Boo

On Thursday night I hosted a pumpkin-carving and cupcake-eating party. It was a good excuse to get some friends together for Halloween fun, try my hand at baking cupcakes, and let people see how the condo is coming along (or meet it for the first time.) I was a bit overzealous with the invitations, but it ended up working out - I was able to scrounge up just enough chairs and work surfaces for everyone. Thank goodness I have a functional basement.

I enjoyed the motivation to decorate a little more extensively than I might otherwise have done, and buy things like cheesy Halloween table cloths and paper plates in preparation. Earlier in the week I visited a local farm to get some fresh honeycrisp apples and cider, and baked the aforementioned cupcakes. I ate one for dinner on Wednesday, and it was delicious. Frosting and decorating them was fun, too. Special thanks to U for the cupcake tips! People scarfed them down on Thursday.

I think a good time was had by my guests - and by me. I did take away some wisdom for future parties, though. First of all, when given the choice between apple cider, beer, tea, and soda, people tend to choose along these lines: 89% beer, 8% apple cider, and 3% other. They also don't eat much popcorn/pretzels/pumpkin seeds/apples. More popular: cupcakes, frosted rice krispie treats, and candy pumpkins. People apparently love sugar. Sugar and beer. Finally, there is probably a better place to store coats than random piles on the living room floor, but I hadn't really thought about it beforehand. Perhaps the guest room - it threw me off by being upstairs. Tricky!

Anyway. It was a fun night, and we wound up with an excellent group of carved pumpkins. Here are some of them:

Cleanup wasn't even bad after everyone went home - everything was spic and span and put away within an hour. I'm already trying to think of a similar activity theme for a Christmas party. Tree trimming? Wreath making?