Holiday party in the ‘hood!

Tonight I had the absolute pleasure of attending my friend Lila’s holiday gatherin’ of the gals in the ‘hood.

This girl is brilliant; Lila: she is. She decided she was going to invite the ladies of the neighborhood over for an ornament/recipe exchange — chock full of appetizers, desserts and wine. It was JUST what I needed.

After the whole “feeling sorry for myself” day yesterday thinking of Dad and the day he passed, I was so not in the “holiday” mood. (Holiday in quotes because we had a fun lively discussion about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, etc. etc., damn PC!) But, tired as I am (man, I am ALWAYS tired lately! The season! I blame thee!), I came home from work and, instead of changing into my CCC’s (Customary Comfy Clothes), (CCC’s include pink squared lounge pants and The Softest Socks Ever that have frogs for faces!) I stayed in Real Life clothes, ate some dinner, and waited an hour until seven chimes rang (in my head; my chime clock is, in actuality, in storage) so I could head to Lila’s.

Oh, it was such a trip. To get to Lila’s, I had to walk clear across the front yard to her next-door driveway, up the porch, and through her door. Yards, it was. Literally and, er, in distance. Two literal yards; about 10 by measure. That’s 30 feet, right?

The food included: black bean cakes with cilantro dip, pineapple and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, hot (or were they BBQ?) wings from Hong Kong China, lettuce leaves filled with salmon and tuna, about 80 kinds of cheese (okay…I exaggerate: probably only about 70), Amish bread (made by hand, I’m sure), brownies to die for, and every kind of dip, spread and schmear you could ever want. Oh my heavens, it made me regret eating dinner before I came!

I gotta tell ya something, folks: the women in our ‘hood ROCK. I’m guessing everyone had to be from late 20’s to early 40’s if even that. We had the mix between Singletons (said with pride and love; not that crap that Bridgette Jones pulled with that word), the Marrieds, the Marrieds with Kids, etc. And it was one of the best gatherings I’ve been to in ages! For many a reason.

A) It’s the first Lila ever hosted — and everyone LOVED it.

B) It was the gals from the ‘hood. Seriously: all of us have either seen each other before (walking or running the hood, at other gatherings, etc), or are new to the area and getting a chance to know the folks nearby.

C) The ornament exchange, done classic White Elephant style, was friggin’ HILARIOUS. I think almost everyone’s ornament was stolen at least once or twice.

D) There were no boys. Which meant we kicked off our shoes and started the only-dressed-in-our-underwear pillow fight that inevitably happens when girls have a night in together.

Okay, D) was exaggerated, but it was a point of conversation that we joked about since some of those happily coupled had their male counterparts joke about the “girls’ night.” I can’t ruin the, er, (mis)perception of that for y’all. That’s what happened. For real. Of course.

In any case, the gift exchange was a smash hit! We had gathered and drank wine and ate the goodness that came for about an hour and a half and then did the exchange. I was particularly tickled that the ornament I brought seemed to be loved as much as I loved it when I purchased it. I was disappointed when MY first gift was “stolen” ala White Elephant style — a gorgeous purpley blue sphere with an owl hand-painted on it. But I was able to pick the “Tootsie Roll gift” — the last one under the tree and so called because of it’s wrapping — and found it to also have purple hues and be absolutely stunning.

It was meant to go on my tree, for sure. But it’s already found it’s place on my ceiling fan and looks absolutely gorgeous there. It came from the lady katty-corner across the street from me, and she explained her young young son picked it out because of the “sword” on it. Bless! :) This is it now hanging on my ceiling fan: Yup. Sorry, Miss Lila. I know it was supposed to be a holiday ornament exchange, but I just found a new year-round decoration for my room. :)

So, wow, I’m happy now because it was such a wonderful gathering. When you have about eighty thousand things to do over the holiday season and have to pick and choose what to do, I’m so happy I picked this one. Not only did I get to hang out with dear neighbor Lila, but I got to meet and re-meet all the cool, cool women in my ‘hood. Oh, and eat lots of bacon wrapped things. Because there can never, ever be enough bacon-wrapped things. :-)