Joaquin, Pee Next

Some people do up holidays. My mother-in-law has, roughly, 6,584 bins of Christmas stuff in the garage that she busts out every December to decorate the house, makes about 50 different kinds of cookies, does a gift exchange, a cookie exchange, various dinners & brunches--it's what she does. My Irish friends have been plotting their plans for St. Pat's for months (although, how involved is that plan, really? Pour Guinness, drink Guinness, do a shot of Jamison's, repeat). A co-worker of mAc's does Halloween by presenting an elaborate musical on their front lawn, complete with full-on makeup, costumes and a rotating set, and no, I am no joking.

mAc & I, we do the Oscars.

What does that mean, exactly? Man, I wish I had pictures. I can not believe we didn't take pictures. You're going to have to use your imagination.

We had 4 TVs going: one in the living room for the main party, one in mAc's movie room for a "quiet room," one in the kitchen (for me, mostly), and one outside, for the smokers. We put out movie candy in silver tins that look like film cans. We created a centerpiece for the main food table, featuring a cowboy hat, a grenade, a microphone, a toy cop car, and a copy of "In Cold Blood." We literally rolled out a red carpet,and had an Oscar standee on the front porch to welcome guests.

The themed food turned out like so:
Brokeback Bacon-Wrapped Dates
Beans & Franks
Crash Cakes (crab cakes)
Munich Munchies (home-made pretzel bites served with cheese fondue and spicy mustard)
The Constant Gardener Crudite
Memoirs of a Geisha Teriyaki Skewers
Good Night and Good Luck Black & White Cookies (Oreos - the ones I baked were a disaster)
Wallace & Gromit Carrot Cupcakes (with an orange-ginger cream-cheese frosting... *drool*)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Funch (tm Therese: because it's fun, it's punch, it's Funch!)

Plus we had crackers with a meat & cheese platter, some Brie and fruit, chips & salsa, and, of course, popcorn.

David Strathairn smoking a cigarette made our sign for the smoking section; Capote and his cocktail labeled the bar. As for the signs for the bathrooms:
Hustle & Flow (no joke required)
Joaquin, Pee Next

We invited people to dress up and about a third of our guests did. The winners of the best dressed prize (a bottle of vodka and a copy of this month's Vogue): the gay cowboys, of course.

As for the pool, it ended up at around $280, which we split between two winners. Second & third place took home goodie bags of DVDs, shwag & candy, and the last-place boobie-prize winner (with only FIVE correct) got her own bag of, er, choice films... like the Hot Chick. And Scary Movie 3. Good times!

All in all, I'd say the evening was a success. The decor came out nice, the food was splendid, and Captain Awesome was on his very best behavior. For those of you who came, THANK YOU for making our Oscar Party such a fabulous event (send pictures if you have them!). For those of you who missed it, well. You'll know better next year, won't you?