Well, the party is over. And except for putting away all the party platters and crystal bowls, I'm pretty much recovered.

It was a grand party--lots of laughter and lively conversation and some hilarious surprises at the Gift Exchange. And the food. The food was great, if I do say so myself. We had a lot of food, too. I set up a main buffet and 2 grazing stations and a dessert table and a beverage station to encourage circulation. One grazing table had dry bruschetta (toasted thin baguette slices) with a variety of goodies--kalamata olive tapenade, muffaletta olive salad, artichoke and jalapeno dip, garlic-stuffed green olives, and cornichons. At another grazing station, we had a crudite plate with the ubiquitous ranch dressing, chicken balls (chicken, toasted slivered almonds, and cream cheese rolled into balls and then rolled into toasted coconut--very tasty and very easy), a few plates of hot hors d'oeuvres (phyllo pockets stuffed with good stuff like asparagus and cheese, pesto, mushrooms and sausage, etc.) On the main buffet table, we had sliced ham, roast beef and swiss cheese with rolls and an assortment of gourmet mustards (I just realized that I forgot to put out the mayonnaise--oh well, no one asked for it either and they usually don't use much so I don't think it was missed), a hot dish of spinach and cheese ravioli with butter and a tasty cheese and herb mixture sprinkled over them, more hot phyllo hors d'oeuvres, Baby Shower Salad (my modified recipe--rice and wild rice, shrimp, celery, green onions and a creamy vinaigrette dressing, topped with red grapes and cashews) and my favorite, a whole salmon filet poached in white wine and dill, served chilled with thinly sliced red onions, lemon wedges, sour cream and capers. Mmm, good! The desserts were pretty much provided by guests who offered to bring something, though I had some sweets around--dark chocolate orange sticks, mint M&Ms (I love those!) and these wonderful chocolate "branches" which were squiggly sticks of chocolate flavored with either raspberr or caramel. I got them at Trader Joe's and they are very kewl. I stood them up in wine glasses and perched them around the party and they looked so neat.

At the Gift Exchange, there were some hilarious gifts and some very nice gifts and some duds. That's what makes it so funny and entertaining. So last night, in between the crystal biscuit jar and Loony Toons picture frame and ceramic nativity set, there were Sea Monkeys, a fart machine and a very skimpy Speedo (rather redundant, isn't that?) which was brought by the most unassuming person at the party--we were all shocked when he finally fessed up to it!

At least a dozen people told me last night or today how much they enjoy our party every year and that they start looking forward to it in October or November. That is so gratifying. I asked them all to mention the same thing to Ed because he is such a party Scrooge while I'm planning it. Cut back the guest list, he says, scale back the food, don't do the gift exchange... all the things that gave the party the legendary status is has attained among our friends. He acknowledged today that I was right about the party and that we can't just cancel it or make big changes in it without dissapointing a lot of people, myself especially.

Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting some friends for breakfast to show them the pictures I took of them with their instruments (cello and viola). I'm kind of excited because Joel (the principal violist in the Oregon symphony) needs a new head shot and is hoping that he can use one of my pictures. Ooh--wouldn't that be great? It would get a lot of exposure, though not credited exposure. But it could lead to more work from others in the symphony. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself. I'm just excited to present them with the framed print I made for them and then show them the other pictures I took and let them see the contact sheet, too.

After the party, we cleaned up some and then had our own private party so I didn't get to sleep until 3am this morning and I didn't wake up until noon! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to fall asleep tonight but I'm feeling plenty sleepy so I think I'll be able to nod off soon.

Later...

--L