T-Minus 20 Hours And Counting….

I am overwhelmed with the good wishes and good ideas from readers with way more experience at throwing large parties than I.  I’m having a fundraiser for my friend Jean Kessner who is running for the Syracuse Common Council. Six people or fewer?  I’ll take you on.  More than that?  I want my mommy!

I’m washing platters and dishes.  I’m writing lists to keep track of lists.  I’m replacing light bulbs I should have replaced long ago.  Cobwebs in the corner?  There’s no time like the present.  Company has a way of getting one’s act together.  250 invitations were sent out.  I’m told by political experts to expect 50 attendees.

Christian my artistic 16-year old is creating a little surprise for guests at the door.  He’s only charging me $10.00 for it.

Here’s the frustrating part.  I’ve got this great house, if I may say so myself, only I had to move things out of place to keep people from hurting themselves and now the place looks a little odd.

The little white table in the breakfast room has been moved to the corner of the living room because it’s the perfect place for the wine bar.  That leaves the breakfast room looking empty and weird with chairs pushed against the walls.  I brought the  undersized side table from the living room in front of the chairs so that people wouldn’t clunk themselves on the head with the chandelier that descends from the ceiling in the center of the room, and they’ll have someplace to put things.  When you’re at a big party there’s never enough surface area to put down glasses or plates.

I want everyone who walks in the door to see my house as my family and friends see it every day. But that’s not possible now. They’ll see a wooden spider-back side chair pressed near the upholstered easy chair by the fireplace.  The effect is off-balance and crowded but if two guests want to continue the conversation while seated, this will be perfect, unlike the permanent placement of the spider-back chair near the french door into the sun room.  In a room full of people that chair would intrude on the flow of the circular floor plan.

I think I have enough of everything and because of that, I wonder if anyone will show up. A couple of my friends are interested in coming after the real guests are gone so this party may stretch beyond the 8 pm closing time.  I hope so.

Life’s big events often reveal the quality of one’s friends and this bash is a big event for me.   All my life I was so busy raising four children as a single parent and cursing the clock on the kitchen wall, the last clock of many I saw on my dash to work each day, that I didn’t have the reserve to entertain at home.  Three of the four children are thriving in their own place and the clock has as much power over me as those melting ones in Salvador Dali oils, so I’m ready for this final frontier of homemaking.

My friends are ready to launch into service at the ring of a cell phone.  The readers of this blog who left suggestions for a smooth event continue to astound me.  Sounds corny but I am so lucky.

I promise photos and a full report tomorrow night.

Now, where’s my mommy?

Tagged as: entertaining, Politics, Syracuse