Out of this World!

For my birthday, Scott and I hosted an "Out of this World" Masquerade party. View the photo album here.

I had been almost too busy to be looking forward to the party, until Pam (Pamcakes) delivered the cake early Friday afternoon. From the moment I laid eyes on her whimsical creation, personalized just for me, the thrill began!

My friends honored me by stepping into my world of costumes and fantasy, wearing outfits ranging from the land of Oz (Wicked) to the Men In Black (during a game of Mafia, they even named our fictional town "Fantasyland"!). Most precious to me was my own darling engineer husband Scott appearing as Star Trek's Chief Engineer Scotty; for a guy who doesn't share my enthusiasm for dressing up, he went above and beyond by donning not only the costume shirt but also pants and boots to match! Everyone voted in the costume contest by giving "tickets" to their favorites in three categories (the winner being the person with the most tickets). As an unexpected bonus, this process turned out to be an icebreaker and party mixer! "Agent" Ron won Most Ingenious for raiding his closet and putting together a seriously sharp MIB suit. Most Original went to Peggy for her original creation based on Lord of the Rings. And Suzette and Troy earned Best Overall for the Vampire and his Mistress!

I think my favorite moment was around midnight, when I decided I wanted a cup of tea to mitigate the sugar in my second scrumptious piece of Pam's most excellent birthday cake (which was so beautiful I thought it was a shame to cut, until I tasted it!). Usually I'm the only tea drinker in the crowd, but I stood up and asked out of courtesy if anyone else would like a cup. To my surprise (and what surprised me more, my delight), the answer was a resounding chorus of "I'll join you!" This was followed by several minutes of David and Jair amusing us (and themselves) with their best "British tea-time" impressions while we scrounged the cupboards for enough cups and everyone selected their brew.

Parties are usually stressful for me, because I'm so co-dependently concerned about each guest's experience (particularly when many of them don't know each other, which was the case here) and whether I'm being a good hostess that the whole thing goes by in a whirl and afterwards I realize I wasn't even really at my own party. About two hours into our marathon game of Mafia, someone pointed out that I was being quiet (which eventually led to my "death" at the hands of our gentle "citizens"!). I suddenly realized that I was enjoying watching everyone else enjoy themselves! They didn't need me to take care of them or make sure they were having a good time. I had created an environment where they were comfortable and free to make their own experience. Even the spouses and guests of my friends were actively engaged! That was more than I planned for, and it felt really good.

And when the party finally broke up (due to a 1:15AM phone call--we had all lost track of time!), my guests literally turned the tables on me by breaking down tables and chairs, cleaning up and resetting all the furniture!