So I recently hosted a Sex And The City soiree' with one of my dearest friends, Wendi. It was a swanky affair and everyone who attended had a great time. (For all you facebookers there is an album, but only viewable by my friends.) Anyway, the party was a huge success, largely in part because we planned it very carefully and strategically. I mean this was months of going back and forth, with actual SATC party meetings and pre-tastings etc.

The idea originally came to me one day as I was watching probably E-TV or some other channel and they announced the movie release date-May 30th. As soon as I heard it my party planning gears in my head started turning and rolling out ideas. Initially I had only planned a small affair for some close personal friends, at a hotel suite and then going to view the movie after sipping on some cocktails and some eats, possibly playing the trivia game (which I just happen to own). Now I loved the series and got hooked on it by my best friend, who requested copies of the series for her Christmas and birthday gifts. We would sit and watch entire seasons with bowls of popcorn and/or other snacks and drinks, and lose ourselves in the lives of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. We often thought that we personified elements of each of the character's personalities. (I'll let you guess who I had the most in common with of the four). LOL

Ok, so back to the party, Wendi thought my party was a good idea and decided she would like to join in on the fun, so we decided we would invite six friends each and we would have the party at a hotel suite, but then that soon changed. After having attended a group travel planners meeting, and meeting Kristin Old from Great Lakes Outlet Mall's executive office, I found out I had won a prize in the raffle drawing, ooh sweet! So we decided that could be or hotel and then we could go shopping the next day. A friend of Wendi's offered up the use of her clubhouse, which was across the street from the mall. So we took her up on the offer. The first evite went out in April and by then the guest list had grown, and more ideas had surfaced. And in the course of several out of town trips, I was able to procure items for our gift bags which each attendee received upon leaving the party on the way to the movie.

We worked around the colors of pink and orange and were able to get invites, gift bags, boxes and tissue paper with those colors, drink tags, coasters, mint boxes crystal light on the go packs, flavored lubricants, fridge magnets, candy etc, etc. All of which was done very cost effectively... I am the queen of clearance and can find a bargain somewhere. Wendi was in charge of the drinks and decorations and of course I was in charge of the food, music, prizes and the game and shoe competition. Now trust me we went back and forth soo many times, we thought our friendship would not survive this party, it has and everything went well. I have even entered our party in a contest, to win a screening... so stay tuned.

What this has taught me about myself however, is that I can really do this event planning thing well and might want to invest in learning as much as I can about the business and possibly having my own event planning firm some day. I get the knack for entertaining from both of the women who shaped my life while I was growing up, my biological mother who was excellent at cooking, decorating, and entertaining and then of course my adopted mother who never let us go to our friends places for parties or other events, but was more comfortable of the idea of me and my cousin entertaining our friends at our house. So I think that's why I have always felt comfortable having everyone come over and party at my place. Well I will be having maybe a couple more parties throughout the summer, there is of course, the Detroit/Windsor Fireworks (lucky for me, it is visible from my back porch) on June 23, 2008, and of course there is Dally in the Alley, the first Saturday after Labor Day. So of course you will hear about those too, until then and always take care of you...