A Saturday Surprise

It is only in the aftermath of a party that you can tell how successful it was. For me, Sunday morning was maid-less and I was battling a not-so-bad hangover (orange juice! it is the answer!) and feeling generally fragile, having only been to bed at 7 am. So I crawled around, doing clean up as best as I could and coming across the debris of my party. Some things heartbreaking (a fridge magnet that I loved having lost its magnet and half of its contents) some things bizarre (why is there cake smeared all over the coffee pot and rice cooker?) and some things nostalgic (ah, look, that’s where I put my last glass of vodka orange.)

The party was a surprise birthday one and one of the most successful ones in that genre that I have ever pulled off. That being said, I was just the house provider, the real host (and mastermind) was my friend Apple, who wanted to do something special for her boyfriend, Rodrigo. The trick to a surprise party, I have learnt, is to have it in an unexpected location. Rodrigo was not expecting to find a room full of people with masks on (more about the masks in a bit) leap out at him in my living room. He might have been more suspicious if it was his own house. There’s my party tip for you today: location, location, location.

Anyhoo, the back story/lie was that Apple was at a do, and her shoes had broken. So she called Rodrigo (putting on her “I’m your girlfriend and I’m stuck and I’m annoyed” voice while the rest of us tried not to giggle)  and asked him to pick up a pair of shoes from my house. I greeted him with my best “It’s about time! I was just about to leave.” Impromptu acting is clearly my forte. Then he stayed a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time just talking to me, his hand on the doorknob, while I smiled and nodded and willed him to just OPEN THE DAMN DOOR ALREADY BEFORE SOMEONE LAUGHS AND GIVES IT AWAY. And finally, when I thought all this impromptu acting was going to burn a hole in my brain, he opened the door and “SURPRISE!” was yelled so loudly, I’m sure everyone in the neighbourhood heard it. Sadly, I missed the “surprise” face because I was standing behind him, but there were lots of photos and I think I pieced them together.

Oh yeah, the masks. So, Apple decided to print out a bunch of pictures of Rodrigo’s face and cut them out, mask style for people to hold up. What it must have been like for him to enter a room with more hims I can’t imagine. In the party aftermath though, I find his face everywhere, and it is a little disconcerting. Although, he’s now my coaster, which is oddly cool.

I figure in the universal scheme of things there are hosts and there are guests. I am one of life’s hosts. There is no feeling that gives me greater joy than a room full of people enjoying themselves in my house. I like to step away from the socialising for a couple of seconds and survey what I have wrought. I like people to be having a good time, everyone drinking and chatting, no one sitting alone and bored in a corner. I do love parties, aftermaths? Not so much.

And speaking of after parties, and parties in general, Confessions Of A Listmaniac is launching in Bombay this Friday (July 23rd) at 6.30 pm at the Landmark bookstore in High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel. I can't promise you booze at the thing itself, but we are all going out after to celebrate. Plus it's a good book (even if I do say so myself) and it's funny and you'll like it, I promise. Come!