Something I even ranted about on my blog: Hosting a sales party.
[cowers in shame]
Apparently I have been living in suburbia too long because I finally succumbed. In my defense … I got suckered into this by going to a party at Jo’s teacher’s house. How you gonna say no to an invitation from your child’s teacher, for an event held just a few weeks before the end of the school year? And then, at that party, how you gonna be the fifth person in a row to pass on hosting your own party?
I know. You’re going to grow a spine, that’s how.
Maybe next time.
So tomorrow night it’s my turn to be the shill. I was frankly embarrassed to send out the invitations and I mostly limited them to other mothers from the kindergarten class. But now that the party’s almost here, I’m secretly excited. I love to have people over and I don’t get to do it enough. It helps that it’s MY event and therefore my husband will not be helping with the preparations (although he will be on kid duty). Every other time we have a party or even just invite another family over for a kids-included meal, he gets so panicky about how everything will look and taste and possibly be ready in time. He makes entertaining far more stressful than it needs to be.
When I’m running the show solo–like with this party, or when I host book club–I go for super easy and I do not worry for one second “what anyone will think” like he does. These are my friends and if I keep the wine flowing, they will not care that all the food I am serving is storebought. (When our book club read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I served rice crackers, edamame, and miscellaneous frozen dumplings and egg rolls–and everyone is still raving, especially the woman who’d never had edamame before that night. There is nothing easier than throwing a bag of soybeans into a pot of boiling water!)
So tomorrow, it’s wine, cheese, wine, crackers, wine, cookies, wine, and cheesecake, with a few corny games and catalogs on the side. It won’t be that awful. I promise.
Photo by Swamibu.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Oooh, will there be wine?
Heck, ply me with a nice merlot & I’ll order just about anything.
Have a nice time!
But what kind of sales party? Tupperware? Lia Sophia? Or one of the sassy ones?
i’m with binky – what kind of party?
regardless, i hope it’s fun!
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
So what will you (not) be shilling?
The pyramid – I love it!
Most of the time, I’ll go to the parties. I like to eat and drink wine and hang with my friends, and every once in a while, I find something cool to buy. Pampered Chef and Tastefully Simple parties are the most easily tolerated.
Jewelry parties and purse parties, on the other hand – automatic “No, thank you.”
Ooh. Brave.
Then again, I’ve never been to one, so maybe they’re just fine!
Enjoy the wine, enjoy the laughs, enjoy your husband watching the kids! Seriously, I know exactly how you feel, but I really don’t think anyone cares or feels weird about getting invited to these parties anymore. The city is long behind us (no, that’s not me you hear whimpering) and we’re all used to suburbia and catalogs by now. But believe me, it took me about 8 years to get here! And if your friends are anything like mine, they love any excuse to crack open a bottle of wine with you.
What kind of sales party? That seems to be the question of the day! Hope it goes well, how could it not with enough wine, and hope you have fun!
When my old book club did a retro reading of “The Good Earth” I served Chinese takeout and wine. It was awesome.
Are you selling racy items you can’t blog about?
Wine makes everything tolerable!
Good luck and God speed.
Seriously, though, I had a Pampered “cook” party prekids and it was actually kind of fun. Shudder.
Love the pyramid photo. Ha!
p.s. yes we wanna know…sex toys or spatulas????
Hey, anything to have wine!
You are funny. It’s jewelry… and not of the “fur-lined handcuffs” variety.
I don’t mind these types of parties at all, especially because there is usually wine and yummy food. And hey, any excuse to do some shopping!!
Hehehe….
I so totally despise Pampered Chef and Mary Kay – but the sales parties I can stomach are Taste of Home Entertainment, Tastefully Simple (get a trend there?) and lia sophia jewelry.
I’m hosting a party for the latter on Friday night.
Hehehe….
I so totally despise Pampered Chef and Mary Kay – but the sales parties I can stomach are Taste of Home Entertainment, Tastefully Simple (get a trend there?) and lia sophia jewelry.
I’m hosting a party for the latter on Friday night.
I like going to home parties, weird I know! Having them, so so. Ditto to everyone else, wine works for me!
A bit unrelated, but I LOVED “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”!!!