I am a bit of a planner. No gasps of surprise? That’s why I am somewhat reluctant to relay the details of our Christmas party last December. It was not up to Rachel standards thanks to circumstances beyond our control, within our control, and out of control.

Prep began for our shindig in a typical fashion. I created invites. Jason reserved a venue. I sent invites out. Jason ordered catering. I bought a new photography background for juvenile yet jolly shots. We purchased gifts of the white and grey elephant variety. All seemed to be proceeding according to plan.

Then, a family event we couldn’t miss got moved to the afternoon of our party… and I decided at the last minute to give all attendees handwritten personalized notes of appreciation. I strongly believe you should never leave those in your life in doubt of their meaningful impact; it’s part of my live-without-regrets philosophy. Though it would seem I’m now regretting my incorrect assumption about the time it would take to create these notes. Putting pen to paper isn’t a cursory task- few of us would know anything about that these days.

Between our unexpected familial obligations and my verbose cards, we were ten minutes late to our own party and had to have guests help us cart in food and other supplies. That’s small compensation for a free meal though, right? We dined on Greek cuisine and French pastries. Merry Mediterranean!

Per tradition, I took Christmas candids of any attendees that wanted them. The process took much longer than it should have. I guess guests were too excited about immortalizing all of their holiday hideousness.

The venue we rented this time closed an hour earlier than our usual location. With our late start and the lengthiness of the photo snapping, we ran out of time to do the white elephants in a slow, chaotic fashion, the way they are meant to be experienced. Sorry friends.

To the nonplanners of the world, this tale of woe may seem like nothing more than daily life. To me, it represents an appalling squandering of my flair for organizing. Yes, it was our sloppiest and most rushed Christmas party yet. Spending time with friends and unwinding cheekily amidst the hectic holiday season were nonetheless refreshing.