This is my favorite part of the party: The End. When it's all cleaned up, the table is free, and the house, inside and out, has gone quiet.

I love parties, but am really a very shy person who can't deal well with loud noises. (In college I used to take a book to parties, find a nice corner to sit in and peoplewatch when I was tired of reading.) We had a busy day today, too (went to the premiere of Shrek the Third, Erics company had hired a movie theatre for the weekend) or I would have spent my day catching up on my quiet -- folding laundry, sorting books, weeding.

I love my Hema butterfly-bunting. The other bunting is a clothesline, that I draped with pretty rainbow yarn and pinned tissuepaper flowers to. During the party there were other things -- candy, bags of chips, butterflies, little presents -- also pinned up and that we grabbed when needed. We had a craft project (watercolor butterflies) that we didn't get to, but that I was planning to hang to dry on the line.