Good Parties Cheer You Up

I threw a really great dinner party last night and I am all, like, proud of myself and shit. I have been down as hell this week, thinking nobody loved me and I needed a whole new set of friends and I was a gawky social disaster who probably should retire to that book lined cave in Tibet I'm always whinging on about (wait, haven't I brought that up here yet?) but then, after various soup related disasters, I succeeded in having a really nice party with people I adore and it all went swimmingly. Except for the part where Jackson tried to kill my friend D's dog Earl just at the moment when everyone, especially the token baby, was arriving. That part was not so great. But everything else, including, if I do say so myself, the way spectacular food (squash soup, big salad, baguettes, selection of cheeses) was.

Who attended this shindig?
D the kayaker who is the most wonderful person to go camping with in the world, since he camps in style and makes fabulous food.
D my Michigan friend who has finally quit his horrible job where I used to work and gotten a really excellent job doing what he loves, yay.
J my best friend who allowed me to roast squash in her oven all day, thank you.
J my other best friend who washed all the dishes and is a saint among women, now she needs a new job too.
A, of course, who bought a fancy bottle of wine and was sad when she couldn't press it on this crowd of unregenerate beer drinkers, so she polished it off herself.
F & M & their sweet baby M, Asheville bloggers, very cool, and he is the easiest kid at a dinner party I've ever seen, by far better than mine ever were.
K my old college roommate, looking unbelievably chic and glamourous as always.
C the evil and unrelentingly hilarious mastermind of the restaurant equipment galaxy.
And me, your humble hostess. And somehow we all squeezed in around my dining room table. And the two damn dogs, who weren't all that bad.

I must do a shout out and mad props, hee hee. Thank all the deities for the glory that is Pabst Blue Ribbon. It is the only alcoholic beverage in the world which if I drink it, and only it, over the course of an evening, I will awaken totally fine and hangover free even though I was cheerfully buzzed the night before. Rock on, I say, oh PBR, god among beers, rock on.