Estrogenfest!

Every year, sometimes several times a year, my SIL LJ hosts a party celebrating good girl friends. It's a night to just socialize as women and share yummy treats. The highlight (for me anyways) is the gift exchange. So after chomping down on delicious appetizer-type food and playing a quick icebreaker involving putting together food puzzles with conversational topics on the back, we headed in to the living room for the gift exchange. I had brought five gifts. I hail E-Fest as my chance to get rid of "junk". LJ puts in the invites that it can be gently used things you don't want, like a lotion you're not a fan of the scent or a purse you barely used and don't need any more. This year I decided to be a little silly and included THREE count 'em THREE sets of these odd colored windchimes that my Grandpa got at an auction sale. Everyone was laughing at the poor gal who opened them.

Oh, I should go over the rules, because they're a little different than other white elephant exchanges I've experienced. So all the gifts go in the middle, and a couple of pairs of dice are sent around the circle. In the first round, you roll the dice and if you get doubles, you get to take a present from the middle. The dice keep going around and around until all the presents are claimed. Then you unwrap the presents you chose and put them in front of you. Next we go around and show off what we unwrapped, and people secretly decide which items they'd like to "steal". Then the dice go back around (with a secret timer this time). If you get doubles this time, you get to steal any item you want (and you don't have to trade with the person, just take the item and add it in front of you). THEN, lastly, when the timer goes off, if anyone is left without a present in front of her, she gets to choose any gift she wants to take.

So, you can see that Estrogenfests are really the place to be. LJ is an excellent host and I've gotten to know many ladies from this event. One thing I learned at this particular Efest is that I'm having trouble finding my identity apart from MVJ. I had trouble having a conversation that didn't revolve around her and when people asked about me, I could only answer with things about MVJ. I'm not complaining, but I just found it interesting. MVJ, by the way, wasn't going to miss out on her first Estrogenfest. She stayed awake THE WHOLE TIME. She would NOT go to sleep. So, several times I grabbed her (she was hanging out with Daddy and Uncle AJ watching a movie) and chatted with her on my hip. Everyone oohing and aahing at her was normal to me... and took away the need for me to struggle with conversations not surrounded by my daughter!