Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Wonder Woman Complex Lives On

I've mentioned my Wonder Woman complex before to you, hence the blog name to remind myself that "Wonder Woman I'm Not".  Sometimes, however, the inner Wonder Woman wanna be rears her ugly head.

It all started innocently enough a couple of weeks ago during one of our Mile High Club Meetings.  We needed to do a full day workshop (Teaser - we are working on a really fun project that I can't share with you yet.  I'm REALLY excited about it).  As I hadn't hosted a meeting yet and my commute makes my home a little undesirable for our after work get-togethers, I offered to host the workshop day at my house.

Here's a little bit of inside knowledge about me.  I love hosting but my inner perfectionist tends to come out.  A lot of thought and effort usually gets put into the event.  Sometimes to the point where I've spent an obscene amount of money on specialty items.  Like the personalized M&M's I bought for my son's graduation party.  I thought my husband was going to have a stroke when my uncle was eating them by the fistful :)  Point is, I love entertaining and I really want to make it special for my guests.

Prior to the event I spent time thinking about what everyone likes to eat.  The best way to serve.  What dishes to use.  How to decorate my desert.  How beautiful everything would look.  Anyone else out there suffer from these delusions of grandeur?

I decided on my blueberry muffinszucchini muffins and fresh fruit for breakfast.  Lunch would be a breathtaking salad of mixed greens, chicken, glazed pecans, Craisins, mandarin oranges and blue cheese plus a selection of fine cheeses, lunch meat and fresh baked bread.  Snacks were to be fresh baked cookies as well as chips and dip.  All of which would be beautifully plated, ready to be placed on the table at the appointed time by the calm, wonderfully coiffed hostess wearing her June Cleaver dress and pearls.  The piece de la resistance would be the spiced applesauce cupcakes I made.

The reality?  I woke at up 5am to start cooking.  I immediately burnt a batch of cookies.  The second batch was at least edible if not totally appealing.  When I went to grab the french bread out of the fridge I noticed I bought one pizza dough and one bread instead of two breads.  "Don't worry" I thought to myself, we'll just stretch the bread.  That would have worked out fine if I wouldn't have burnt the only loaf I had to a crisp.  My blueberry muffins would not release from the pan and the zucchini muffins were pretty much a figment of my imagination.

At 8am (when they were suppose to arrive), my hair was wet and scraggly.  The kitchen was a mess and smelled like burnt garlic.  I hadn't plated any of the food and I realized I never did buy the chip dip.  What was I going to do?

Then the phone rang.  It was the ladies.  Thankfully they were running a little late and yes, they were more than happy to stop by the store to pick up bread and chips.

By the time they arrived I had managed to dry my hair (somewhat), clean the kitchen and light a candle to hide the garlic smell.

You know what?  Not one of them cared that we ended up eating lunch meat out of a package or that they had to assemble their own salads.  My friends weren't expecting Wonder Woman, all they wanted to a fun day with a relaxed hostess.

I guess I just need to repeat more often "Wonder Woman I'm Not, Wonder Woman I'm Not, Wonder Woman I'm Not".

You might also like:








4 comments:

  1. Your post made me smile. I have the same reaction when planning for a gathering. In recent years I've 'let it go'. I was thinking about it one day when I went to a friends house. I realized that it was HER that I wanted to visit with, NOT her house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I accomplished what I set out to do - make you smile :)

      What is it with us women? We discussed this topic during the day but didn't come up with any answers. I agree that I don't care what my friends houses look like, I'm there for their company.

      Delete
  2. I am completely with you! I want to be Martha... Before I had my daughter, it seemed like it might be in my grasp. Now I know I was kidding myself! I found you on nap time review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We really do want it all - don't we? Now that my "baby" is 15 my delusions of grandeur are resurfacing. Maybe one of these I'll actually be able to pull it off - Ha!

      Thanks for stopping by, glad you found me :)

      Delete