Party Pooped

Well, another wonderfully successful International Wine Bash concluded around 3am last night. Total attendance wasn't quite as large as we'd feared, probably around 100 people like last year. Only four broken wine glasses and nobody drowned in the pond. Special guests included Steph's sister and brother-in-law visiting from Washington DC (they didn't quite beat last year's travel record set by my work friend from Caracas, Venezuela). Everybody seemed to have a great time and the weather was absolutely perfect. The crazy dogs were sorely missed but our risk management strategy appears to have worked as neither has yet coughed up any corks or bottle caps.

The aesthetics were enhanced by numerous gorgeous floral arrangements significantly discounted by a neighboring florist, including an enormous and intricate creation standing atop a 3-foot-tall glass vase displayed on the wineglass table as guests arrived to the patio. The not-quite-kosher but very official "City of Chicago Streets and Sanitation Dept." blockades worked brilliantly in the alley. Although we're our own worst critics, most of the food turned out great and we appreciated lots of help with extra dishes this year. We DJ'ed in the garage until late, until one of the small but heavy Bose speakers precariously perched in a windowsill fell smack on the computer playing the songs, breaking it (it was my work computer...oops). Heaven only knows how THAT happened, after people had been drinking wine for eight hours. So the hosts and other stragglers finally decided to call it quits.

Although not feeling too spectacular, we luckily functioned well today spending all day (unless my waking up at 1:00 pm somehow negates the idea of "all day") cleaning up AND then prepping the house for sale--going on the market tomorrow (!). There was one fascinating development Saturday night in that a party goer friend-of-a-friend of upstairs neighbor Gayle is currently house hunting and potentially interested in our place; the price tag didn't scare her away and she's returning later this week with a realtor. So we're not raising our hopes just yet, but its a start. Of course, the housing market is extremely sluggish right now as many buyers and financiers alike are suffering their own hangovers from the past several years' real estate partying. There's never a dull moment around here, so we'll see how it goes!