sweets, sweat, and sweaters

We finally hosted our annual Christmas party! Well, I guess it's not officially "annual" since it's only happened once out of the three years we've planned it. Last year I even sent out invitations but cancelled it last minute. This year we had to follow through since we were moving, and we went all out! Festive sweaters and all via the downtown D.I. I fought with myself for a long time because I refuse to wear clothing from D.I, but the the stores and even the Internet produced NO worthy candidates for our sweater party. Plus, who would have thought for $5 a whole family could look so dashing! Once the first guests arrived I was awkward and nervous that nobody else would show up. No worries, half an hour later our TINY apartment was crammed with sweater wearing bodies. The blustery weather outside provided the much needed cool air, even with the door open it was extremely warm. Sam and I were sweating profusely but chose not to shed our top layer of clothing as the "dickies" worn under our sweaters would not have been modest if worn alone. We played an array of festive games. The favorite of the night was the "rip open the huge gift wearing mittens, hat and scarf as quickly as possible before the next person rolls a 4 on the dice" game. My younger sister, Kami, had no problem tearing the mittens, hat and scarf off complete strangers as she rolled the appropriate number many times. However, our dear friend Molly came out victorious, shredding 6 boxes and thousands of yards of wrapping paper to find the lovely gift card waiting in the center. Next on the agenda was the white elephant gift exchange. I happily sought out 8 or 9 extra cheesy gifts (many of them found around the house as I packing to move) in case anybody forgot to bring one. Even then we were a few gifts short. Sam and I buddied up in order to give everybody a chance to play. I am proud to say ours were amongst the most stolen items of the game. Kami, having no shame, creatively wrapped up a used nail file kit. The likes of which were probably stolen from my grandmother, many many years prior. Perhaps the most clever/cruel gift was the water bottle filled not just with water, but a living goldfish as well. The poor thing endured a few airtight, shaken hours before getting chosen. I originally opened an original Playstation, until it was stolen. Sam then foolishly stole some Wrangler Cologne which he would be happily wearing now had I not thrown it away. It was such a great night and so good to see everyone before leaving!!