Hostess With The Mostess!

The past few days have been really busy. On Friday, I hosted my very first big playdate/party ever. I have had other people over to our house, sure...but this was my first time when I had more than one person over at a time...and the first time I've invited people who weren't already close friends. Does that make sense?

I've always been pretty in awe of people who can throw a great party- my Aunt Laura and Uncle Kevin are my big heroes in that department. They throw the best parties EVER, and make their guests feel welcomed, and it's just always such a fun and enjoyable time at Laura and Kevin's house. They hosted my wedding reception, and Paprika's first and second birthday parties- very important and special events for us- so you know I really look up to them. I was channeling them in my party planning- I figured if I could do 1/10th the job they do, then that would be good enough!



Anyhoo, this was a party/playdate I was putting on for our local Mom's Club chapter (it's a group of stay-at-home moms in our neighborhood), and most of the people I had only met once or twice. I spent most of Thursday getting ready for it. Mr. Mustard was working (usually his day off), so that put a little more pressure on me. I took Paprika and Ginger to Target and we did a huge run and bought all kinds of refreshments and snacks for kids and adults alike, plus some fun games to play in the backyard.

I spent all Friday morning cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Paprika and Ginger are like little tornadoes, so it's something to get the house looking really picked up. I was like, "Okay, don't breathe. It will only look this way for about five minutes." So, I walked around and took pictures. The pictures got a little fuzzy because Ginger kept grabbing the camera.



The party went off without a hitch. It was GREAT! I threw the party so that Paprika could make some friends here, and she got along so well with the other kids. We're going to get together with them again next week (at a park- whew)!

My favorite part about our house is the yard. I know it doesn't look like much, but for the area we live (right by the beach in Los Angeles), it is considered a colossal yard. Huge. Our house is very tiny (and a swift wind might knock it over), but I wanted the big yard for the kids to play in...so that was definitely our priority when we were looking for places to live. Most of the houses in our area take up the whole lot and don't have a yard at all (or just a tiny patio), so I definitely wanted the kids to play outside and just enjoy the outdoors (and you know, I had JUST cleaned our entire house top to bottom, so I really didn't want a herd of kids tearing it apart!)



Now, if you're wondering why I didn't take any pictures of the actual party it's because I was just too overwhelmed to do it. I was taking care of Ginger, Paprika, getting people drinks, food, showing people to the bathroom, making sure certain kids (who may never be asked back) didn't slam other kids' fingers in doors...stuff like that. ;-)

It's kind of crazy to think that the kids at this party will likely be ones that Paprika and Ginger grow up with...one of our big reasons moving to our new neighborhood was the great public schools, and so it's possible that some of these kids could be their classmates all the way through high school. Woah.

I know I put a lot of pressure on myself for this party, and I guess it's because I really want to have the type of home where my kids can feel comfortable bringing people over, hanging out, and just having fun. It's really important to me, so I didn't want to mess it up. I'm really glad we had the party, and kinda glad it's over, too! ;-) Hopefully this will be the first of many to come! :-)