Sometimes I open my mouth without control of what is coming out. It’s kinda like throwing up but less chunky. It’s word vomit.

Case in point – I word vomitted my boss. His name is Rick. He is a great boss. And I definitely love the almost four years I have worked for him. However on a personal level – he is a bit like Michael Scott. Ya know…OCD sometimes. Thinks of his employees as family. Excessively clean. Politically incorrect most of the time. It’s great. And it makes for a very fun workplace.

Let’s set the stage for the barf. Obviously, I work in the Atlanta area in the main office. He has a huge house here. But he lives in one of his two houses in Grand Cayman. And in the winter he goes to his house in Keystone, Colorado. Ridiculous right? So with his choice of beach or mountains, Atlanta usually doesn’t win out – which is fine because with telecommuting, we can reach him day or night.

Last week Rick was here and he said something about eating sushi alone. That’s when the projectile started…’why don’t you come eat with Jeremy and I on Thursday?’ It came out before I had a chance to swallow it back down. It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with the guy – it is just that my house is ridiculously messy and dusty, I am not the best cook, and I don’t want him to get the impression that I am a poor hostess. I would just really like for him to believe that I can excel at anything…that’s not weird, right? The desire to impress your boss? Sure this might not seem like a big deal to you. But just to put this in perspective – I am one of four ladies that work for him. We all are very tight. And he hasn’t ever been to anyone’s house. This is new territory.

Last night – I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. My boyfriend and I painted the piece of furniture that Rick gave us with another coat of primer (so that he can see we appreciate it and are eager to use it). And I did all the food prep I could so that tonight I can just go home and pop it in.

Also, I set the table. Here are some photos (I thought you would prefer to see our island inspired tablescape over the before and afters of the bathrooms – eww!)

I decided on the island theme because I thought it would make him feel at home. The flowery table runner was under $4 at Pier 1. I thought that it didn’t look completely out of place in our more traditional dining room because of its neutral colors. What do you think?

The centerpiece was uber-easy and has a bit of sea-inspired decor with the woven textural balls. Four balls placed in a red bamboo bowl and wahLA! – instant centerpiece. Easy to do, easy to move come eating time. I flanked the bowls with two brown mercury glass votives to add a warm glow.

White dinner plates are a standard around these parts. Top them off with any decorative accent plate for a huge variety of different tablesettings. They are so versatile, everyone should have some. I layered plain red plates on my dinner plates for some drama. Add one napkin with a dark napkin ring and one red mini drink umbrella and I got me a tablescape that puts the WOW in luau. (I crack me up!)

Adding personalization is always a plus. My Southern Living Dress-me-up plate got a red ribbon to add some crimson flavor to the buffet and a message especially for Rick.

So what do you think? Does it look fit for a king…err…a boss? And I definitely wanna know if you have blown word chunks at your boss, or tossed some verbal cookies with a coworker, or hurled some random stranger! Spill it…err, spew it 🙂