There are so many directions you can take an event surrounding The Maid! I narrowed down the options into a few categories depending on how involved and filling you want your menu to be, and which locales stuck with me most through the book. -Abby
Menus:
Think classic hotel minibar: Mini liquor bottles, individual bags of chips and packs of crackers, mini water bottles and cans of soda, tiny jams... World Market's Gourmet Miniatures section has many options to choose from! It would be fun to make a tray/basket for each guest with one of everything.
One-bite finger foods including "bad" (deviled) eggs, powdered doughnut holes, cucumber finger sandwiches, mini-quiches, smoked salmon tea sandwiches, and raisin bran muffins (you can make these into mini-muffins by using a mini-muffin tin and baking for 10-14 minutes)
Color Scheme:
Bright and shiny -- vibrant colors with gleaming metallic accents. Perhaps even a bright red table runner to represent the scarlet steps.
Activity:
Towel Origami: Classic hotel animals (stingray, swan, elephant, monkey)
Ambiance:
Keep it simple and neat, as Molly would want. Consider using simple trays or bins to display snack offerings, and try to organize the items thoughtfully. Clear off tabletops and add some stationary and a pen to really reinforce the hotel vibe. Maybe even have attendees sign a guest book!
Light a lemon candle to ensure that even the air seems clean and fresh.
Menus:
An Italian spread: salad with Italian vinaigrette, garlic breadsticks, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, bruschetta, and/or mozzarella (fried or otherwise)
Try an Italian-inspired charcuterie board for lighter fare
Wine or sparkling cider
Color Scheme:
Black-and-white-checkered, red and green (for the Italian flag)
Activity:
Napkin Origami: Heart
Ambiance:
Consider letting your menu double as your décor: bunches of grapes, bottles of olive oil and wine, baskets of breadsticks
Use Italian flag toothpicks to accent your foods and allow guests to easily grab a bite
Complete the scene with a gingham-checked tablecloth and candlesticks (don't forget a holder)
Menu:
Chocolate Mille feuille pastry for the "stacks of bills"
Foil-wrapped chocolates like Ghirardelli squares or Dove promises
Color Scheme:
Deep and dark -- chocolate brown, midnight blue
Activity:
Towel Origami: Cake, cupcake, and sweets
Ambiance:
Turn down the lights and light some candles or turn on soft lamps
Confession time: The only textual reference in the book to support this theme is Mr. Snow's professional development topic, "How the Hive Mentality Creates Greater Productivity." This is more of a "run with it" kind of idea!
Menu:
Honey cupcakes; honey mustard pretzel/veggie dip; honey, goat cheese, and fruit crostini; Lavender Bee's Knees cocktail or honey lavender lemonade
Color Scheme:
Yellow, gold, and black
Activity:
Washcloth Origami: Bumblebee
Ambiance:
Sunflowers, honeycomb candles, "Bee Kind" cocktail napkins
Never mind what others think; it's what you think that matters.
Cleanliness is next to godliness.
If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.
Treat others as you wish to be treated.
We're all entitled to a bad day not and again. But when they are all bad days with no pleasant ones, then it's time to reconsider things.
No one is too high or too low for common courtesy.
Honesty is the best policy.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Good things come to those who wait.
Every penny counts.
There's nothing you can ever do but your best.
A good cup of tea will cure all ills, and if it doesn't, have another.
Rise and shine, my girl! It's a new day.
If you're going to do something, do it right.
Good things come to those who work hard. Clean conscience, clean life.
Out of sight, out of mind.
The good lord gives and the good lord takes away.
Don't let them push your buttons.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
What's done is done.
Honesty is the only policy.
There are times in life when we must do things we don't want to. But do them we must.
Do not fret yourself into a tizzy. Life has a way of sorting itself out.
You're never alone as long as you have a friend.
Count your blessings.
You can do it if you put your mind to it.
When you believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
If you want to know where someone's going, don't watch their mouths, watch their feet.
The proof is in the pudding.
The longer you live, the more you learn.
People are a mystery that can never be solved.
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
All's well that ends well.
We're all the same in different ways.
There's always a reason for kindness.
Promises are meant to be kept.
