My Dinner Party Timeline
I had my fourth Midnight Barbecue on Friday. It's been the smoothest one yet and as you take a look at my timeline, you'll see that it's not because I've stopped overthinking it. Here's what I went through the day of.
4:30 am: I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about all the things that I had to do to. After about 30 minutes, I decided it was probably best to work on designing the menus.
5:05 am: Pull up Canva to see if there were any templates I could use. (Nope, designing a menu at 5:00 am on the day of the event isn't last minute at all. It's always the hardest thing for me to do because the menu always changes. I guess I could still design the menu and plop in what goes where. Chances are I will never do this.)
7:23 am: Menu is done. I perch my laptop on the edge of my bed and I fall back asleep.
8:13 am: I call Tiffany from Pienanny and remind her that we were supposed to go to the store at 7:00 am. She assures me she would not have picked such an ungodly hour. (She's not a morning person). She tells me to pick her up at 9:30.
8:16 am: I pull up the playlist I created on Spotify and listen to it as I roast a sweet potato. (Yes, this is an odd choice at 8 am) I remove and add songs to my reggae inspired playlist that even people that hate reggae can listen to. I wonder know who these reggae haters are and hope I haven't mistakenly invited one to dinner, but decide it's best to be prepared.
9:10 am: I check the weather.
9:15 am: I throw on some clothes so that I can leave to meet Tiffany.
9:25 am: Remember why mornings are a terrible time to run errands in Atlanta.
9:45 am: Arrive at Restaurant Depot and realize we need absolutely nothing from there.
10:15am: Arrive at Hall's wholesale flowers and wonder how I'm just now finding out about this place. What have I been doing this whole time?! I show a photo of the eucalyptus silver dollar runner I'm hoping to create. The florist tells me I'm in luck. Normally they have to special order it from California, but someone's wedding was cancelled so they have about 100 feet of it and it's $3 a foot less than normal. I settle on 15 feet (which turns out to be the perfect length for the table). I pick up a few more bundles of flowers and gleefully leave.
10:43 am: I notice the sky is a bit cloudy and check the weather again.
10:58 am: Whole Foods. Last store run of the day. What is going on with these Whole Foods bananas? I'm not a fan of wherever they're getting their bananas from now. It's the most significant change that I've noticed since Amazon took over. Hmmm...snapper fillets are a lot more expensive than I remember. They have edible flowers though.
11:20 am: Start getting cancellations and maybes and immediately freak out that nobody is coming.
11:35 am: Drop things off at the space. Spend a few minutes talking to Goosby about the plan for cocktails. Send the menu off to the printer. Wait for the Roadie driver to drop off furniture from Presentime Rentals.
3:08 pm: Finally make it home in time to take a nap, shower and get dressed.
4:55pm: Check the weather. Seems all clear.
5:10pm: Arrive back at the space. Everything looks good in the kitchen. I start arranging bouquets and set the table.
6:10pm: Rest of the team arrives. I delegate a few last minute tasks. Check sound. Set up music. Check on the kitchen (they're sick of me).
6:40pm: Find out that Rocky, Will and Erika have bought their tickets to Jamaica after I mentioned that I was going to do a Midnight Barbecue there and I said they could come. (I don't have a ticket.)
7:15pm: First guests arrive. I become awkward. Invite them to have a drink and join in to kill my nerves.
7:30pm: Start to relax while still shuffling about to make sure everything is in place.
8:15pm: First course comes out. People are talking, eating, laughing and cheersing (this is definitely not a word). I take a moment to take it all in.
12:15am: Say the last goodbye. Breathe. Help clean up.
2:12 am: I walk in my loft and immediately log onto Southwest.com to book my ticket for Jamaica. For some reason the website isn't working.
2:16 am: Call Southwest to book my ticket for Jamaica. Midnight Barbecue Jamaica is officially happening.