Election Night, My Style

What an election, right? This was, by many accounts, the most expensive election in history with the Presidential race costing billions and local races shattering records in the millions for hotly contested seats. Women and the LGBT community have made serious strides in election results. Colorado is now a top vacation spot for many for reasons other than the beauty of the landscape and skiing. I will say, however, that in my lifetime I don’t think that I’ve ever seen the country more divided or contentious.

But this isn’t a political blog. I’m not writing to give my opinions about the race itself though some things will be clear from the photos of the night and simply thinking about my statistical makeup as an American. I am a single, young, middle class white female who lives in Chicago and has a bleeding heart for children, animals, and the needy. You do the math and figure out which side I’m on and then remember that I don’t tolerate hateful comments, firestorms, or trolls. Play nice.

What I am actually writing about is the evening itself and what I decided to do with it. I decided that the worst thing that I could think of would have been having to work my night gig at the restaurant and watch the results while trying to give my best level of service to the few guests who would be dining out in a place without televisions. I couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to soak in the moments of the evening, which were so exciting in 2008. I decided that I’d better take the night off and better yet, wouldn’t I want to enjoy the evening with some like-minded folks?

So I did what any extroverted redheaded lady in my position would do: I threw a party!!

I decided I wanted a patriotic-themed event but I also wanted to keep things affordable and not get completely overwhelmed with decorating my entire home in Old Glory bunting. I think the touches that I came up with, mostly using what I had already, turned out great. I believe that the lack of money (or the lack of desire to spend it) creates great opportunity for creativity! We had just over a dozen guests all told for the evening and I think it ended up being a great evening. Enjoy the photos from the night.

What’s a party without coordinating cupcakes?

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Like the glasses? I decorated them myself, minus the one in the foreground with the stars. I bought stemless wine glasses from Target for $1 a piece and procured oil-based Sharpie paint pens from Michael’s. I’m pretty convinced that the paint isn’t great to put in your mouth so I made sure the polka dots were below the “lip line” on the glass.

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I threw them in the dishwasher after the party because, let’s face it, who has time to handwash a dozen wine glasses? Oh, I suppose I could find the time but it’s just not high on my priority list. The paint came off completely in the dishwasher. This, to me, is actually a bonus. You mean I can decorate a glass with polka dots and have a completely new glass to redecorate next time I throw a party? SWEET! I’m sure that the paint would have stayed on better with a gentler handwashing if you are sold on the idea of keeping an elaborate design.

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I have a lot of paper stockpiled in my craft supplies. I lined a tray with a piece of patriotic paper from a holiday variety pack and put a few other coordinating sheets under plates and cake stands to continue the theme. I found some red and blue treats to coordinate, down to the blue corn chips with red salsa. I could have really, really gone much more overboard with this but like I said I was trying to keep myself on a budget and I’d rather have better wine to drink. ;)

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Did I mention that I really like polka dots? In truth, I was so obsessed with the awesome glassware that I forgot to take pictures of any of the food!! I mentioned the chips and salsa. There was also hummus and veggies and chips and rice flour bao from Wow Bao that I steamed. The chicken teriyaki are by far my favorite. Overall, given the later time of the party, most people had already had dinner before arriving and the amount of food seemed appropriate as well as the wine (I calculate at least a half bottle per person for 2-3 hours and it was quite the long night).

Watching election results can be tense:

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Mom, stop worrying. That’s a bottle of water! What can I say… I was thirsty!

I told guests to dress in patriotic colors and look what happened:

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We ended up with red, white, and blue hair all in one place at the same time. This totally made my night.

Would you believe that I never got a decent picture of my election night outfit? What was I thinking?? I must have been busy with hosting duties or scampering about the party as the results started coming in. In lieu of an actual photo I whipped together a quick composition of the outfit:

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I wore my new polka dot jeans (yes, polka dots again) from Old Navy which are really just a cheaper copy of the original designer ones that some celebrities were wearing this summer by Adriano Goldschmied. I coveted them and now I have version that I could easily justify buying! My t-shirt was a simple gray t-shirt from Target and the cardigan is a basic one from New York and Company. I finished the look with a white bubble necklace from J Crew (but probably not authentic J Crew since I bought it on eBay) and red pumps. I kept my makeup classic with a cat eye swoop and bright red lips. I wasn’t carrying a purse since I was hosting in my own home but if I hadn’t been I would carry my Kate Spade purse that is a similar color scheme to the one I chose above.

Finally, last but not least, I came up with a patriotic manicure a day or two before the party that definitely coordinated perfectly with my entire outfit.

What a fantastic night! What did you do during Election 2012 and what did you wear?

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