First, I have to credit the always witty Jamie M. with the title here. It was his response on the Evite.I started hosting the (nearly annual) BYOP pumpkin-carving party in my tiny studio apartment back in 1995. My seven closest friends and I would squeeze ourselves and our pumpkins onto a plastic drop cloth on my floor and talk animatedly as we wielded sharp utensils, up to our elbows in pumpkin guts. Over the years, there have been some truly artistic pumpkin creations. However, my favorite thing about the pumpkin parties is not the pumpkins, but sharing the good company of my friends before the craziness of the winter holidays starts its annual snowball of scheduling conflicts.
Last year, I did not host a BYOP party. I was reeling from the sudden death of my dad on October 13, 2006. My husband and I had postponed our housewarming party which was supposed to be on October 21 of last year. We were still exhausted and frazzled after spending the summer of 2006 renovating our 1952 house. My friends, Kristen and Allen, hosted their own BYOP party last year that Chad and I were grateful to attend. I have to confess that I didn't remember even carving my pumpkin last year until I looked back at last year's blog post featuring a photo of my argyle creation. (Check out the archive.) Grief does strange things to one's memory. I'm glad I have this blog to help me recover the buried memories of much of the past year.
This year I was so excited to host the pumpkin party at our house with our big yard! I made the music play list back in August and started planning the menu in early September. (Yep, I'm a dork.) The pumpkin party has grown from its humble beginnings. This year, we hosted 47 guests over the course of the night, ranging in age from six months to about 75 years. We all had a great time. I can't wait for next year's pumpkin party.
Valuable Local Resources:
Austin's Pizza - The veggie rolls were a hit, and jive with my vegetarian ways.
Wing Zone - The carnivores loved the boneless buffalo wings.
Premiere Events - Marisela Cardona made it a breeze to get the tables, chairs, chafing dishes, linens and a huge ice chest that we needed to rent for the party.
Ken's Donuts provided the yummy apple fritters. Ken's Donuts is open 24 hours a day at 2820 Guadalupe Street.
HEB grocery store on Far West Boulevard for the drinks, candy and myriad of paper goods & cleaning supplies.
Central Market on North Lamar for the veggies, gourd decorations and pumpkins.
