(cross-posted to the Halloween blog)

I wish I was able to write a full recap of the party the day after it happened, but that would require preparation, motivation, and finished photos, none of which I currently possess.

If you had your photo taken in the studio, those should be done and up within the week. I'll post them here and on the Halloween blog.

If you have photos of your own, there is a Flickr group all set up – just upload your pics and add them to the group!

Before I write anything, I wanted to thank some people. First and foremost, thank you to James, aka Clown. He invested just as much time and energy into this party as I did. He spent hours on the computer working with the photos and creating the two videos that were at the party (I'll go into more detail with regards to those in a later post). James and I alone couldn't have done everything, though. If it hadn't been for the hours of effort by some amazing friends, none of this would have happened on time or even at all. Thank you so much to Jess, Todd, Baby James, and Hilly for putting in so much effort over the last few months. More thanks go out to Marc, Eric, Dave and Carolina for helping out over the last couple of weeks too! And thanks to Dave (and James and Jess) for designing the T-shirts to help raise money. Am I forgetting anyone? God, I hope not. Thank you so much for all of the work you put in for no other reason other than just being good friends. I'm blessed.

I plan on posting some photos of the props and a little of the behind-the-scenes in how we made them for the two or three of you that actually care about that. And I'll also show you what we did with the vacation photos you submitted. Not tonight, though. Tonight I just wanted to post a little by-the-numbers:

Number of tickets sold: 100
Number of attendees: 88
Number of crashers: 5
Amount of time I got to use my taser that I bought just for party crashers: 0

Guests who arrived drunk: 2
Guests who arrived high: 5
Guests who arrived naked: 0
Guests who looked naked: 1

Time the party started: 8:00
Time the first guest arrived: 7:55
Time the first guest flashed her boobs: 9:15
Time the food ran out: 11:00
Time everyone got the munchies: 1:00
Guests who passed out: 0
Guests who vomited that we know about: 0
Time the last guest left: 3:00

Real Canadians in attendance: 4
Fake Canadians in attendance: 3
Real 80s musicians in attendance: 0
Fake 80s musicians in attendance: 3
Han Solos in attendance: 2

Age of oldest attendee: 60ish
Age of youngest attendee: 15
Apparent drinking age in the country of Avitopia: 15
Number of years in prison I could have gotten: 4

Costumes related to the Invaded! theme: 15
Costumes that went the obvious "illegal alien" route: 12
Costumes that went with a Star Wars theme: 4
Costumes that went with a Star Trek theme: 3
Number of guests who dressed up like me: 1

Total hours it took to design, build and create the party: 480
Total hours it will take to break it all down: 5
Number of days before we start planning for next year: 60

Oh, and I guess that I will share a little bit about the vacation photos. We decided to turn one entire room into a war room, and the walls were going to be plastered with "alien sightings". So all of your submitted vacation photos had aliens Photoshopped in, and as soon as I can, I'll post them so you can download them. Here's one to show you what I mean, though!

Original photo:

Invaded! photo:

Thanks again to everyone who attended – you were the reason it was such a huge success!

In six days, the following bloggers will be coming to my house for a quiet evening of checkers:

1. Miss Britt
2. Hilly
3. Dave2
4. Hellohahanarf
5. Sassy
6. I'm Wendy
7. Certifiable Princess
8. Kim
9. Libragirl
10. Bellaventa
11. Ren
12. Mommy Melee
13. NYCWD
14. Poppy Cedes
15. Angie (A Whole Lot of Nothing)
16. Hockey Man Dad
17. Finn
18. Karl
19. Floating Princess
20. Marty Mankins
21. Deb on the Rocks
22. Karen Sugarpants
23. Coal Miner's Granddaughter
24. Blondefabulous
25. LeSombre
26. Cheeky Sweetie
27. Turnbaby
28. Bubblewench
29. Little Miss Sunshine State
30. Faiqa
31. Sheila, Charm School Reject
32. Employee 3699
33. That Bitchy Chick

This list, of course, doesn't include the 60 or so local friends, spouses, dignitaries, and members of the royal family who are attending. It is shaping up to be a fun time, although hopefully someone will bring some box wine and Cheez Whiz because I'm only supplying Ritz Crackers and PBR to drink.

If you're attending and I didn't include your name, it's a complete accident and it's due to the fact that I'm writing this after midnight on a Sunday after working on decorations all day with Clown, Liquid, Dave, Hilly, and two other friends. All that's running through my brain are lists of things that need to be done, made, hung, painted, bought, and adhered. We're making real progress, and my hope of being done by Friday afternoon so I can visit with some of you who are in town on Friday night has increased from a 1% chance to a 25% chance!

P.S. I have been asked by a service technician, a pizza delivery guy, and a taxi driver if they can come to the party this year.

P.P.S. I said no.

P.P.P.S. But in a nice way, not in a "You don't even fucking know my last name, weirdo" way.

P.P.P.P.S. My hand may be permanently stained from using fake blood to create blood splatters:

There are six days until 100 people show up at my house to party. I think I need each of these upcoming days to be 40-50 hours long so that we have time to finish everything! Oh well, if I don't get a chance to get those engraved iPhones done for each guest, I'm sure everyone will understand*.

(Crossposted on the Halloween blog)

Halloween Tickets – you have until Friday, October 16th, to buy your tickets, if they don't sell out by then. If you want me to save you one, just email me and let me know. And yes, if you read this blog, you ARE invited – don't feel shy. You're not going to get an engraved invitation – just buy a ticket and come on down!

Vacation Photos – In order to finish the decorations in time, the last day to submit vacation photos is Monday, October 12th. After that day, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to use your photo! You don't even have to attend to be a part of the party, and I fully expect those of you who I call my friends to submit a photo – yes, I'm talking to you! And you. And you. If you've already submitted a photo, you're all set – no need to submit another one. It's those of you who are lazy fuckers that I'm looking at!

If you are planning on coming to my Halloween party in three weeks and haven't bought your tickets yet, please do so as soon as possible. I need to be able to confirm the number of guests with the caterer, and tickets will be sold out soon. Go here to buy your admission ticket now!

If you aren't coming and want to participate, or if you are attending and are a lazy fucker, email me a vacation photo or two. It doesn't have to be in front of a famous monument or anything like that – just a photo of you or you and your family out on vacation – standing in front of scenery, at Mardi Gras, on the road – whatever. We need your vacation photos!