Day 2144 Beautiful Mess

 

A beautiful mess at the end of a fun night, and yes, I went to bed with a stack of dirty dishes and didn’t care one bit. One thing I never want to do is waste fun time with my friends cleaning up… that’s what the next morning is for.

I had woken up at 4 a.m. and got right to party prep, cleaning and prepping food. I completely ignored my upstairs, a gal can’t do it all, so I had everyone put their coats on the stairs, ensuring no one would dare go up and witness my chaos. I managed to get five of the seven other people’s piles from my front door out the door…but I’m sure I gained new items, so there’s that.

My friends all showed up with delicious food to share and were eager to sing, dance, and be silly...just the way I like it. Champagne was popped, and everyone agreed that an after-the-holidays party is the way to go. Tim, of course, had his doubts, announcing an hour before guests arrived that this would be our last January party ever since several people had canceled… good thing he’s not in charge!

He couldn’t get my karaoke machine working (thinks it needs to be reconfigured and he'll need more time), but that didn’t stop my friends from singing into microphones as if they were on stage. Love them. It was loud, no doubt too loud for our basement cat, but it was also super fun. It must have been, since people stayed until the wee hours of the morning. A crazy long day for this 4am gal.

I love opening our  home to friends for a party, seeing them all walk in and knowing they are our special people. I don’t take photos of our guests or post about it on social media, keeping our super fun night just for us… imagine that in this day and age?! I always worry that I’ve forgotten to invite someone, somehow overlooking an invite I should have sent, and I’d hate to hurt someone’s feelings if they saw they missed a party. That's why my blog pic is the food at the end of the night and dirty dishes...aren't you lucky?  My guest list, small or large, will always be a secret.

One thing’s for sure: house cocktail parties need to make a comeback. I may need to host one quarterly until folks realize how much darn fun they can be....and other than the sink full of dirty dishes, they’re easy. Messy, loud, imperfect nights like these are the memories that carry me through tough days.... I'm blessed with the very best friends ever....and wish every weekend was exactly like this! 

“Life is short. Eat, drink, and enjoy the party.” — Unknown