Summer Partypalooza 2011

Our annual slip 'n slip - crabfest - partypalooza was yesterday. It was amazing, awesome, fabulous and stellar, all rolled into one. I save money all year for it, everyone looks forward to it and Mother Nature has cooperated for the past 4 years (the ones I've been to). What more can a person ask for than great weather, yummy food and super friends? Love it!

The slip 'n slide. EPIC, especially when we throw some dish soap on it for maximum lubrication.

One of our guys woke up with this bruise. We assume it's from the slip 'n slide but have no real idea how he got it.

Crab table. I found ones that were reasonably price (thank goodness 'cause we got a bushel and a half!), and they were super meaty and large. Awesome.

On the left, we have the chicken fajita dip a friend suggested I make. Shelly, it more than lived up to our expectations. Well, that's what I hear, but I didn't actually get to taste it; it was gone that fast! On the right, a guest brought homemade mac 'n cheese with bacon, stewed tomatoes and Velveeta. I don't even like mac 'n cheese (probably because I'm not really a pasta person), but this was really, really tasty.

Beer pong and flip cup in the garage. First year, and it worked out really well!

A guest brought this super cute "sand" cake in a sand castle bucket. She actually took flip flop cookies on sticks and carefully pulled the sticks out to get the cookies for the top (knowing how crazy I am about flip flops and all). She always makes the cutest things for our parties!

The beautiful crabs. Yummy!

Me and a friend of mine. We've been friends since 8th grade, and her family comes up for the party every year. This was Friday night --- food prep time!

Ugh. Here be the kitchen this morning. Thank goodness a friend of mine did a lot of cleaning last night. You can't tell from the way it looks here, but she did a lot. This though? This is all me. And it's still not all cleaned up as I write this. Gotta save somethin' for Buppy to do tomorrow since he took the day off, right? Right.

We grilled some hot dogs for lunch, then I got sleeeeeeeeepy. And yet I still managed to have a wine cooler in my hand. Yes, I'm always exhausted the day after the party, but it's always 100% worth it. The countdown is on --- only 363 more days until the next one!