Party Pics...

Okay, these are all stolen pictures, courtesy of Kryte. Thanks!

Clearly I have a problem. I need a bigger bed!

By midnight I was still able to recognize cameras.

But seriously, should I have invited men too???

More can be found at http://www.majta.se/Amsterdam_2/ Pictures 5 through 31 were taken at the party.

Seven 'oh one

Seven o'clock, plus a minute. Oh good golly, gosh oh darn. [read as: holy fucking God damn shit!] Gee willickiers [nevermind] it's good to get rid of my friends!

I couldn't have asked for more. I'm convinced all my guests had fun! I know they did. The apartment is not quite destroyed. The last welcome guests left around 6am, and the last bodies got booted out with the first transit at seven o'clock. I marked the moment by running to the kitchen and noting the clock. 7:01. Not bad. And now... I'm tired. I have to check my Baron and then go to sleep.

Party Day

Just hours to go, and the place is in chaos. Everything has a place and purpose, but nothing is there yet nor doing it yet. The groceries just arrived. I think I'm lacking juice. I could have sworn I intended to buy 3 orange juices but seem to have only one. And I still have to push aside the weights in the "fitness room" for party-goer overflow. Hopefully, any way.

I think I've thought of everything... for the party. It's about all I've been thinking about for days now. So is it any surprise, that aside from cheese and crackers I have no food to eat? Peanut butter and jam sammies for lunch. At least until the pizza place opens. And coffee, of course. I stopped at Starbucks last week and bought a selection of beans.

But now, there's a selection of coffee grindings sitting around the grinder. That and so much more needs to be attended to. Like vacuuming. The whole cleaning process started days ago with the vacuum cleaner. And today it will end with it. Everything has been moved and dusted and such, such that now it's time to clean the floor again.

There will be pictures afterwards. For now, the recycling must go out, it's using half-a-guest worth of space. Then, a thousand other tasks to prepare before my nice Saturday night at home. ;-)

Party Update

Hosting is fun! It really is. I never used to think that, but past friends have taught me how to organize a party. I've taken their teachings, adding in a bit of process engineering, and I think I have the plans for a party that runs itself.

I see myself cleaning glasses a few times through the night... but that should be it.

Adam loves to bake, and I'm afraid of ovens, so he's volunteered to put fresh french bread in the oven every hour or two. (They sell semi-baked bread here.) And he's offered to bake a batch of his (from scratch) brownies. My apartment is going to smell incredible!

The beer is sourced and cooled. The fridge is full. There's some air space in there, but I don't think the shelves can take the weight of another row of bottles. And the three spare cases (cooling) on the balcony are sorted so that each case contains a mix of the three beer varieties. Grolsch, Heineken and Brand will all be available all night.

The liquor stock in the bar would make a Kennedy proud. (Mental note, need more mix.)

Music will play when ever diving videos aren't. And anyone will be welcome to select the next song from the list of thousands available.

Last weekend I spent a bit on chairs. Nice ones! But I'm expecting mostly standing. Especially around the dining room table which will be packed with foods and drink.

Down the hall the bathroom and water closet are spotless. It took until 10pm last night, but every inch is shiny and clean. (Totally opposite to Sunday morning no doubt.) And I'll be leaving the bucket and cleaning supplies near by. "Accidents happen. There's the bucket, clean it up."

I'm very excited by how many people are coming! I really hope everyone has as much fun partying as I'm having planning. My only last concern... does anyone know where you can buy ice in Holland???

T-Minus Eight Days and I'm Getting Excited!

I don't throw many parties. So far, I've had two. But they were both really a lot of fun! And so I'm getting really excited that my next party is only eight days away.

In preparation I've just tried grocery shopping over the web for the first time. Albert Hein, the Dutch grocery monopoly, has a thuisbezord (home delivery) service. My 8 cases of beer, 7 bottles of wine, and 8 litres of cola will be delivered tomorrow between 11am and 1pm! And all delivered for a scant 7 Euros.

Considering the alternative is to make approximately 5 heavily laden trips to the local store 1km away, seven euros is nothing!

Next week I'll go for the walk and pick up a selection of cheeses, crackers, chips and such. But for now the idea of someone bringing 160 kg of beer to my door tickles me!

But the liquids are by no means the bulk of the planning. I'm convinced that an inexperienced host could invite a hundred people and get ten. So chasing and following up with all my friends to get their RSVP information is important. And so far people are enthusiastic. Indeed, I think I've had more people added to the invite list than those who have said they can't attend.

I suppose that means my next problem is chairs. So far I own, one. I can either devise a time sharing system so that each of the 50 guests gets a chance to sit, or I can take this week and borrow a lot of chairs.

If you see me in the city this week, I'll probably be walking around cafes saying things like," Pardon me, is this chair free?"