At least it was for me so I assume everyone else had a swell time, too. There were certainly a lot of guests. It was so great to see so many of my friends all at once. I regretted I was unable to talk to everyone at length. Somehow I thought having a small party in a small house would make that sort of thing easier, but instead I only stood still for ten or fifteen minutes at a time before moving on. As I said wryly to Jessie, "Gee, I hate being popular." See, the etiquette books tell you to plan for X number of guests and then expect only two thirds of them to show up (but make food for the X number so there's always more than enough to eat). But this weird thing always happens to me when I give parties: everyone I invite comes. Oh, maybe one or two don't make it, but all the rest turn up and bring along assorted children, friends, spousal equivalents, bottles of wine, and potted plants.

Yes, plants. I have no less than six spectacular houseplants brought by our thoughtful guests. Lovely trailing ivys, an enormous Ti plant with shocking pink edges from Gary, a big hanging pot of impatiens, and Allyn planted a clay bowl of succulents for me herself. She swore I couldn't kill them even with my normal neglectful habits... I mean the horribly drying qualities of this area's coastal weather. But it wasn't just us who got presents. The pets received toys and snacks from more than one person. In fact, Shelly Ross brought a great "cat toy" that entranced several partygoers with its flashing red L.E.D. strobe pattern.

I didn't take photos because I was running late with food preparation. Lynn and Johnny showed up at the specified party time, Eleanor and Jen and Shelly showed up five minutes later, and from then on it was all a blur of festivities. The fireplace aglow with three lava lamps was a hit, as was the plastic crab hanging in a yellow fishnet over the table, and all the fake Hawaiiana. The bamboo torches didn't put out big flames so they looked a bit silly but they did illuminate the backyard nicely, which was good because about ten people stayed out there the whole time. I put all the food out in the monkeypod bowls and placed a pineapple on a bamboo platform like a shrine. About half the guests wore Hawaiian shirts, and there were plastic leis everywhere so it did seem as though we'd transformed the house into a cheesy Polynesian themed bar.

I thought people mingled pretty well. This is one aspect of getting older that I like. When we were all in our twenties a lot of my social group were fairly bad at ordinary social skills. No one would introduce themselves or talk to strangers at parties. Nowadays most of us have had years of being in business situations where we need to go outside our comfort zone a little. Consequently that comfort zone has expanded to the point where people actually introduce themselves to others, and ask leading questions, and generally act civilized. I used to be terrible at that sort of thing myself, and now I'm perfectly happy to extend the glad hand and break out the cheery smile.

One of the great party unifiers was Keiko who agreeably allowed herself to be petted constantly. Michael's her favorite, but she was a popular lap accessory with several other guests. Natasha went to sleep on a chair amidst the hoopla, and later skedaddled upstairs to nap among the pile of coats on our bed. Dixie enjoyed the meatballs and the attention out back. In fact, she was so happy she voluntarily came in the house looking for more meatballs and attention. I was taken aback to see her. I've gotten used to her shunning our house, you know. I guess the party atmosphere was contagious.

Even though I said we were providing everything some people still brought food. Shelly arrived bearing an enormous cheesecake covered with strawberries. I left it out on the stovetop (the only counter space left) but no one got into it, so it's all for us, bwahahaha! I think they were too busy eating the tray full of baklava from the corner Lebanese restaurant to notice that beautiful cheesecake. I was a bad party host, I must confess. I had a terrible time keeping food on the table. I couldn't quite keep up with consumption as I was constantly getting waylaid into an interesting conversation or accepting yet another beautiful houseplant from a new arrival. So I fear towards the end of the party there wasn't anything left except a little cheese, a few macadamia nuts, a strawberry or two, and wine. Lots of wine. Lots and lots and lots of wine. We have six bottles of champagne and six bottles of wine left today. Not much leftover beer. Beer was the drink of the evening, I guess. I never had any. I had a quarter glass of Pinot Grigio, a half glass of Ravenswood Merlot, and a swift glug of an indifferent Australian Merlot right before pouring the remaining quarter bottle down the sink. Someone spilled red wine on our pale brown carpet, so three or four people sprinkled salt liberally on it to soak up the color. That's why I got up and vaccuumed this morning. It really worked, there's no stain on the carpet at all.

Man, it was a fun party. I love giving parties, although I need to be better at estimating food prep time for that many people. I think it's so cool when people from one area of my life successfully mix with people from another area. It's so much simpler for me if everyone knows each other. I love, love, love seeing the house full of friends enjoying themselves. And I really love the opportunity to decorate the house in a theme. I think the plastic crab in the netting is going to stay up for quite some time.

But most of all I love the day after when all I have to do is relax.

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