Fiesta! Ole!

I am still wiped from our party on Saturday, but we're getting everything put away and back to normal. I have to tell you (as I told A.P., too) that I really should have been a party planner. Or at least a Betty Draper type who rides horses by day and plans awesome parties by night.

I used to throw parties all the time, usually 2-3 a year. However, grad school and a new career made it harder and harder to find the time (and energy) to do so. The last party we threw was in 2008, when I first moved in with A.P. It was our brunch party which was affectionately titled "Let's Get Drunk and Eat Waffles" (mostly because I purchased these awesome invitations on etsy.) It was totally awesome, but also over three years ago! Honestly, I'd forgotten how much damn work throwing a party is because of course I go over the top.

For this party, the theme was End of Summer Fiesta. We wrote this in our evite, "Let's mourn the loss of summer by forgetting it's the end and pretending it's the beginning! Join us for an end of summer fiesta! It's been a long time since we threw a party, so expect a comeback to be remembered! As always, expect great food, delicious drinks, and good company! Plus, there may or may not be a pinata! See you there!" See? Overdoing it. I made enough food for 40 people (and have a TON of leftovers), handmade all the decorations, made goodie bags, and acted as hostess/photographer. (This role never works out, so inevitably I take some, but not many photos.)

Here was our menu for the evening:

Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers
Grilled skirt steak
Grilled Tequila Lime Shrimp
Red Rice
Pinto Beans w/Bacon & Scallions
Tres Leches Cake w/Whipped Cream and Strawberries
Watermelon Margaritas

That's right. I made all of that from scratch...and for 40 people (we had 35 show total). In addition, my friend's girlfriend made this awesome Chipotle Mac and Cheese, which was killer. In typical Marty fashion, I was still cooking/getting things ready when people started to show. One day, I will have everything ready when people get here. It's been my lifelong goal. At least this time, I was dressed.

I also made a ton of decorations, including papel picado and some tissue paper pom poms from a Martha Stewart kit I got on clearance from Michael's. I also had goodie bags filled with Mexican candy and an awesome Pinata, which seven of us beat the crap out of at 3 in the morning in my back courtyard. Yes. It was that kind of party. And I'd love to share some photos of the gathering with you. Enjoy my craziness!

Homemade Papel Picado(Somebody discovered our wedding photobooth props!)
My brother, Rev/Rach, and B-Mac
Homemade pom poms (I actually had these hanging in the hall when people came in)PINATA!!Not gonna lie, A.P. almost killed someone when he swung at the pinata. Plus, he knocked over that plant in the background. Oops.

I know it seems like only Rev/Rach, B-Mac, A.P. and my brother were there, but I swear to God we had a total of 35 people throughout the night squeezed into our little apartment. All in all, it was a success...and good practice! The Half-breed Swede is coming for a visit in December and we're having another party for NYE. I already know the theme, too! It's going to be awesome!

(Photos by me!)