The Reef Christmas and New Year party is almost upon us
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
Finally, you will be receiving a private message imminently with regard to who you’re buying a secret Santa gift for…
PS - does anyone have any interesting decorations and/or party lights that they could bring?
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.
Thank you @Sarah and @Lee, that’s really kind of you
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
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 @Susanne_P
A message as the self appointed coordinator of team flutes (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
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
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?
@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)
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!
Both systems are possible, and both have their pros and cons. So I would just need my marching orders (cause I badly screwed up last time I needed to Santa).
That was a lovely party! Thanks a lot to all who made it happen!
Two very practical notes …
1. Santa gifts for our wider community
@reef-communitylife, did I understand correctly that you wanted to include our wider community, like e.g. a small box of chocolates for the confesseurs and the architects? If not, then I misunderstood, but if yes, can you please find someone to make this happen? (I live next to a chocolate shop, and Alberto lives near the meeting place for architects and confesseurs, so happy to help out if needed)
2. The Secret Santa miracle
I am a great Secret Santa fan, because I enjoy looking for a gift for someone, and I also enjoy the moment when we all unwrap our presents together.
The latter is a bit of a challenge, because it’s kind of unavoidable that a couple of Santas will need to cancel last minute, which leaves some people without a gift to unwrap.
This year there was a tiny Santa miracle thanks to @Caro@Quentin and @RyanB (and some gift recyling on my side), which made that everybody had something to unwrap. Thanks so much for that!
To make the miracle repeatable, I want to make a small mental note, hoping that the Edgeryders search function will help us out next year. So here’s two small hacks:
Don’t use an app, but manually assign Santas to giftees, and make sure that a copy of the master plan makes it to the party, so that we know who won’t have a gift in the moment;
Invite everybody who has one, to bring a gift that you received yourself (at another occassion), but which you are unlikely to use and which you will probably bring to the thrift store. With a bit of luck these make for excellent “emergency” gifts.
(consented to at plenary tonight):