January 1, 2011
5…4….3….2….1….
Should old acquaintance be forgot and ne’er brought to mind…?
(Um, no? I should hope not. I must say I never quite understood how such a sad song became the way we kick off each New Year.)
We rang in 2011 with good friends and a good meal. The Meyers hosted our little gang for a potluck dinner. As we ate, we all discussed how happy we were to be in a cozy home with good friends instead of corralled on a cold New York City street with strangers and porta-potties. At midnight, we gathered round to count down for the big drop. Happy 2011!
December 19, 2010
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la…
(Yes I did sing that out loud to make sure I got the right amount of la’s.)
This was our 3rd year hosting our Tacky Christmas Sweater party and each year our friends keep upping the ante with more creative and tackier costumes. There’s something about celebrating with your closest friends all looking goofier than the next that brings out the merry, merry in everyone.
This year’s oh so stylish looks included: a fu man chu….
an Uncle Eddie get up complete with a homemade dickie and Jamie rocking a turtleneck that I think she went back to 1994 to borrow…
guys proudly sporting vests with festive Christmas kittens, homemade sweaters, and blinking bow ties and reindeer antlers…
a candy cane cane….
… homemade sweaters (Anne getting the award for most time invested in creating her outfit), and of course, our guest of honor, 3 week old Ethan sporting his adorable reindeer outfit.
My friend Jenny even made the trip all the way from Raleigh to rock out in her Christmas duds and be festive with us.
Matt and I had a great time hosting, and were so thankful that so many of our friends were able to coordinate their residency schedules to have the night off.
Here’s all the ladies sporting their fabulous apparel. Sometimes I worry that in another 20 years, we won’t be wearing this outfits ironically.
And huuuuuge special thanks to Jamie, who took all these pictures and allowed me to borrow them. Because here’s the only picture that was on my camera the day after the party:
In my defense, the Swedish Fish were pretty important to the success of the party.
Merry Christmas, friends! Hope your season is merry and bright, and hopefully just a tad silly too.
January 31, 2010
Whoever came up with the idea of potlucks, I’d like to officially nominate them for party hall of fame awards. (Pretty sure it’d be right up there with parties involving foam, that one where you have to go hand cuffed to your date, and my cowboys & ballerina themed birthday party. Where some of the cowboys dressed up as ballerinas.) I DIGRESS.
A few days ago, we realized it was going to be one of those rare stars-colliding weekend where all the boys had the same Saturday night off. (Although, sadly, Locke had to go in at 5 am… but he was a trooper and made it out anyways!) Someone suggested a potluck – Italian themed – and in a matter of hours, we all had our designated dishes decided.
Hosting a dinner party and cooking just one-sixth of the food served? YES PLEASE.
Who’s cooking in my kitchen? Not me!
We were all a little nervous the impending snowstorm was going to keep our shindig from happening, but everyone braved the storm with either trusty SUVs or Chicago/Utah driving instincts and while the ground froze over, the party heated up.
Everyone’s food was delicious, and the cabin fever we’d all been experiencing turned otherwise benign games like Scattergories and Cranium into shouts, shrieks and slander. Just your typical board game experience, right? From board games, we moved on to Guitar Hero, which quickly became divisive as spouses went up against each other.
Not sure whether that is the look of a surprised winner or chagrined loser. You decide.
It’s funny how sometimes the most impromptu, informal plans can become the most fun nights. It makes me very thankful that we have friends who will brave snowstorms and show up with fettuccine at a moment’s notice. It doesn’t get any better than that right?
Unless, of course, I could actually beat those friends at Guitar Hero.
(PS, the requisite photos of all the food are on MegEats. Go here for some drool-worthy pics.)
December 6, 2009
Recipe for a successful party:
- Request that your friends wear silly attire.
- Add vodka.
- Mix well.
August 16, 2009
This weekend the stars collided and a number of our friends all happened to have the same Saturday evening off together… which called for an impromptu get together involving large slabs of meat on the grill, cold beverages in the fridge and funfetti cupcakes.
Okay, I confess, the funfetti cupcakes aren’t exactly a necessity of a get together but it just so happens my wonderful friend Jamie has been gracious enough to share her birthday with our wedding anniversary so I wanted to give her a little birthday shout out. Plus, who doesn’t love a chance to eat cupcakes?
It was a great evening, and just so nice to see the boys be able to kick back and relax. The hens had a great time clucking away in the kitchen sipping wine / whiskey sours (and um, eating frosting out of the can. There, I said it.)
After dinner, we gathered for a round of Catchphrase and it must be documented here in the inaugral Emergency vs. Optho, Emergency was the clear winner. Optho, ya’ll better be studying up for next time.
February 1, 2009
Friday night I was invited to a bachelor party (no I did not misspeak) for one of my co-workers. This is definitely my first invitation of the sort, and almost certainly my last. The invite went out to all of us – most of my other co-workers and the graduate students in our department – with the option to RSVP for dinner and drinks and peace out for the the strip club afterwards. I happily took up the pass on that offer. Allllll set on my fill of ta ta’s and booties, thanksverymuch.
I was feeling a little out of my element – most of this crew (namely the grad students) are quite close and spend a lot of time together, and outside of staff meetings and vent sessions in the office over shared research-related frustrations, I really haven’t gotten to know many of them very well.
Dinner was at Elizabeth’s, which felt like a total throwback to my freshmen year when we didn’t realize there was more to Winston than University Dr. (And with Pancho’s and Rose’s on UD, did we really need more than that? Nooope.) Afterwards, we went back to the one of grad student’s apartment to drink and apparently, greatly expand my learning curve of drinking games. You know when you should learn these things? When you’re 20. Not when you’re 26 and imbibe, oh, say once a lunar cycle. Low tolerance does not a good Zumi Zumi contender make. (Note: that is not us in the togas. This was just to give you a visual reference of the extreme coordination and concentration required by said game.)
As the party wore down, Shub (the groom) begged out of going to the strip club and said he just wanted to go out downtown. Somehow, because I’ve lived here forever I became in charge of the post-apartment festivities…. and in case you’re wondering fellow alums, taxi service in Winston still sucks. Never before have I missed pledges so fervently.
Was he tired from partying or from the fact that he had a 5 lb weight taped to his hand?We went to Tap Room, which is usually good balance of non-sketchy townies (the antithesis of Burke St) and older undergrads (the antithesis of Burke St). But the crowd was very light, and the crew I came with started dropping one by one. We summoned Victor, our new favorite cabbie to come pick us up. Here’s a WS survival tip: if your cabby actually delivers you safely to your destination without stopping to make a drug deal or pick up his friend, you have a good cabbie and you should get his name and phone number in order to ensure your safe return. Victor delivered us to IHOP…. yes IHOP, more undergrad nostalgia, and then full on pancakes and coffee, we called the night quits.
I had a great time, because I really haven’t gotten to know any of the grad students and it was really nice to actually TALK to them and not just pass them in our all-too-narrow hallways and make HES-themed small talk, like oh hey, off for a run? It’s very easy, here in Winston with it’s small town feel, to not step outside your comfort zone socially. It’s part of what I love about living here, becuase I oh so quickly got over the meet’n'greet scene of DC. I am glad I went nipped my homebody desires in the bud and, as first grade as this sounds, feel like I made some new friends. However I must say, if there are future social engagements, we’re going to have to skip any kind of shots that involve flames – I’m pretty sure there’s a maximum legal drinking age for those. And it’s 23.
Here drink this. Oh and just ignore the flames…
January 17, 2009
I am looking around my living room in just complete bliss. At 10:00 this morning, I mentioned to my co-worker that she and her boyfriend should come over and watch the Wake game. Now, 4 1/2 hours and a few more text messages later, 11 people are using up every scrap of seating we have available, our recycling bin is getting full of empty soldiers, and a bowl of hastily purchased chips and salsa is quickly disappearing. Have I mentioned I love impromptu get togethers? Or how I love that our basketball team is undefeated?
One booyah for giving up the idea that a party has to be perfectly planned and organized, one booyah for the freaking awesome basketball team of my alma mater and a third booyah for a perfectly content, cozy and fun Saturday afternoon with friends. (And maybe even a fourth booyah for the Forsey’s lovesac which provided extra seating and conversation.)
Coozies, ready & waiting.
