INTO THIN AIR

We're having a great big cocktail party at the end of August.  My husband was all for it, but I hemmed and hawed, seeming to find a list of reasons to put off the party for another year.  Not that I don't like throwing a good party, because I really do. I live for summer entertaining-whether its a casual backyard BBQ or a seated dinner on the porch, I love all the planning and cooking that goes into a big dinner. But a cocktail party is another animal altogether. Managing an ever expanding guest list, hiring a professional caterer and finding just the right invitations were just a of few of the items which which needed to be sorted out ASAP.  

I noticed this summer that the majority of the party invitations we received were paperless evites. Gone were the classic hand written heavy linen cards with a jaunty seahorse or lobster motif on top. There is something lovely and classic about the look of a printed invitation but time was not on my side and I soon realized that my only option was to go the paperless evite route.  

I went to the Paperless Post site and spent an entertaining afternoon sifting through the summer invitation section. With such a great variety of styles-modern, geometric, floral, it was fun to try different fonts and colors with just a click. I settled on a pretty bright green geometric border with a whimsical font (think summer fun!) and got to work on my email list.  I quickly realized that my email list was a mess and spent two days organizing contact names and numbers. So much for speed but I reasoned that my holiday cards will be a breeze this year with my newly organized list!  

One click and my evite was off to friends-no stamps or post office visits needed. Paperless Post keeps track of my invitees much better that I ever could. I have an instant list of who has responded, which emails bounced and who the slackers are. If only the rest of my party could be so organized!