month, not just for seasonal holidays. Imagine if you received an 'office supply basket' and you had to go and 'staple' two other people within the week. Or if you were 'graped' and received a big basket of wine. I should totally try to get this trend started in the Burg. I think that it has infinite possibilities:)

Congratulations are in order :)

This past weekend another wonderful wedding was held at the Williamsburg Manor Bed and Breakfast. Erin Coppenheaver and Lonnie Dorsey were married on Saturday in a really gorgeous outdoor ceremony. There was some initial concern because on Friday it rained for the first time in um, like three months. Luckily they had gotten a tent but still icky humid weather would not be fun to get married in. On Saturday though everything cleared up and it was the most gorgeous Fall day. Erin and Lonnie had a 'destination' wedding and all of their guests had come in from out of state some from as far away as California. The Manor was filled with their friends and family who were all incredibly fun and entertaining. It is always so much enjoyable when families stay because it makes a wedding much more personal and intimate. Plus they always bring tons of food, and they share. Which is amazing. You have not lived until you have had leftover wedding cake for breakfast:)

They held their reception on the outside patio of the Manor with a tent and chandeliers and had a massive family style dinner served. The reception looked like something right out of a Pottery Barn catalogue. Erin had the vision in mind of what she wanted everything to look like and it was perfect for the setting and the house. She chose fall colors and used pumpkins and tons of votive candles to make everything incredibly warm and inviting. I for one think that you could make anything look pretty with votive candles. She also had hanging lanterns which made the tent glow. Basically it was gorgeous. I may or may not be stealing one or all of her ideas for events in the future:)

The Manor and I miss them already and I cannot wait until the new Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey come back to celebrate their first anniversary!

Here are some pictures from the wedding! Enjoy:)

http://picasaweb.google.com/thatgirl804/ErinAndLonnieSWedding

holy head injury Batman!

So over the weekend this catering wenches family suffered a major scare when my younger brother (and world) was in a bike accident. Not a motorcycle accident, as he would like me to lead you to believe but rather a bicycle accident. He also did not injure himself by diving off of his bike to avoid hitting a bus full of orphans as he would like you to believe but rather by hitting a pothole at very fast speeds. He was taken to MCV and placed in the ICU Neuroscience unit for two days under crazy intense surveillance. After much waiting and bureaucracy Jonny was finally able to come home last night. He is currently back home with a bruised brain and broken collar bone but he is going to be alright. Thank you to my family, friends and the Catering Company for all of their support and prayers this weekend. Jonny has learned his lesson and in the future will utilize a helmet, and/or caution. But certainly a helmet.
While anxiously awaiting news from doctors and nurses my parents and I passed time eating random hospital foods and playing Mad Libs with Jon who was on massive amounts of morphine making his Mad Libs all the more entertaining. It should be noted at this juncture that for a hospital the size and magnitude of the Medical College of Virginia they should have more varied and healthy food options. It seems like a walking contradiction to see doctors vying for a better position in the McDonald's line and nurses bitch slapping each other for the last Chick Fil A chicken sandwich. Alright there might not have been any actual bitch slapping but there were some unnecessary sucker punches. You would think a hospital might offer some more salads and less fries, maybe they are just trying to keep themselves in business longer. Those doctors are a clever bunch. They ought to be they are in school for long enough. Despite all the junk food and human drama playing out at a hospital it is a very scary place and I hope to not have to visit one again for a very long time. Unless you know someone has a baby or something happy, no more head trauma. That is so three days ago.
Thank you for all the love again, BroJo appreciated it and my family needed it:)

going to the chapel, or the Manor whichever....

Weddings, weddings everywhere and plenty of sparkling cider to drink! This weekend I had the honor of hosting another wonderful wedding at the Williamsburg Manor Bed and Breakfast. I really love having weddings at the Manor, instead of a bed and breakfast it becomes a place where before God and their families amazing couples decide to spend the rest of their lives together. They are much more casual and relaxed, no bridezillas or coordinators running around with walkie talkies and duck tape. Manor weddings are short and sweet and remind you that a gorgeous and special wedding does not require a dress that cost more than the down payment on a new car. They really are refreshing. The ceremony is done by Mr. Douglas Johnson of Williamsburg, the sweetest older gentleman who despite performing numerous weddings every week always brings a personal touch to each one. Did I mention that they are short? Amazing. Don't get me wrong I will get as much use out of my wedding dress as possible, we are talking full Mass and a reception that lasts until dawn, but it is much nicer at other peoples weddings when they are concise:) The funny thing about Manor weddings is that they are usually for people who have been married before and want something smaller, but despite the fact that they have been through it all before they need some guidance as to the traditions involved with the event. I think its cute because they are just so focused on the actual marriage that the wedding and all the trappings involved don't even really seem to matter. They smile for pictures, and I get a super hot professional camera and full reign to go totally paparazzi on them so of course I love that. Then they cut the cake, their guests make a toast and then they are off. Much more personal and obviously Colonial than Vegas, but its a similar situation. I refuse to dress like Elvis though, although in his later years his ensembles were very bedazzled..hmmm...

Anyways congratulation to the new Mr and Mrs. Davenport I know that they will be crazy happy together and I feel blessed that I was able to witness the beginning of their new life together. Eww I am so cheesy. True story.

a rose is a rose is a ....strawberry?

Just a small personal observation. Our old neighbors at the shop recently received one of those 'edible' arrangements that are just fruit cut out into crazy shapes, stabbed with toothpicks and positioned in a head of lettuce. The problem with this concept is that the arrangement had been sent to the wrong location and all of the fruit was covered in chocolate. While it is early October and easing into Fall it is still relativly warm outside and not suprisingly chocolate melts. Upon discovering their error the sender of the basket asked if I would return it to its rightful owner. This would have been less traumatic if the poor basket was not half melted, and very topheavy.
The basket did reach its final destination but not without some manuevering and it did not arrive looking very attractive or appetizing. Leaving me to deduct that it would make much more sense to send either a flower arrangement, a fruit basket, or a box of chocolates as opposed to a combination of all three.
Keep this in mind for future reference:)

the stride of pride

So I sat in on a meeting this morning with one of our lovely Manor brides ( whose name is also Erin :) and we were discussing what kind of music, if any at all , she would like to have playing as she walks down the aisle.
Now as a compulsive downloader I have already prepared an entire compilation disk of potential 'bridal marches'. You would probably be very shocked and/or appalled to know how many varieties of that one song exist in the universe. Anything from a techno version to what sounds like the largest organ on earth. The c.d. I made has nearly 17 tracks all of the same song just done in veeeeeeeeery different ways. Which really makes one think that there may no longer be a 'traditional' wedding march, and if that is the case what do you walk down the aisle to?
I really enjoy the processional song from the hit Adam Sandler comedy, The Wedding Singer. As it takes place in the 80's his fiancee has chosen to walk down the aisle to an instrumental version of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'. As this is my timeless go to karaoke song and also a cherished classic I think that would be an amazing song to kick off a lifelong journey. Get it journey/Journey... oh I crack myself up:)
That might not play out to well in the massive, traditional cathedral where my mother anticipates my nuptials will take place but a girl can always dream.
So that shall be the question of the day. If you have yet to take the plunge, or you had it to do over again what would you walk down the aisle to? Choose wisely apparently it is an important day:)