Girls' Night In

Whew!! It's the morning after party number one... the Girls' Night In. I only wish I'd taken pictures!!! I think this was my most successful party yet - the house looked AMAZING, the food was all set up prettily, and I just felt as if everything went according to plan. (Almost everything.)
As the party was a Passion Party, I wanted a romance theme. Red and pink. Candles. Chocolate. Pretty food, with maybe a wink at the subject matter... I had red roses on the food table and the presentation table. Gorgeous red roses I got for $8.88 per dozen at the grocery store. The store I tend to avoid because it teems with frustrating, frustrated, slow moving, obliviously annoying people - but they always have gorgeous flowers for cheap, so... I braved it.
I honestly didn't have time to hunt down my candle holders but I think that was for the best because once the party got started, there were things flying around and I'm certain a fire would have started.
Since I had a much bigger turnout than I ever expected - 15 women!! - Wayne helped me move our family room couch into the living room. I have to say, we've chosen our furniture very well. The deep, dark chocolate leather couch slides seamlessly into our living room set-up; sitting in front of the TV, facing the rest of the room, it's the perfect solution when we have a ton of people over and want everyone together. Of course, it wouldn't work for watching football or movies but for game night or a tutorial on the mild to wild side of passion? Perfection! (I'm thinking game night sounds good... sometime in February. When things settle down!)
I made (yes, MADE) chocolate cupcakes with a shiny, gooey, gorgeous chocolate ganache frosting, which I placed on my friend Linnea's cupcake holder. (I covet her cupcake holder but my birthday is coming up so if anyone's looking for a gift idea... ahem. hint hint) I attempted to make two layer fudge to be cut into heart shapes - pink chocolate on top, dark chocolate on bottom. But, it was a complete fail so I moved on (ha! I feel so emotionally evolved because I didn't obsess about the fudge and make attempt after attempt, wasting time and energy and money) and bought some dessert tarts from the frozen foods section. I made a chocolate cheese ball (cream cheese, sugars, vanilla and crushed Oreos. Mmmm.) which I served with chocolate graham crackers. Pigs in a blanket (mini sausages anyone?), raspberry chipotle cream cheese dip, and hot wings dip were all hits, too. Placed on my pink-y red plastic serving dishes leftover from our 4th of July BYOBBQ and my "you'll have to physically restrain me to prevent me from buying this giant white plate for under $5 at Target" favorite serving dish, everything looked great!! And I barely stressed at all. Even when the fudge failed and I ran out of time and didn't get to make the mini-quiche.
The pink lemonade with strawberries and lemon slices, soooo pretty in my friend Steph's clear glass beverage jar was virgin... for once. But, not to fear, there was chilled gin in a cobalt blue martini pitcher nearby! I'm thinking the gin lemonade I've been making all year is gaining a reputation. A friend brought along three other ladies, and they all knew about my favorite drink. And really, it's sooo super easy to make ahead - it's yummy, refreshing, light and pretty. What's not to love?! (For those of you still hunting for birthday gifts, here's another hint - while I have my favorite recipe, I have nothing suitable for serving it! Steph brought her spigoted jar and I am eternally grateful. I love the look of them but, since I almost always add berries, lemon slices or other floating items to my punches, the spigot tends to get blocked. I think I want a clear glass, not too traditionally shaped pitcher. Something I can use for pretty pretty girls' night beverages but would also be comfy using for a BBQ or Jack's birthdays.)
Anywho... where was I? Oh, right. The party itself. My back was turned so I have no idea who, but thankfully, someone dug right into the food so there wasn't too much of that awkward, everyone wants to start eating but no one wants to be first huddle around the food table. Thanks, mystery brave and/or very hungry person! Shortly after that, the fabulous Marissa arrived with her bags and bags of goodies and we all sat down to be entertained and informed and tempted. One of my favorite parts of the presentation? My friends' reactions, exclamations, facial expressions and general attitudes. These ladies know how to have fun!!!
And on the subject of ladies, let me tell you: The best parties to have are girls' nights. Not just because we all get to dish about our husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends' latest idiocies; not just for the cutting loose and relatability; but because when you are all done and everyone's gone home, there is next to no mess. Seriously. Women will be sure to throw their empty plates in the trash, place their empty glasses next to the sink, clean up any little messes they make... we've all had parties and worked hard to get the house just right so we all understand the frustration of cleaning all day just to wake up to another mess to clean up the next day. I have seriously never had such a clean house at the end of a party! I don't know if I just had a lot of clean freaks here, but even my bathroom was still sparkling!! (Erin, was that you??!)
For Wayne and Jack, the best part is that it's over... and there are lots of chocolate cupcakes left for them.
For me - it was hearing how much fun everyone was having. And, of course, how much everyone loves my house. Shallow, maybe. But very true. I love my house and it makes me happy to have people take notice of the hard work we've done - painting, redecorating, picking out just the right furniture and accessories. I also liked that one of the moms from my group asked me to post my dip recipes on the board. Woo hoo!! Success!! :)
Next up... Thanksgiving!! And Erin will help me remember to take pictures of that, for sure!