Home Parties

Every couple of months I host a home party of some sort.  I feel it is my obligation to open my home to an evening of economic stimulation.  I don’t host so that I can see my girlfriends and get free stuff, no, that would be selfish.  I am a fiscally responsible American who is trying to single-handedly turn around our current economy.   Martha Washington would be proud of me, heck, she would probably book a party off of mine and increase my hostess bonus.  She would drag Betsy Ross with her for a “bring a friend” gift, too.

Patriotism aside, I believe that home parties are just about the most natural thing a person can do.  Suspend your suspicion for just a few sentences.  Women are hunters and gatherers.  So what if we aren’t taking down gazelles or filling our animal skin aprons with berries and wild mushrooms, we are being true to our nature.  We hunt for fabulous items at a gathering of girlfriends.  Is this not our purpose in life?  Yah, my husband isn’t buying this particular load either but he is always wonderful about making it possible for me go to parties or host them.  Of course he could be supportive because I spend less at a home party than I do a trip to the mall.

When I go to a home party I nibble, I sip and I spend as much as I think I can.  Can, should, whatever.  I visit with other women who have nothing better to do on a given week night and I buy items that I can’t buy anywhere else in the world.  To me this is bliss.  I get to go out for an evening with other women that are happy to be out.  I really do enjoy the whole thing.

Hosting a home party is a whole different story.  You invite a stranger, a salesperson no less,  into your home for one evening to display her wares.  You then invite every woman you know to come over and shop, enticing them with the promise of yummy food and free booze.  You clean like a fiend for a week or so because although the invitation doesn’t say “Come look in my closets, atop my fridge and under the furniture,” it is implied.  Just to be clear, I do not do that when I attend a home party.

Your husband and kids get outta dodge for the evening because their angelic faces will  remind guests that their family is at home, sad and alone, without them.  Who wants their guests to feel guilty?  Guilt = reduced purchase + early departure.  Boooooo.

Hosting means you get to show off your culinary prowess.  Whether you let the Costco elves do your food prep or you choose to cook, your spread can be big or little, guests are happy to not have to cook!  Beverages… yes, please.  Open a bottle or four of wine, ice some lite brewskis or prepare a pitcher of a sweet girly drinks that make everybody oooh and aaah.  Hydration is of the utmost importance with the amount of talking going on, the jaw must be well lubricated.

Hosting is a little like work but it is worth it when the evening finally arrives and you sit back and enjoy the ride.  That said, I have had just about every kind of home party there is.  Yes, I am the “easy girl” of the home party world, but that is another post for another day.