Keeping Up Appearances, my Mrs. Bucket ( Bou-quet) moments

In my mind I'm a wonderful hostess. I love having people over; I enjoy cooking and setting a nice table; I have pretty aprons and I've read G.R.I.T.S. at least once all the way through.....what more could one need?

Book Club is at my house tonight.
On my to-do list:

• Put the house in order.....honestly. We've acquired a new couch ( thanks Brookers!) and are rearranging the front rooms to accommodate a crowd of 25 that will start coming every Wednesday night. But, colors and styles are NOT coordinating like I want so I hadn't yet made a good faith effort to make everything work.
• Pick a menu.  This I love. It makes me feel genteel and Junior League as I sit down to consider what sounds fun, special and not incredibly difficult. On the menu tonight: Plum Tart, Java Cupcakes and Watermelon Salad. Sounds delish right?
• Cook
• Shower ( I forget to do this frequently so it had to be added to the list for the well-being of everyone)
• Clean up all the messes I made during the day
• Dry my car out.  I left the sunroof cracked last night, just in time to catch an epic storm
• Appear perfect by the time everyone arrives

 I dearly want to look perfect so my friends will think I'm a fantabulous hostess. But, the Holy Spirit knows this and prefers me to be more concerned with their well-being than my appearance. He's awfully good at using entertaining to keep me in check.

  There weren't quite enough muffin tins. No problem, I'm creative, I'll load a baking dish with the wrappers so the cupcakes will stay upright. I knew it wouldn't be perfect but figured it was worth a shot.
Here's what I got:

They honestly look like poo brownies.

 Then the Plum Tart spilled over and I had to change pans halfway through.

Sigh. So I'll thank the Lord for reminding me to keep my attitude straight, pile a ton of frosting on the poo-shaped cupcakes, put a big spoon and bowls by the Plum Soup and thank Him that the people coming over will love me anyway.