As the weather gets drearier and the stores rearrange their aisles to accommodate candy and costumes, I can only think about one thing: the Halloween party my roommate and I are throwing at the end of the month. I love playing hostess, and anyone who’s ever thrown a party with me can testify that I can be a bit of a control freak when it comes to the music, the invitations… even the cocktail napkins. For my 22nd birthday party, a friend who was born on the same day and I threw a “Wine and Cheese Liberals” theme party. We crafted boxes of Franzia to look like ballot boxes, hung up posters of the Kennedys, and offered a delectable spread of organic cheeses. I even recruited a baker friend to slave over a batch of bleeding-heart cupcakes, upon which she frosted anatomically correct hearts, and which bled red icing when you bit into them. Additionally, I am such a voracious mp3-jay that I have transformed other people’s quiet gatherings into all-out dance parties, to the bewilderment of the hosts and the delight of their guests.
So, after sending out save-the-dates via Facebook and ensuring that no one I knew would be hosting a competing party, I have begun to see everything through the lens of this Halloween Party. What’s the best way to turn the upstairs bedrooms into a haunted house? Will Nosferatu be checked out already from the video store? How will we keep the cat from taking off her costume?
This obsession has of course followed me to the workplace, where I’ve been browsing Pinnacle products for anything party-themed: coasters, because even though my furniture is ring-resistant, nothing says class like a coaster beneath the glass; glassware for serving the pumpkin punch; and candles to cultivate a spooky ambiance.
I inherit my love for entertaining from my mother, who used to fill journals with accounts of all the parties she threw, meticulously recording the theme, guest list, and menu from each party, and taping relics like cocktail napkins or invitations to the pages.
As we enter the months of holiday primetime, chances are I’m not the only one with entertaining on the brain. Now would be a great time to break up the monotony of office doldrums and offer your customers some products for the buffet table.
To get you in the mood, here’s a clip from F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film, Nosferatu.
Acree
Creative Writing Intern