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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'll run a shuttle from Summit from 7-9 PM?

That seems reasonable to me. We should probably note something about that.

Coming from New York

What's the best way for the NYCuties to get to your house?

Closest train stop
then how do they get to your house?

Caravan? (eep)

I want to post like a directions cheat sheet on facebook.

I am making a diorama on Thursday, and shopping.

things we need

i-Dog
Mistletoe
More cheap NYC Christmas crap
food served in stockings and what else did we say?
gift wrap to adorn the walls

HAHAHAHA

Those are the three groups that would cause the most drama.

OK, so I was at least discriminating enough to avoid inviting

1. Ex-gfriends
2. Underage girls from watchung hills
3. Dead, literally dead, people.

But the rest is an intriguing mess.

Wahoo!

What did you think of that alcoholic apple cider as a centerpiece drink? I just love the smell that gives a party. Egg nog can be a bit messy, and may gravitate towards Paul's shirt.

I think we have a lot of outdoor x-mas lights / decorations in the attic we can use. But we don't have a tree. :(

I definitely love the idea of developing a Dean Martin / Jerry Lewis act with the two of us. I'll work on my piano skills. You write punchy dialogue! Any songs you have in mind?

I don't know too many Jersey types these days, so you'll need to be in charge of getting the invites out. I'll take care of the libations / bar. And you're in charge of the playlist, of course. That can be done via burnt cds or putting stuff on my ipod or laptop.

The playlist

I also want to develop an on-going, ever-growing playlist for the night.

We'll worry about the Christmas tunes later, but here's a handful of stuff that is poppy, dance-able, and not necessarily "Christmas" related. In fact - they all feel "New Year's Eve"-esque!

Elvis Costello - "What's so Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding?"
The Pretenders - "Message of Love"
General Public - "Tenderness"
Marshall Crenshaw - "Rockin' Around in NYC"

We have to have one upbeat (sounding) Magnetic Fields song.
Maybe "Crazy for you (But not that Crazy)" or "When my Boy walks down the Street"

Here's what I want from this party.

I actually *DON'T* want a huge rager/Colorado Cafe/"Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood!" party.
I'm in the mood to have a night that feels like we're having a few rounds at an old Irish pub, talking to new fascinating strangers.
Or we're schmoozing with old friends at a swinging, jazzy cocktail lounge party.

I just think we've had enough funny, unique instances at Rolf's or CC or around Watchung, hanging out with people, that we should try to converge all those fun times into one night (with a little sprinkling of Christmas magic).

There's no reason not to invite Argiris to the party. There's no reason not to invite Asterios to the party. There's no reason not to invite Argiris *and* Asterios to the party.

I see this as a chance to catch up with people we haven't spoken to in awhile/meet one or two new people worth keeping in contact with.
And I'm sure it will be a good release from work/school/etc. and a chance to hang out with co-workers/friends/school mates outside of a pressure situation. Hell, I haven't hung out with Kristina or Chris since the summer.

And... if I can be a little selfish here, I see this as my last hurrah on the east coast (for the time being at least).

Ohhhhh, and before I forget - we need to do something amazing for your parents for allowing us to do this.
And lastly, I'll definitely be there the next morning to help clean up.

The real list of things to do.

1.) I do want to print up fliers. NOT A LOT. But there are people from work that I want to invite, and I can't find them on facebook or myspace, so this is the easiest way to invite them.
a.] Um, what's your address?

2.) We need to set up a budget. There's no way we're not going to spend money: food, drinks, decorations. But we should put a reasonable cap on it. How does 80 dollars sound?
Maybe Joe or Paul or someone might be willing to help chip in and help with the party set-up?

3.) We need to set up a menu. I don't want this be a full blown, sit-down dinner party. But we should know what we're serving ahead of time. My ideas:
cheese spread
fruits
assorted nuts
Your typical cocktail party foods. Nothing heavy in the stomach. Nothing that makes a huge mess. Anything else?
Some kind of Christmas cookie/candy selection?

4.) The liquor situation. I mean, yeah, I want to serve booze. Hell I want to have a few rounds myself. *But I don't want to have people falling down, puking, acting like a mess* Especially in your house - ESPECIALLY IN YOUR PARENTS' HOUSE. So maybe we shouldn't go too heavy duty on the hard liquor. Maybe we could have:
A good assortment of beers. (Winter Lager, Bass, Blue Moon)
Maybe like a rum-fruit punch drink. Something in a punch bowl, with a ladle and the mugs from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Egg nog? (non-alcholic or alcoholic?)
A non-liquor based drink (hot apple cider?)
Some sodas?

And I guess if people want something else to drink, we indicate that they bring it themselves?

5.) Facebook, myspace invites. I want to make those up and send those out by tomorrow.

6.) Decorations. Like I said, I want Christmas lights set up indoors. I want the fire going. We need to buy/wear really tacky Christmas sweaters from the salvation army.

December the Fifteenth cleared as a date OK with the 'rents.

PARTY ON!

Items for the day

1. It looks like the party will be on Saturday the 15th. I'll get my schedule cleared at work, and everything should run smoothly.
It wouldn't be a good idea to try to throw a party on the Thursday before you're trying to catch a flight. It would just be too impractical for you and your family, trying to pack/sleep/etc.

I know Frascella comes home from school around that day, so we just need to make sure we give our friends ample notice.
And also hope that we didn't pick a totally inconvenient time.
I would sort of hate for this party to be just you, me, the Malchow boys, Josh, and the 2 people from work who actually showed up.
Chances are someone like Lauren Selfridge won't be home for the holidays yet. But we should still invite her and anyone else we feel like hanging out with (no matter how far away or flaky they are).

2. I'm up for a nativity play. Can we jazz it up a bit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87wGHfAi17Q

3. I also really want to do a boozy Martin/Sinatra duet of Christmas classics, where we scat, banter, and ad-lib so much that we destroy the pace of the song.
"Oh the weather outside is frightful - "
"But the fire is so de-diddly-ightful"
"You know it is!"
"And since we've no place to go -"
What a shame!"
"Let it snow, let it snow, start a fire, bundle up, its 10 below, let it snow, snow, snow, snip-snop snoppity snow!

It will take 7 minutes to get through "Frosty the Snowman."

4. Ideally, I want our party to look and feel like this.

I think we're going to need to do a nativity play.

What do you think?

Slumber party is totally cool w. me. I'm pushed to go for December 15th (Saturday). I'm probably going to be in Chicago the weekend before X-Mas to visit my grandpa...
Of course we can try to finagle a Thursday night party, and I can fly on Friday and take that day off?

Slumber party

Will it be possible to allow people to crash at your place, if:

* they've had too much to drink
* the mountain roads are too slippery for them
* they're cool people

?

It's not like 50 people are sleeping over (It's not like 50 people are even coming to the party). Most people will be responsible (barf) and head home early, anyway.

This is just in case I get guys like Rob and Jeb to come from NYC and Pennsylvania, respectively, without having to make them leave early to catch a train or something.

Picking a date

The first thing we need to establish is the date for our Indie Christmas Party.

Here's my ideal picks (going from best to worst):

1.) Saturday, December 22nd
2.) Friday, December 21st
3.) Sunday, December 23rd
4.) Saturday, December 15th
5.) Friday, December 14th.

That 14th/15th weekend is almost too soon.

Saturday, the 22nd, is perfect. It is however, the most hectic weekend at work - so in order to navigate my work schedule perfectly, we'll need to pick a date ASAP. That way, I can avoid as many dumb conflicts as possible.