Big, Sad Parties

The Frugal Hostess hasn’t had a big party in a year.  It seems sort of stupid to write a blog about entertaining if you aren’t doing any entertaining.  But TFH and FruHubs have encountered a few difficulties that made entertaining difficult – nay! – impossible.

1.  Extreme poverty.  From March to September 2010, there was just no money.  At all.  Like, no mortgage-paying money, no doctor-going money, and certainly no good time-having money.

2.  Travel.  That all changed in September, when a brilliant twist of fate sent The Frugal Hostess on a consulting trip to Napa, CA, for three months.

3.  More Travel.  This consulting gig led to more consulting gigs and more clients, and The Frugal Hostess has been swampety-swamped.  You may have noticed a lack of blog posts on this here blog, for instance.  Which brings us to the present.

FruHo is back at home now for the foreseeable future, and the poverty issue has been wiped out (See: Travel and More Travel, above).  But there is another issue that hasn’t yet resolved itself. 

Big parties are an emotional letdown.  They kind of make The Frugal Hostess sad.  She’s not sure why exactly, but it has to do with all of the buildup and excitement and preparation leading up to them.

First of all, TFH doesn’t usually give herself enough time to get ready.  She makes a plan in her head, but she doesn’t start actually executing that plan until a few days in advance.  This is totally stupid, of course, and creates a lot of unnecessary pressure.

Second, The Frugal Hostess is a perfectionist and used to work in beautiful, luxurious hotels with comparatively giant budgets.  Therefore, nothing is ever enough, and everything comes out looking like less than what she envisioned.

Third, many of FruHo’s friends don’t entertain, at least not the way she’s used to from growing up. Most people meet out at bars and restaurants, which is not at all the same as entertaining at home. 

These reasons seem dumb, now that they're written down.  Is it crazy that having parties, one of the most fun things in the world, can also be a little depressing?  Has this ever happened to you?  Or is The Frugal Hostess a pitiful lunatic?

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