What started off several years ago with just my brother’s family has now turned into a real gathering of friends, bosom buddies and some not so bosom.
Even I, the ultimate party girl, have no idea how to seat 16 people in a way that they can all converse with each other. A pet peeve of mine that dates back to my Sweet Sixteen when I couldn’t talk to anyone but the girls on either side of me at the party. And I saw 16 a long, long time ago.
That said, I hate sitting in a booth in a restaurant, I hate squares and I hate those long things they call banquet tables. I hate the fact that I can’t entertain everyone in the round not just the people across from me. Thus, faced with 16 guests, I’m at a loss. The largest round table I can rent only seats 12—and that’s with chairs for thin people; really thin people. If I make a square out of two 8’ tables, with four on a side, it’s so big that when someone says, “pass the turkey”—the poor schlub whose job it is will think they are lifting weights at the neighborhood gym.
So the bottom line is I’m going to have all these people at my house, and I’ll have to play musical chairs to feel the good hostess. Doesn’t seem fair but then I could be the 16# turkey that went to the chopping block. Ugh.
Happy Thanksgiving.
The Party Girl
