The party was a success. I love when that happens. I invited a diverse group of women to come to the party. Went through my address book and invited friends from my neighborhood, from work, from college, from former jobs, lifelong friends, and even some of the wives of the guys that I work with. I invited about 40 people. Generally, you can figure on a 50% attendance rate. But at the holidays, it's even less because there are so many parties to choose from and people go out of town. It was a good turnout - 14 women came to the party.
The house looked nice a "Christmasy". Rainman decorated outside and I decorated inside. Rainman got the tree up and Beka and I decorated it. It's so much fun to decorate the tree. It gives you a chance to look at the ornaments and relive the moments of your life. I have ornaments that are my Mom's, my Grandma's and some that I have had since my first Christmas on my own - oh so many years ago! Then I decorated with my Santa collection, had decorations in every room. My room was nice and clean (thanks, Rainman! he cleaned it up for my while I was at work!!) and of course, I had the chance to show off my newly painted kitchen. It was a hit :) I was never stressed about getting ready for the party. I tackled each chore a little at a time and just figured that whatever was done was all that would be done and not to stress over it. It was supposed to be fun and it was!!
Mary was the first one to arrive and that was nice to have a little time to talk before everyone else got there. Kat came next and then it just seems that everyone started arriving around the same time. Food was pouring in and the wine was beginning to flow! I had gone to the Party Source on Thursday and bought Raspberry Vodka, Vodka (from France), Godiva Chocolate Liquer, Apple Schnapps, Cointreau, about 6-8 bottles of wine on top of all that I already have in stock, cute, "girly" plates and some snacks. We planned on serving several different kinds of wine and Martinis: cosmos, green apple, chocolate, and dirty. Well, we all started with a glass of wine and ate some wonderful snacks. I made a big pot of chili for everyone - didn't want anyone to drive home after having too much to drink! I even made plans for people to stay all night, bought coffee cakes for breakfast.
We started out with a couple bottles of red wine. I opened the Rooster 47 (or whatever it's called), I love that wine. I first had it at The Restaurant. Then we opened a bottle of Bogel Merlot. It was good stuff. I made my cousin a green apple martini, she was so-so on it. Maybe it was my mixing skills - not sure. But then Sue got there and (thankfully) took over the bartending job for me. That gave me an opportunity to be the hostess and socialize with everyone. Thanks Sue!! Besides that I learned very quickly that she is the Cosmo Fairy....everytime I put my glass down, turned around and came back to it, it was magically full! The Cosmo Fairy visited everyone's glasses!
After we ate and chatted, we moved into the living room and it was very cozy. The fire was blazing, we had plenty of room and started playing the game to pass out the presents. It was fun, everyone picked a number and instead of being totally conventional and following the sequence, we decided to start in the middle and then everyone got to call out another number until we all had a chance to pick a gift. We also decided that we could either pick an unopened gift or steal a gift from someone else. So, we were off and running. Sherry picked first and got a beautiful box of jewelry. But Sherry only wears certain types of jewelry - called this "foo-foo" and Mary went next and stole it. Then Sherry picked another gift and it was a ring! That seemed bizarre for her to pick the only two jewelry gifts in the batch!
Well, the "foo-foo" jewelry didn't stay long with Mary - in fact, Kat stole it from her. Then Mary ended up with my set of lions that I was giving away. I don't think she liked them very much, and needless to say, I didn't have a spot anymore for them in my house. I used to have a little display that included the lions and some other cats. But I have since disbanded that display. The gifts were fun: a video - Christmas in Connecticut from generations ago - too funny! A Mermaid coffee table book; potpourri and a vase; Christmas decorations and a serving dish (that's what I got); The Christmas Frog!; a Popcorn Popper with gourmet popcorn and a stinky candle :) We really had some laughs over all the gifts and then we were all deciding who to re-gift them to!! Hilarious!!
While I was out of the room, the cat decided to get some attention. First, she was just being nice and cozy - rubbing up against some of the guests. Then, she decided that she liked the plastic bag on the floor so much that she would use it for a potty! So she crapped in front of everyone...I just couldn't believe it! Well, on second thought, it made sense because her litter box is in the family room and it was gated off to keep Thor in there. But still. She crapped in the living room on a plastic bag! Unreal!!
Most everyone left near midnight or so. When the Cosmo Fairy left, she made sure taht there was a shaker of chocolate martinis and cosmos already made up. Since people were wanting to be ok to drive, the shakers were left for me. And I didn't fail them, I
Thanks to everyone that came to my party. Merry Christmas!!
The next morning, I was hurting. :( But I knew I would be when I went to bed. I didn't drink any water and only ate a little bit. But, I was glad that I ate what I did. The party was fun but the hangover was a headache that lasted all day. :(
No comments:
Post a Comment