So the party. The Party. I must admit that the day or so leading up to The Party I was incredibly terribly I'm getting my period and have turned into a screaming banshee stressed. Mostly because few, and I mean like only 4 out of over 50, people invited had declined.
I made the infernal party mistake of inviting a number of people based upon the idea that at least 25% of them (or more) wouldn't be able to attend. Weekend in the summer, people on vacay, oh-its-going-to-rain and I don't leave my house people were factored in. Nobody commits these days. Damnit if everyone commited. By Friday morning I realized I was fucked, as my house cannot hold 50 people and it was indeed going to rain.
Lucky for me I had the most excellent party rental place in Raleigh. They rocked. And the accomodated some very last minute additions to my rental.
So The Day of The Party was itself a party. Rock star and gal pal arrived in the morning. The rental party people had set up everything before 11 (the tent, the bar/the tables/chairs/glasses) so we just needed to focus on the food and getting the house ready. This meant spending the day smoking cigarettes and gossipping, all the while accomplishing all our party tasks before 5.
That may have been as much fun as the party. Which reminds me of all the times in my life living with my sister or roommates or boyfriends when sometimes the getting ready/pre-party/drinking before you go uptown/downtown/to Buckhead/to the Highlands/to Five Points/to Shockhoe Slip/to Georgetown/insert your favorite part of town here is equally as good as the fun had on the town.
But I digress.
My awesome friends D/T/J showed up to prepare the bar, as they were the volunteer bartenders, around 6:00. And the party officially started.
Guests began arriving around 6:45 - even though the invite said 7 - as fashionably late wasn't going to work for a surprise party. I worried how Hottie's mom would react to the whole drink menu we had published:
Mombanger
But a quick convo with me owning up to the fact that the joke was on me being a mom and not her cleared it up. Phewwww! Awkward conversation #1 complete.
The guests arrived in droves between 7 and 7:15. The house was staggeringly full. The guest of honor arrived at 7:30 with friends and was pleasantly surprised. He knew something was up, but not something of the magnitude to which we planned. And there were several out of town guests that made considerable effort to attend which surprised the hell out him! His face, as he looked around the room at all of these people (from work, from high school, from college) was worth all of the effort.
People began drinking in earnest after his arrival. The Mombanger was a favorite, but the old fashioneds we had on the menu (Mrs. Robinsons) were a hit with the older crown who "hadn't had them served to them in years" apparently.
The tent and bar was the place to be - especially for smokers - who seemed to multiply as the night wore on.
No personal drama - except I was a little buzzed and forgot about the birthday cakes til about 9. Crisis averted thanks to Gal Pal who was drinking more than me but still somehow managed through her Mombanger haze, to get those cakes out.
There was not really any party drama to speak of. No lamp shades on the head. No dancing on the tables. No one hooking up who hadn't already schemed or planned all week to hook up. Perhaps not so curiously, Rock Star and Vegas disappeared into my spare room at 10 never to be seen again.
There was an admission by an attendee at the party that he had separated from his wife. There was another admission from an attendee that things were going well with her boyfriend. In both cases I was shocked. And here is awkward conversation #2 and #3: Two of my friends separately asked if my boobs had grown in the past few months. (Ha! How does one answer that?) I just replied with a quick smile and a, "Yeah, aren't they fabulous?!"
That's as juicy as it gets. Yawn.
Most people left by 11:30. A core group of about 10 stayed til after 2:00. Too many cigarettes. A lot of mess. Too many Mombangers. I don't want to leave the impression that it was boring or ho hum. It was a great party.
Hottie and I had super fabulous a after-party upstairs in the bedroom. I didn't sleep much.
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