For the rest of us, cheers!

The surprise-you-no-longer-have-braces party went rather well. I like to think of myself as a good host, able to pull off a party when desired, and last night was no exception. I can't even imagine how it would have gone at my parent's house, which, along with the Chiarizio's, was in the running for a 'venue'. But the small apartment had a nice feel: very personal and seemed to spark a lot of good conversations. It was something of a milestone for this group of friends. We've never all gotten together for a party with alcohol, where everyone drank a little (or a lot, not naming any names). And I think the alcohol helped ease the awkwardness of not seeing each other as much as once before. It seemed to bring everyone to a happy medium; to a place we'd all want to be anyway. To those of you who are naturally un-awkward (natural naturals), I salute you. For the rest of us, cheers! Part of me wants to add 'sadly' to all of this - sadly, alcohol helped eased the awkwardness; everyone seemed to hit it off like old times - sadly, alcohol had a lot to do with this, etc. But I don't really think it is sad. Alcohol's got to be good for something, right? Anyway, thank you one and all for making Emily's great day - she found us an apartment! - even better.