Happy (Belated) Halloween! I am proud to say that two days later, my house seems to finally be back to its normal state of cleanliness. Because this "party animal" just threw her very first Halloween Party and the results were spooktacular (if I may say so myself!). But let's start from the beginning...
First? The daytime decor... I had been in the Halloween spirit for a while, mostly thanks to the subtle festive decor that didn't make my house look like a haunted house for a month prior to the actual party. The trick here is the word subtle. Nothing stood out as particularly Halloween-y... I started with a bunch of glass skulls throughout the house (courtesy of the Dollar Store, nonetheless), and a ton of tiny human skeletons and not-so-tiny bird skeletons. The day of, I added a few zombie decals (which are ridiculously frightening, especially when your peripheral vision is not that great) and a few obligatory hanging death sculptures.
Next? The nighttime transformation... by graciously adding food, music, and a ton of people. A few of my highlights here...
- My friends are creative... they arranged my stick figures into a zombie apocalypse dynamic sculpture. Absolutely priceless.
- A Bloody Mary bar is the most genius idea I have ever had that is also doable within 2 hours of a party. You will only need olives, celery, great Bloody Mary mix, slightly-above-average vodka, freshly cut lemon, and a ton of salt and pepper.
- Cheese, cheese, cheese and twice as many crackers is by far the most popular snack.
- Dry ice pumpkin beer chiller! Holy cow! That was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Courtesy of my other creative friends.
- Dry ice in a water bowl. Close second-coolest thing I have ever seen. This is addictive!
And what's a Halloween party without a costume? Superhero theme, here I come! Without really trying. Because I was happily surprised to realize that runners own a ton of black spandex. Add one lace mask for $7.99 and a pair of self-made cat ears and voila! Catwoman reincarnated...
Oh, hey there! You probably also noticed my co-hostess with the mostest's incredible costume! She was Harley Quinn! And her make-up was swoon-worthy...
So there you have it! I survived my first hosting gig and lived to tell the tale! I have to say that this was a ton of fun. Perhaps we have a tradition in the making? Happy Monday!!
PS: You could say it got a little tight in my 1,395 square feet...(Images courtesy of several unauthorized iPhone cameras :).
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.