Hostess Extraordinaire!

Image from our Evite.com invitation

As I sit here eating a fabulous fruity parfait creation from my aunt's boyfriend, I realize that I really did it. I am officially initiated into the world of homes and parties and playing hostess.

Sunday, Jed and I hosted a Housewarming/Labor Day cookout for both of our families. I was planning on 16 people (we've done 8 at the house before), but 23 showed up! While I was frantically running around grabbing food for the grill, putting food out, putting food in, cleaning up, pouring wine and grabbing Band-Aids for the kiddies who got scraped up in the yard, I tried to pause to relish those moments of seeing our families mingling and having a good time... AT OUR HOUSE!!!

It was nice to hear that everyone did enjoy the food and the company, and that they like our little house and what we have done to it so far. It was good to catch up with the family we haven't seen in a year and hang out with those we saw the day before.

I'll admit, it had its challenges, but each party is a learning experience for me. We didn't have any food disasters, thank God, but I tend to be a bit of a control freak, so I had a hard time pulling myself away from the kitchen and the cleaning to socialize with my guests. But, I tried. And next time, I will try harder. (Note to self: plastic/paper serving items, plates, cups and silverware work wonders for your sanity!)

Now we're faced with a counter full of leftover desserts. We didn't tell our guests to bring anything, so I had the food almost perfectly planned out (we have some leftover, but nothing overwhelming). However, people feel obligated to bring something, so everyone brought dessert! I baked cupcakes myself, and my mother brought brownies, and I thought that would suffice. While it was lovely to add so much sweetness... Jed and I had dessert for breakfast yesterday because we don't want it to go bad before we can eat it!

Free pass this week on weight, diets and exercise...

The next party is in two weeks, and it will be a housewarming with our friends and coworkers. We opened this up to all of our Facebook friends, so I'm expecting a large gathering. Lesson #2: Potlucks are truly wonderful. So, everyone was instructed to bring a dish and drinks to share. We will probably get a keg for some drinking games, and I might make some of my famous Mexican layer dip, but that's it. And, everyone will bring their leftovers home with them!

I just hope it's a nice day/night so that we don't have to host everyone in the house!

Any tips for hosting parties at your home and how to maintain sanity through it all while actually enjoying yourself?