Last Sunday, I had a party, “Ken’s Summer Backyard Get-Together Luau Party Bash Shindig”. The description: “Kinda like Christmas in July, but the presents are food and good company. A holiday for framily, facebook friends, business associates, tai chi students, and wandering vagabonds. May involve extreme s’mores after sundown. Alcohol optional, kid-friendly, and games possibly.” Shindig was Mer’s idea and it just stuck as much as I felt it archaic at first.
We bought some decorations from Oriental Trading Company, mostly oceanic theme (dolphin keychain favors, umbrella and flamingo straws, chinese tiki lanterns, patriotic bunting, leis, etc.). I did almost all invites via Facebook and over 20 people showed. Christian had to go to Allegheny (error in planning), but one old friend from college showed to my surprise.
The rain took it’s course that morning, and the rest of the day was sunny, with a mild evening. Most people left before we made s’mores and such, but it really had the feel of a Little Christmas Party. It was a memorable, meaningful time I will definitely do again, probably with a bit more notice.
Everything has just been creeping up on me deadline-wise. I even put off the block club meeting by a few weeks jut to give decent notice. Speaking of which, I got to use my lucite gavel (which has a band engraved my initials with “officia vocant”) at the meeting last night.