If you throw a party and nobody comes, did it really happen?

What’s worse than preparing an beautiful Easter brunch and having no one show up? Having one person show up to witness your humiliation. If no one had come to the brunch then I could pretend like it didn’t happen. Instead, only one friend showed and I had to face that common hostess fear of an unsuccessful party. I felt schizophrenic; I had done all this work for guests that didn’t exist. Well, in defense of my guests, it was a last minute decision to have a get together, and most had a legitimate excuse for not showing (George and James- I totally understand). But on with the bitching. First let me describe how superbly everything turned out. The food:

• perfect potato salad (just like Grandma’s)
• delicious deviled eggs (just like mom’s)
• splendid spinach salad (with red onions, mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing)
• awesome asparagus with curry sauce (okay the asparagus didn’t turn out that well, but for the sake of alliteration it was awesome. (Who would know anyway?))
• a fantastic fruit plate with a lemon cream cheese dip and sponge cake
• a fresh, warm loaf of poppy seed challah bread
  
• black forrest ham from the farmer’s market
• chilled champagne, orange juice, and flutes with little orange peel twists for mimosas
• freshly ground gourmet coffee.

I didn’t really do decorations, but I did have lots of Springy flowers, jelly beans, and napkins folded to look like bunnies. I found a big sturdy box in the basement to use as a makeshift table, over which I threw a table cloth. The music was excellent; kind of chill and classic but upbeat and sexy (Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Dwight Yokam, Sublime, Poe, Buena Vista Social Club etc.) I got myself all pretty and hostess-y looking too. I had on a cute wrap top with a long flowing asymmetrical skirt, pearls, stockings and pretty Linea Paolo heels left over from my Nordy days. {Sidebar on the shoes: chocolate brown in satin with a patent leather toe (like a Chanel shoe), ankle strap, three inch slim heels, and cutout sides. I love them they are in my top three favorite shoes. Sorry, I tend to go all womany regarding shoes, babies and dogs.}
Anyway, the party. My one guest (Shawn) was wonderful, he was very nice and complimented me on my work, he also kept me from being totally devastated. We ate tons of food then we went to Alamo Square to take pictures. Then I stepped ankle deep, both feet, in mud. Luckily I had changed my shoes, the stockings were ruined. I laughed hysterically, I think I did that instead of crying, it worked better. We also went to the MOMA because we have a museum report due on Thursday in our art appreciation class, so the day was semi-productive.
In retrospect, the day was extremely productive, in that I now know that I love to prepare for parties. One of my life options may be party planning. I love it so much, I love food, decor, music, and getting people together. I don’t count the brunch as a loss because I really enjoyed planning and preparing it. I was most disappointed that I couldn’t share it with more people, I was really looking forward to a social gathering with my friends. In short, it was a pretty great party, just really small.