We had a party for all of the Gemini’s birthdays last Saturday, it also just happened to be Mimi’s birthday but this was NOT a party for her. You know?
I think the best part was that both of us had fun at our own party which kind of defines how it should be if you ever want to give another party. The key to that was getting the caterer and, in spite of my moment of panic when the first one couldn’t do it, it turned out even better than I hoped. The company was great, they were very reasonable, they brought everything, the waiters were attentive, the food was good, and they cleaned it all up and hauled it all away at the end of the night. I highly recommend them to anyone in Mérida, Maldonado Banquetes and especially coordinator Alina Noemí Caballero Uc, she was efficient, charming and very easy to deal with. You’ll find their office in the small business strip across Circuito from the big TelCel executive offices, east of Chapur.
In a sense this was also the housewarming that we have never had since we moved in over a year ago. It had seemed that we were never quite done with the house, we were always about to change something or add something and we just never got around to having all our friends over to celebrate our new house. We put the dogs on the roof, the cats in the bedroom (with a sign to be careful not to let them out) and told everyone to feel free to take a tour of the house. I got lots of nice compliments and praised my friend and architect Henry Ponce to everyone. Henry seemed to enjoy the house as well, seeing it dressed up for a party was fun for him.
The stars of the show though were the people who came and celebrated with us. There was a great group of people there, great conversations and a lot of fun and laughter. Thanks to all who came and if we missed you or you missed the party, there will be a next time.
Nothing like a house full of friends (and family) to make a house feel like a home. Must be where the term “house-warming” comes from!
Awesome party and even more awesome pics!! The house sure does look like she’s enjoying the spotlight!!!
=)
What a wonderful party! I am so happy to be able to thanks in this way as I don’t have your email address. The house is divine and you two are the cat’s meow.
Hey. we didn’t even get an invitation!
Looks like you had a blast, the house looks beautiful.
k
You really know how to throw a party. We had a great time, the caterers were superb, the food good and the company excellent. If your house is still unfinished, it definitely didn’t look like it!
We had fun!
regards,
Theresa
Thanks for letting us share in the party. I have enjoyed watching your house project. I almost feel it is part of my life.
Thanks for including us…we had a great time and the house is muy bonita!
Congratulations on your wonderful party. I have been loving your new website design and the glimpses of your beautiful house. Cheers,
debbie
These are great pics. I was glad to see my dear friends Debi and Tom in several shots. I have been tracking you construction for quite some time. Do you have a pic, somewhere on your blogs, of the actual layout of the house. I love the rooms but can not get a feel for the layout. I think that your yard is fantastic and the cool fence on the top of the wall is wonderful. What a great idea.
Thanks for sharing…
Patti, I have a public album with tons of pics of the renovation but the first two are the original plans for the house. We made a few changes as we went but nothing major. Here’s the album link.
Jona,
Thank you so very much for the album link. Your home is just beautiful. You do have one of the most unusual backyard designs that I have seen. Did you have a big part in the design process or did you just leave everything up to Henry? He is indeed a fantastic architect. The home has so very many really creative styles and accents. It also appears to have been completed quickly. Enjoy.
Well, much as I’d like to take the credit, I had input in the design but it went far beyond what I could have come up with. His vision of what the house could be is what excited me. Henry listens, he builds the house that you want, but he comes up with incredible designs based on how you tell him you want to live. I had a lot of ideas, some of them we used and many we didn’t because either he had a better way of doing it or he showed me the downsides. My hobby is ponds and fish and that is why there are so many ponds and they are like aquariums not water features. Henry had to design those into the space and he did it incredibly well.
It was an enormous renovation, if you look on that same Picassa site there are pics from before we started. It took about a year, a month or so longer than we planned, but that is within what I consider a good time line. We hit solid rock in the backyard and it took weeks to jackhammer out the pool and the pond. I was adamant that I did not want an above ground pool and I wanted the pond deep to control the temperature of the water. We also found a dry cave under the garage, stuff like that adds time.
We were lucky because we were here during construction and we had a place to live comfortably so we weren’t under a time constraint to move. We spent half that time here in Merida at an RV park out by Liverpool and the other half of that year over in Akumal at our condo. We drove back and forth every week or so. I actually really enjoyed the whole process, watching how it was built and being on site was fascinating.