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Things that went well / badly
1. The guest list had a big, consuming interest in common. MAN did people talk. I think this alone made the party a success.
2. We had enough wine. It is really handy that I had a bunch beforehand.
3. The cats didn't try to escape. They were actually quite social.
4. Tablecloths that drape close to the floor can hide a multitude of clutter-related sins.
5. The furniture layout with lots of room to move around worked very well. (We'd done a fair bit of rearranging.)
6. The trash and recyclables containers were sufficient and were well-marked enough that people found them with no trouble.
Not So Good:
1. Amount of food was way too much. This contributed to...
2. My feet. Food prep is not a sitting-down activity, and a lot of it is not stuff I could do ahead of time. By the time guests arrived I'd been on my feet for eight hours. I was in way too much pain to be a "good hostess" and mingle, bring people drinks, etc. I tried, but not very hard.
3. White wine was pulled from the fridge too early, so it warmed up too much. Keep extras in the fridge longer. On the flip side, the soft drinks can be pulled out into ice chests much earlier. (Fridge space management was a huge issue.)
4. (minor) People asked for permission to open wine. Next time we could put up a "feel free!" sign. We had signs on everything else!
2. We had enough wine. It is really handy that I had a bunch beforehand.
3. The cats didn't try to escape. They were actually quite social.
4. Tablecloths that drape close to the floor can hide a multitude of clutter-related sins.
5. The furniture layout with lots of room to move around worked very well. (We'd done a fair bit of rearranging.)
6. The trash and recyclables containers were sufficient and were well-marked enough that people found them with no trouble.
Not So Good:
1. Amount of food was way too much. This contributed to...
2. My feet. Food prep is not a sitting-down activity, and a lot of it is not stuff I could do ahead of time. By the time guests arrived I'd been on my feet for eight hours. I was in way too much pain to be a "good hostess" and mingle, bring people drinks, etc. I tried, but not very hard.
3. White wine was pulled from the fridge too early, so it warmed up too much. Keep extras in the fridge longer. On the flip side, the soft drinks can be pulled out into ice chests much earlier. (Fridge space management was a huge issue.)
4. (minor) People asked for permission to open wine. Next time we could put up a "feel free!" sign. We had signs on everything else!
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i hope you're able to take care of yourself today!! *hugs*
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Yeah, I've tried food prep sitting down, too, and I just can't REACH stuff. I'd pick the ends off veggies that way (beans, asparagus), or I'd shuck corn sitting down, but I can't chop sitting down. There's no room.
Thanks!
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Sounds like it went really well. Cheese freezes. So do cold cuts.
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Could you try food prep with a high enough stool? Then you can sit down and still reach the counter where you are working. I find that helpful when I am doing a Lot of Stuff. Finding the right height for your counter and your arms length may take some effort, but might help?
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Everything looked like it went great from my perspective. I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with pilot talk, but even I got overwhelmed there towards the end. Must've had too much wine :)
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If you had too much wine then I did my job as host! :-)
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That is what makes a party a success! If people are enjoying each other's company, nothing else really matters. I'm glad it went so well!
Amount of food was way too much.
There's always too much food at a party. If there isn't too much, that means there wasn't enough! (It does sound like there was much too much this time, though.)
My feet. Food prep is not a sitting-down activity, and a lot of it is not stuff I could do ahead of time.
Do you have a Costco or Sam's Club or something? Their frozen party food is excellent, and all you have to do is heat it up. Once I had my assignment for a fun feast changed at the last minute due to a mixup. The day before the dinner I was asked to bring an appetizer instead of whatever it was I had been planning on. I went to my local warehouse club and got some frozen appetizers and heated them ... and the group loved them! They just raved and raved about how good they were.
If anyone had asked for the recipe I would have told the truth, but nobody did, so I just smiled and said thank you! And from the compliments it was obvious that they had no idea I hadn't made them myself. Next time consider buying some things instead of the most labor-intensive food, and for the things you do make, choose recipes that are easy to prepare and/or can be made ahead and stuck in the fridge or the freezer until party day.
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We have a Costco but I don't have the magic card you need. Back when I was in the military I automatically qualified to join but I don't know what you have to do now (except work at The Right Places or bank at The Right Credit Unions). Some day I'll go see about that.
Not much of note. Busy at work, busy with party. *hug*!
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Costco is the best of the warehouse clubs, but I don't have one close enough to make it worthwhile to buy a card. We're going to get one, but they haven't even broken ground on the new shopping center yet, so it's going to be a minimum of two years (maybe longer) before it actually opens.
Walmart wanted to open a Sam's Club, but this hoity-toity county wouldn't let them put one in. They almost didn't get approval for the regular Walmart store, but they said absolutely NO to an adjoining Sam's Club. (On the other hand, when the mall was expanded and two new anchor stores were being added, the residents clamored loud and long for a Lord & Taylor and a Nordstroms, so that's what went in. Tells you something about this community.
Right now the only one within reasonable range is a BJ's. It's my least favorite warehouse store, but I suppose it's better than nothing. I discovered that if I let my membership lapse for a few months they'll send me an invitation to join with three extra months and a $5 discount off the regular rate, so that's what I'll probably do again! (I do bank at a credit union, but I don't think they have any requirements except paying for the card. The whole idea is a sham anyway to make it seem like an exclusive privilege so they can charge you to shop there, an idea which I find rather outrageous!)
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I remember seeing a chair somwhere that's supposed to be for kitchen prep use... ahhh: this chair (http://www.mileskimball.com/mileskimball/Shopping/ProductDetail.aspx?CID=Home&SCID=Hardware%2fTools&ProductID=48859&SiteNum=0&Sourcecode=3960110&affid=1). Would something like that help take a load off your feet but let you do more kitchen stuff?
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