Monday, July 2, 2007

ok, i'm ready for the fun to start

I’m feeling a little frustrated. Bear with me while I rant.

Jesse’s friend, who currently lives in AZ but is from VA, is coming to visit for a week or so. Jesse and friend had the great idea of hosting a tailgate for the 4th of July Nats game. Naturally, I had to be involved in the planning. I’ve thrown quite a few parties in my time and I’d like to think that I know what I’m doing when it comes to planning these things.

So an Evite was sent. And people responded. And those people who said they were coming decided to take it upon themselves to invite more people (and I don’t mean their S.O.’s…I mean, groups of other people). So now we have a lot more people than Jesse, Jesse’s friend, and I were originally planning for. Instead of booze and food for 10 people, we need to accommodate 20-25. Ok, I can deal.

And then the grill fell through today. Neither Jesse nor I have a grill of any kind (kitchen or outdoor) so we were counting on a friend to help us out. What kind of a tailgate doesn’t have a grill? Actually, I can answer that one myself…the kind with only booze and snacks. I’m sure that’s fine for most people, but when you put the word ‘tailgate’ on an invitation, most people expect hamburgers and hot dogs (in addition to lots of beer). Clearly, I can’t deal with not having a grill. We’re currently looking into our options.

So, what’s a grill-less tailgater to do? Yeah, I don’t know either.

I just wanted the tailgate to be fun. It’s not that often that so many different groups of our friends get together and have a good time. I was hoping everything would be perfect. And I fear that it won’t be. And that people won’t have a good time. And what if people are disappointed that there are no hot dogs? My only consolation is that the drinkers will be plenty satisfied.

I sit here wanting to pull my hair out. And Jesse is just Mr. Cool over there..with his “Don’t worry”s and “Everything will be alright”s. Just once, I would love it if Jesse shared in a freak out with me. Just once. He’s just too damn stoic and calm sometimes (granted, I find these qualities quite sexy most of the time).

Who knew that planning a party would be so stressful?

7 comments:

Jilian said...

A - I have the same 'host' freak-outs. But ya hafta let it go - make sure you have fun and leave the rest up to them!

B - We didn't have a 'tailgate grill' either - so my clever dad used to bring some car part (maybe a disc brake or something), charcoal, and the grate from our regular grill to DC United games. Yes it was ghetto - but did the trick :) And gives me fond memories.

Did I mention the time it was pouring rain before the MLS Cup and we still had to tailgate. My dad brought a tarp but forgot the center pole - so we had to take turns standing in the middle holding the tent up. I think all my friends ended up sick :) oppps!

Speaking of the United - A 2 year old (maybe 3) picture of my brother and I has reappeared on the DC United website. We won the halftime show! Same day my mom's chorus sang the national anthem :)

Anonymous said...

Well, look at the bright side -this could be Thanksgiving Dinner that is falling apart. I mention that specifically because the last party I hosted -and will ever host - was Thanksgiving Dinner 1996 when everything possible that could go wrong did go wrong. I spent the rest of hte weekend in bed. But you should lighten up, seriously! tailgate parties are supposed to be fun for both hosts and partygoers. -erika

BethBB said...

I hate to break it to you, but Jesse will never freak out with you. I've been waiting 8 years for Bill to have such a moment of anger or a freak out and I've only seen a dresser from IKEA produce 3-5 seconds of something other than calm, cool and collective. And once my dresser was never to be fixed he calmly told me to buy a new one.

Anonymous said...

Can I come to your tailgate party, ha ha! jk! Maybe tell people to bring one or two things to the tailgate. I don't think that is improper. Good friends won't expect you to anyways! And for next time, remember my favorite feature of evite- you can click an option to where people cannot invite more guests :)

an orange county girl said...

jilian--about A, i know. you're right. if i stop worrying about it, i know that i will enjoy myself. i just have a hard time letting go of my worrying.

about B--that's not ghetto. that's creative!

thanks for sharing a tailgate mishap story. even if your friends got sick, i hope they had fun anyways. and that is SO COOL that you're on the dc united website. AND your mom sang the national anthem? it was a great day all around for your family, i'm sure! :)

erika--i'll try. really, i will. i know i should just let go. que sera, sera.

beth--i literally laughed outloud when i read your comment. i read your comment to jesse and his exact words were, "actually bill is worse than i am" which i don't necessarily believe because bill and jesse seem to be equally cool and calm all the time.

i know jesse may never freak out with me, but just once i would love for him to know what it's like to freak out.

an orange county girl said...

shell--dude, you are totally welcome to come. my friends have been offering to contribute something which is ALWAYS thoughtful. i'd be really happy if someone offered us a grill...

i so didn't know that about evite. i really should explore that left hand menu on evite!

Anonymous said...

You could always go yo CVS and pick up a cheapie grill for about $10. That's what my friends and I use when we can't figure out who was responsible for the grill from our last outing.