When Mama Kat published her five writing prompts on Tuesday, one of them made me laugh out loud just thinking about writing to the prompt (the one about when I have laughed at an inappropriate time). But random.org isn’t influenced by what I think is funny and gave me, instead, prompt number two: If you had the opportunity to throw a dream party for your closest family and friends, describe what that would look like.
Party Condition Number One: There would be nametags. There would be nametags because I have prosopagnosia (faceblindness) which would take far more than one blog to explain (although I started down the path in this post last September). It’s my perfect party, so there will be nametags, and they will be worn (please).
Party Condition Number Two: The theme will be “Roman Holiday.” There will be food and drinks (including non alcoholic versions) prepared by Velva from Tomatoes on the Vine, such as this concoction:
Party Condition Number Three: One of the scads of talented photographers I know such as Jacob Abrams (pictured below) will be there to take photo-journalism style pictures so we will have the memories far into the future and I won’t have to spend the whole night thinking “gotta get this so I can put it on Facebook”!
Party Condition Number Four: If the party is at my house, it will have been professionally cleaned (inside) and landscaped (outside) in advance. Oh, and decorated too. That’s not my forte.
Party Condition Number Five: Under the pretense of “entertainment,” I will assemble everyone to watch an entertaining short film about Rome (a film I will have arranged for one of the scads of talented young filmmakers I know to make). BUT, the purpose of the film will actually be
to surprise my wonderful mother-in-law, Barb, with the news that she is scheduled to go on her fantasy trip to Rome, at no cost to her!
Party Conditions Number Six and Seven: Someone will foot the bill for this fantasy trip to Rome (and the Roman Holiday Party) and I will be part of the contingent going to Rome with her. I used to say, “it doesn’t matter who goes as long as Barb gets to go to Rome” (this has been a dream of hers for a long time) but now that my appetite for international travel has been stirred by my July trip to Guatemala, I want to be one of her travel companions.

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
Sounds like a great party… can I come? I like the way you laid out all of your conditions to give the feel of the party.
Stopping by from Mama Kat's.
What an awesome party! That was the one prompt I thought would be hard to write about (I don't know why, because it should be easy). I love how you make your MIL's dream come true! If only it were a real party…now you have a great goal!
You just to need conceptualize to actualize. I see another journey in your future.
I would love to host your party. Thanks for the shout out.
Velva
Can I be invited to your party?? Really. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun!
I've never planned a party at my house, but would likely use some of the conditions that you outlined in your post, especially the one about hiring a professional cleaning service.
LOVE IT! Can I come??? When you find a reasonably priced crew who will clean your house and yard up inside/out, LET ME KNOW!