"Wine" & Cheese Party and Cutthroat Bingo

Before you say, "Wait, Ashley... aren't you Mormon? You don't drink wine, right?" let me clarify that this little party I went to last week was in fact a Mormon-style Wine and Cheese Party. In other words, the "wine" portion of the party consisted of fresh-squeezed grapes. Yep, we know how to party. No alcohol needed.

A couple ladies in my ward put this together, and I wanted to record it here on the good ol' blog so I can remember it and carry on the tradition when I move to a new ward in a year or two. Everybody brings sample cubes of their favorite cheese and then we all sip our "wine" while tasting cheeses and cleansing our palettes with apples and bread. I felt so fancy.

And yes, those are shot-sized party cups.

Little Miss Chubby Cheeks was pretty chill the whole time.

Note to self: do the party at the end of summer during grape season so it can be held outdoors (garden party style) and we can maybe dress fancy if we want to, as if we're all going to a real wine gallery. Plus, it will make for better pictures than in a church building.

In addition to the food, we played a competitive form of bingo. I think I'll call it "Cutthroat Bingo" and it's actually tons of fun.



Via

Cutthroat Bingo: Rules

1) Every player brings a cutely-wrapped $5-$10 present (the cuter it's wrapped, the more it gets fought over), and all presents are placed together on a table at the beginning of the game.

2) Every time you get a bingo you choose a present from that table... OR steal a present from somebody who already has a present. Yep, steal it. This is where things get "cutthroat". Oh, you wanted that gift wrapped in chevron paper? Too bad, I'm stealing it!

3) If your present gets stolen, then you just steal someone else's, or take a new one off the table. The catch is that each present can only be stolen once per round (aka, once every time a new number is called out) so that the stealing doesn't go on indefinitely. You only steal if you get a bingo or if your present is stolen and you don't have another. Eventually, everyone has a present in front of them and a bunch of stealing happens every time someone gets a bingo.

4) When you finally get a blackout, you open the present you have in front of you and you get to keep it. Keep playing until everyone has reached blackout and opened a present.


Make sense? It was really fun to play. We only had 8 or 9 ladies there, so the stealing didn't last too long, but I imagine with a larger group that things could get a little hectic. But let's be honest... the craziness is what makes it fun!

When we have theatre parties

Loud talking, hot dogs, strange t-shirts (a surprise every year!), and a chilly nip to the air.

Those things are what I associate with the annual Opening Social for the Theatre/Media Arts college.

And I must say, I liked this year's social better than last year's. Perhaps it was the sunflower centerpieces. Perhaps it was because I knew so many people and was sitting with the noisiest, loudest, craziest group of thespians, all of whom I have worked closely with on theatre productions since March of this year. Perhaps it was the Swedish Fish that someone brought to the party (gotta love red dye #40).

Not pictured: Lindsay.

Because she was busy taking the photo.

I'm a theatre geek. And proud of it.
Oh, how I love these people.

Props to dear Douglas for coming with me and sitting in the midst of a group of people he barely even knows. I'm sure we all seem pretty crazy to him. It's a good thing he did some theatre in high school and has been exposed to my world. Of course, I'm sure he didn't bargain on a wife who goes around singing all of Neil Patrick Harris's past 3 Tony Awards opening numbers for hours on end. Because that's what I was doing yesterday. And I made him watch all the videos with me on Youtube.

And I've been singing Seussical songs for ages. Before that it was Hello, Dolly. And my next broadway soundtrack obsession will probably be Jekyll and Hyde, followed by Little Women. Yes, I plan these things out.

Anyways...

I was cold by the end of the night. Sweater weather!!!!! Come to me!
And I want pumpkin cookies.
Thank goodness for Friday and weekends and the Holy War Rivalry Football Game this weekend. And then there's EviDance, which I have to go see on Saturday night at the same time as the football game. I'm sure the concert will be worth it, but all the exciting stuff in the game better happen during the second half when I'm back from the concert and can watch.

On that note, I'll say good night.

Um... since when is it 2013?!

Is it just me, or did 2012 seem to just fly by? At the same time, I must admit that there were some parts of the year that seemed to go very, very slowly.

For example: being engaged was torture. The wedding seemed ages away! I thought the day would never come. Not to mention that I didn't even see my fiance for a whole month prior to the wedding week, which isn't that long when you compare it to how long other people have to wait (think of guys in the military) but still... it seemed long to me! But the day finally came, and it was definitely the highlight of the year.

My sister-in-law had a New Year's Eve party at her house, and we literally spent half the time playing this game that she, my husband, and their siblings made up when they were young. All the lights in the house are turned off and the person with the pillow is "it". Everyone else has to avoid getting hit with the pillow. If you're touching hardwood floor, you are not safe and can get whacked by the pillow. Everywhere else is safe. You have to try to sneak from safe spot to safe spot without getting hit. We were having tons of fun... Were we all adults? Yes. Did we have any alcohol? Not one drop. It just goes to show that you don't need to drink to have a ridiculously good time at a party!

At midnight, we were out in the snow yelling, banging pots and pans together, and drinking sparkling cider. You can't ring in the new year without making a bunch of noise, after all!

Me an' my forehead wrinkles...

Dear 2013,
You have a lot to live up to. 2012 was a pretty amazing year, but I'm confident that you can be an even more amazing year than 2012 ever was! Oh, and I still owe you some resolutions. We can't have a better year than 2012 without making some goals, right? So let's get started, shall we? Here's to a new year!