The Reef "Christmas and New year" Party

Hi there @reeflings !

Team Community Life would like to invite you to save the date for our “Christmas and New Year” celebration! :dizzy:

Because there is so much going on around that time of the year, we decided to actually not fill up our calendars with yet another celebration, but instead take care of the community by helping us diffuse winter blues!
A very scientific formula (yes there is a formula) indicates that the worst day of the year is the blue Monday :calendar: :chart_with_downwards_trend: :bar_chart:. It is the 3rd monday of the year, when the magic of the hollidays has worn off, and we are left with our failed new year’s resolutions, the dark and short days, and low in cash after the holidays’ extravaganza…
So! To fight off Blue Monday, we invite you to come and celebrate another year together on
:sparkles: :sparkles: Saturday 13/01 :sparkles: :sparkles:
(location and timing to be confirmed, but most probably afternoon and/or evening).

Looking forward!

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Yeah!!! Great initiative! With pleasure!

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Nice! However unfortunately I won’t be able to attend because I’m away for work from 8 till 15 January…

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That’s great! We have something planned for the afternoon, but if it’s still going on in the late afternoon/evening we can probably join (tbc). :))

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Hi @reeflings !

Our little get-together is coming closer!
As for timing, we are thinking starting at 5-5.30pm so that the ones with little beings can join, and we can extend the celebration into the evening for those who want to.

To help us get organised, we would need a little show of hands of who will be joining in the end. Can you fill in the poll below?

  • Count me in for the whole thing!
  • I will join for the afternoon “goûter”
  • I will only join in the evening
  • Can’t make it, sorry
0 voters

Also, we’re thinking it would be nice to have a Secret santa at the party. You will soon receive the name of your giftee in your mailbox, once we have a clearer idea of who is coming. Let’s agree on a maximum price of 10euros / something handmade / something you have at home that you would like to share (e.g. a good book).

And to share the fun, we are thinking that we could extend secret santa to the whole community, not just the people attending. It will probably end up being a long-haul kinda game where you receive your present in june, but that will be all the more comical! :beach_umbrella: :santa::sweat_smile:
Let me know in pm if you would prefer to opt out…

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Hi @reeflings !

The Reef Christmas and New Year party is almost upon us :slight_smile:

Some practicalities:

It will be at Lie’s place in Uccle. For those who haven’t been there before, the address can be found in the ‘Registry of members’ on Nextcloud.

We’re trying to do this in a participant-funded way, to keep the Reef’s budget for all the lovely feasibility studies that are undoubtedly on the horizon. So in terms of food and drinks, bring whatever you fancy drinking/eating and sharing (sweet and/or savoury). Ideally finger food that doesn’t require a lot of prep.

If we get to a point later in the evening where we’re hungry and/or feeling motivated, we can head to a nearby bar/bistro to continue the evening…

Unless you would like to opt out, please bring 5 euros to contribute to a few bottles of bubbly. We could buy a pack of plastic flutes, but perhaps someone has a better suggestion…

Feel free to bring your best party playlist (@Lee - do we need to bring a sound system or speakers?).

At some point, there was a rumour that there would be a karaoke machine (@Dave_behave ?), for the extroverted minority and daring introverts :wink:

Finally, you will be receiving a private message imminently with regard to who you’re buying a secret Santa gift for…

:slight_smile:

PS - does anyone have any interesting decorations and/or party lights that they could bring?

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Thanks a lot for all that @Sarah!

I have ten wine glasses, six champaign glasses, one speaker and one sparkly christmas tree.

Question: did Santa also foresee to bring a gift for the mini Reeflings, and for the confesseurs and co? The Santa that passes by my place could easily take care of all that, he would just need to know.

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Oups!!! Santa didn’t think about that!
So yes, if your Santa can do that, it would be great!

Ping @Justine @bram and @manuelpueyo are your mini Reeflings joining? And if yes for the first two: how old are they and what’s their names?

I think you meant @Justin_N ?
@Lea is also coming, so I guess same question :slight_smile:

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Thank you @Sarah and @Lee, that’s really kind of you :slight_smile:
Our mini reefling got showered in too many gifts over the holidays so we might just wrap something she already has and bring it in case she gets jealous of other people unwrapping something.
See you Saturday :slight_smile:

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Hi @Lee, yes, the plan is to bring him (Felix Pfeil, 2 years old), but really no need to fix him a gift! He´s got more of them than he can handle. We might wrap something for him and bring it, just in case. To be clear, I´m not being falsely polite and would not be secretely miffed that he doesn´t get a gift :slight_smile: @Susanne_P

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Same here, very kind you thought of it but really not necessary to worry :slight_smile:

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So the karaoke machine is not going to happen.
There is still the possibility of just running karaoke tunes through youtube.

I’m also happy to do some food.

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A message as the self appointed coordinator of team flutes :clinking_glasses: (consented to at plenary tonight):
There will be no plastic flutes for ecological (and good taste) reasons.
If, as any sane person should, you find it UNACCEPTABLE to drink bubbly in something else than a flute, please make sure to bring your own.
PS: we are recruiting

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Hey @Lee! Mini reefling Elena is joining but, indeed, as @bram said, there is no need for extra presents, she will carry a couple of them with her already anyway :slight_smile:
Thanks to all orginisers! I will bring some salty finger food and drinks as well. See you tomorrow at Lee’s place!
PS Is the starting time always 5 - 5:30 pm or did I miss something?

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It is!

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Thanks, @Sarah :slight_smile:

@Sarah, last year Santa wasn’t very secret. What will it be like this year? Is it going to be super secret, or will we be asked to guess?

@all-the-invitees:
Just for the sake of ease, here’s a couple of practical things relating to the apartment:

  • Preferably no shoes (bring slippers if you suffer from cold feet) - bonus for christmassy slippers

  • We’ll turn the blue room (the bedroom on the left) into a quiet room, where introverts and super-sensitives can seek refuge when needed

  • We’ll turn the pink room (the bedroom on the right) into the storage and chaos room: please put all your jackets and bags over there, ignore the existing chaos and create some more

  • My place is your place: please make yourself at home, don’t hesitate to open the cabinets and get what you need.

  • Flutes, which I sense is a point of interest here, can be found in the hallway, in the third cupboard on the right of the entrance door.

Would there be a couple of volunteers to take some pictures, and is there anybody who would object to us using these pictures on social media? (the latter is ok of course, it’s just good to know)

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Ah I was thinking we just give each other the presents that we got for the person? It’s nicer to talk with your Santa and your giftee, no?
Or you mean just get it without knowing who it is and then having to find out by talking to everybody? That might be nice actually!