Party Weekend Recap

Our (belated) St. Patrick's Day party was a resounding success!  I didn't take any pictures during the party as I was too busy mingling, eating, refilling drinks and snack bowls, playing Cards Against Humanity (I finally got to use my 3 expansion packs!), and in general just chilling with friends.  We had a good turn out and everyone brought their favorite Irish-inspired food and drink.  Our fridge and cooler were chock full of Guinness and Harp and our counters were filled with delicious dishes such as the baked potato bar, cheesy beer dip (made with Irish Cheddar and Harp), and chocolate stout cupcakes (the frosting rocked my world) that I made and Irish soda bread (the cranberries are soaked in whisky - drool...), corned beef and cabbage, beer bread, Guinness cake, and cheesy potato casserole supplied by friends. 

We decorated with lots of green and shamrocks.  S placed his creepy new leprechaun friend dubbed "McLovin'" by the front door to freak everyone out when they walked into the house.  The tables were all stocked full of snacks in addition to the food I mentioned above too - potato chips, pretzels, and peanuts were everywhere.  And the bar, as usual, was a hit with all of the guests.  Everyone loves their chance to play bartender!  Not only did we have games like Cards Against Humanity, darts, and beer pong set up, but S had a new toy ready for the enjoyment of our guests as well:

That's right, he turned our family room into a movie theater!  The 120" screen was a recent purchase that allows us to take the movie projector out of the movie room and set up a massive viewing screen anywhere we darn well please!  S had it set up in the family room to play British and Irish themed movies most of the night, but he hooked up his Super Nintendo later on so that those who were interested could engage in big screen Mario Kart races!  Future plans for this big guy include a pool party at our friend's house over the summer with a Jaws viewing...  dah dum!

The last few guests left around 4 am and our final guest didn't wind up leaving until 5 am!  Now that's what I call a successful party!  Everyone said they were stuffed and had a good time, which is all we can ask for.  As for the aftermath, we obviously slept in quite late on Sunday and were more than a little exhausted. Cleanup was pretty easy but we have a LOT of beer bottles overflowing from our recycling bin , which is just begging to be taken to the recycling center.  And we will be eating left over baked potatoes for at least the next week (we may have overestimated on those).  I'm planning to mix it up a bit later this week though and give some twice baked potatoes a try too (this or maybe this?)!  Also contemplating maybe a soup or some potato croquettes...