Party!

CK and I held our first "official" party tonight. Many people came and brought wonderful, vegan food to share. I just finished packing up all the leftovers & cleaning up while listening to dj Cheb i Sabbah's last release, Devotion.

Cut time a bit close - I was grateful that the first guests arrived after I'd managed to grab a quick shower and get dressed! We spent the day in a full push against the yard, deck and house. We worked out in the yard until it was past noon and too hot, too bright to be out in it. Inside we cleared out the living & dining rooms, which now look lovely, open and spacious. I also finished up the kitchen and gave the bathroom a good cleaning.

CK made some macaroni salad, which she felt like she couldn't taste. I found myself in the kitchen half cooking, half talking to guests and cooking with one guest (who made fresh green beans stir-fried three ways), which was a lot of fun for me. I was making potato salad as guests arrived -- this means it didn't turn out quite as planned, but still tasty. I also started some baked beans this morning in the Crockpot - first attempt at them and I am pretty happy.

The deck looked beautiful with candles everywhere and a string of fairy lights. CK is going to hang more. I look forward to having dinner out there with her and with friends this summer. The yard has had so much progress made and it was fun talking about our plans.

Everyone had a lot of fun while the more pyromaniacally inclined of the party-goers light off a bunch of the fireworks we have. It seems like each year a few more are leftover! Maybe we'll throw a hungry ghosts/birthday party in September and light off a few more.

It was nice having this first night of real entertaining. We are both exhausted and aching now, but it felt good working hard together to make things look nice and make the food come together. I was really touched, if a bit overwhelmed at times, at how many people did come for us throwing the invite out there a few days ago!

The good and bad thing about a party -- all your friends show up, or at least most of them. I commented to CK when she returned from taking a friend home (he's too sick to bicycle or bus, but wanted to come) that we know some really interesting people! We're going to try to invite people over regularly, in small groups for dinner so we can focus on getting to know people better.