My Very First Cookie Party! :P

Last night, I hosted my very first cookie and soup party! That's right, cookies AND soup! Cause really, is there anything better than those together only ten days before Christmas? What's that? There is? Oh yeah, if you add a hot chocolate and hot cider bar! Guess what?! We did! (; LoL. I was so nervous about this, since I haven't really had more than a handful of people over to the house.. and this was a whole group at once! All of the sudden all of the imperfections and insecurities that I could possibly have about my house, started to happen in full force. All I can say is, my poor dear husband.<3 I will state my personal opinion; I think the evening was quite a success, especially for my first get together that didn't involve my parents!

First of all, when I invited people, I tricked them into coming. I was so sneaky in the sense that I said,"If I had a cookie party this year would you come? I just don't want to actually make invites if no-one is interested?" Then of course they'd say yes since it's right then and there, and little did they know they were committing to me. (; Hah! Just kidding.. but kinda. I only did that to two people, since I would really want them there, and they are who I trust to tell me if it would be lame idea, or a complete bust. To me, AZ doesn't really have that full "Christmas" feel.. so I don't know what traditions are customarily done here.. it turns out, cookie parties are actually pretty awesome! I'd never been to one, yet alone hosted, so I'm not really sure if I did mine right.. but I liked it even if it was wrong. (: When people stay at your house for 5+ hours it's a good sign.. . right?
Now.. I had people RSVP, and even though it was my idea, I didn't really want to make the (as I've heard) traditional dozen per head. It just sounded like a lot. I mean.. what if 12 people came? That is 144 cookies.. Talk about a lot of work! I decided to do a half a dozen.. I mean.. we had to make, what, 66 cookies? That's not too much. Especially if you're batch, like mine, is meant for 72 but actually makes more like, well.. . 101 this year! (; So Thursday night came and I knew I needed to get them backed if I had any hope of having the decorated in time for the party.. so.. Paetin had a late night and stayed up until just after 10:00 PM to be my "cutter" as usual. (: We had a great time, and as I said above, pulled 101 cookies out of the oven. She used the last of the dough to make little balls and build dough (or snow as she said) men.. and then "melt" them over and over. What a silly girl. Friday while she was at school Eddy helped me to get the base coating done. And even for being up so late, Paetin was on green! I can't even begin to tell you how shocked I was. Even on the weekends when she doesn't have to be up at 6:00 AM she is super whiny when she is in bed after 8. . but hey. I'll take it. I didn't have to apologize to Miss Zakarian, so that worked for me! I was going to let her stay up Friday night to help me decorate them.. but it seems as though her teacher lucked out, and I got the raw end of the deal.. by the time I was laying Camy and Rylee down, Paetin was more than ready to lay down herself. She was so sad, but in the end, her feelings were hurt less than the three minutes it took her to pass out. To ease her pain in the morning, we made sure that our little elf lady, Wendy, decorated all the cookies so that Mommy didn't have to do it alone. (; Gosh, I knew I liked that freaky elf for some reason! (; Needless to say, they got done in time, and Saturday morning, I didn't have to fret. **Whew!!**
We had 9 ladies show up, not including yours truly. My headcount was for 11, but hey, you know not everyone will show. Especially when sick kids are a possibility. We had four soups; Kale, bacon, and acorn squash by the lovely Samara, a cheesy potato by Stephanie, a broccoli and cheese with chicken and potato brought by Carly, and then my won ton soup with shrimp. Not to mention the rolls that Jackie Lee brought, and my families' dill bread. And of course tons, and TONS of cookies by everyone! Mmmmm. We had plenty of food, and hot drinks to go with! And guess what?!? It was even rainy and cold, that's right, cold outside! It was perfect weather for the planned evening. (:
Paetin's "future hubby", Wyatt, came with his mom. It was great for them to get to play, and get to know Gina outside of seeing her when we pick up the kids. It'll be nice to be able to have him over here and there after school, and know that we actually talk to each other regularly now. ;) They had a lovely time, and are looking forward to a play date this week. Another surprise guest for Paetin, was Miss Zakarian. Someone I will now actually feel comfortable calling by her first name, Tami. Well.. maybe.  ;) She really is sweet as pie though. Eddy kept the kids upstairs, at least until the last hour. I mean with two kindergarteners in the house, and their teacher downstairs, yet alone all the cookies, Eddy was set up to fail. ;) He did great though, and it was actually fun to have them down together.
In the end, we ended up with a lot of cookies. I mean.. what is kind've the point right? Get together, eat food, talk, talk some more, trade cookies, talk, and well.. talk even more! (; At least that is how our cookie party went! It'll be nice to try something again.. maybe a sweet treat for Valentine's Day? Mmm.. I guess I should start thinking. (: