Are you having a cocktail party?

My mother in-law asked me if we where going to have a Christmas Cocktail Party, and it took every thing I had to not spit the glass of wine I was drinking.

Hosting fancy cocktail parties is not a thing that the husband and I are into. We love going to them, dressing up, taking a taxi, it’s always fun. But I don’t have the kind and amount of “fancy-ness” (not sure if that’s a word, or if I’m using it correctly, but just go with it) necessary to actually host a cocktail party. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been cooking, drinking, having friends over and then cooking some more. I’ve made a Brie-Bacon Cranberry Sauce Wreath, Fancy-ass, cheesy pigs in a blanquette, and Parmesan Asparagus. TonightI’ll be making sweet potato fries and BBQ chicken. But that’s not all, I have recipes for every Friday of December. At this point, most of our friends know that if they’re here before 6pm, they’re staying for dinner.

Next Saturday is movie in the park for the neighborhood and because it’s Christmas, we are also having a candy cane hunt. After, we are having friends over (as usual), but this time, I’ll be making a Beef Wellington dish. That’s right. I’ve never made it before, and I don’t think I’ve ever had it, but now I’m excited! But none of us will be wearing anything fancier than flip flops and shorts. If it get’s cold, then make it flip flops, shorts and a hoodie.

This past weekend, the husband and I went to see Weezer and Cage the Elephant. I’m reluctant to call it date night, cause we’re not dating. We are married and have been for a long time. When we go out, we are going out as a married couple. Not as two people dating. So, I don’t think of it as a date. It was a great show, Weezer is getting old, but still great. And Cage was excellent. However, the best part of the night was at the end of the show, walking half lit-up and finding the hole in the wall taco place. Of course it was amazing! And when I complimented the chef, and by chef I mean an actual Mexican little lady in the kitchen, she sent over some free stuff! So good!!

The neighborhood association had it’s first meeting with the new Board. One of the members that has been going to these meetings since the beginning of time saw the table full of light refreshments and yelled out:

“Snacks?!! Susie must be back!!”

She then turn around to look for me. Because when the husband and I were involved, I made it a point to bring snacks for the general meeting, and since our Madam President is badass and doesn’t give a rats-tushy, she also had me bring sangria. It was awesome! Everybody had a nice community time together. We exchange ideas, we joked, we ate and drank together! Shit, even the bad man had positive contributions towards our goals, and he doesn’t even drink! After the meeting Mr Melania told me that that was the best turn out by far. So good, that we’re probably gonna have one (big and cheap) bottle of wine and a case of Kirkland brand beer, every general meeting. Today I had lunch with Madam President and we are both so excited for the coming year!

Here’s the thing with the snacks: when you just got home from work, you’re hungry, tired and just not in the mood. My mother in law calls it the bewitching hour. So if you want people to get involved and actually give a damn about your neighborhood, or anything really, we have to make it comfortable for them! Squirrel Master is the perfect example: she spends the day taking care of her kids and she has a partner that just worked all day. How can I expect this person to feed her kids, her husband and have extra amount of energy to come listen to us? BUT if she knows there will be a small bite (Costco sandwiches), maybe some veggies, maybe some cookies for the kiddies, and perhaps a small glass of wine for her and a brusky for the grumpy old man (sorry, that’s what I’m gonna start calling him, not that he is grumpy, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at him)… why wouldn’t she come? They get some serious neighboorhood information and actually interact with our neighbors.

At this point I’ll do anything and everything I have to do, to get more people involved. Booze normally works.