Partying together

Little Spoon and I have been preparing for a party for my work for three days now, and now that it's finished, I can safely say I would have made a mess of of it by myself. She helped substantially with cleaning up the house, and she had several excellent ideas regarding drinks (e.g., getting a couple of tubs at Big Lots to contain ice and beverages, putting the bottles and cans into the tubs before pouring the ice in them) that saved me. I took charge of picking up the living room, vacuuming the house, hosing off our outdoor tables and chairs, and arranging the tables and chairs for maximum viewing pleasure and traffic flow.

However, we would have both been run into the ground had we not gotten the event catered. Fortunately, I was given permission to hire someone to provide the food, and I chose Down South Delights for the job based on our successful tasting for our wedding reception. I called Rita on Wednesday morning; after learning that she didn't have any events planned for this weekend, we planned out the party on the phone. She guided me through the process with aplomb, calming my nerves and making loads of helpful suggestions to make a nice, informal party. We started with our wedding reception menu, keeping the finger sandwiches, chicken salad croissants, and fruit and cheese platter. We replaced three heavy reception hors d'oeuvres with buffalo wings, spinach dip and cheese, and flatbread pizzas. The food was a big hit, and many people complimented us on the plentiful spread.

It was great to have this catering to take the load off us both, and I appreciated Little Spoon's help in assembling a party for over 30 people. It's the first time I've ever hosted something that large, and with her help, I'm sure we'll be able to do so again easily.