How To: Throw a House (Warming) Party

Why, yes I'm 25 and still love house parties. Especially themed house parties. That are also house warming parties. For myself. 

This past Saturday I decided it was time to break in my new house with its very first house party. Since I happened to pick May 5, which was both Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, guests had three theme options: Mexican, Kentucky Derby, or Mexican Derby. I was excited about the possibilities this presented. Sombrero as a Derby hat? Yes please. 

I spent Saturday prepping my house, cleaning and hanging pictures to make it look like I really do live here. Good thing I had my mom in town to tell me to move everything slightly to the right and that I'm incapable of hanging a picture level. If its her opinion over what the little level bubble says, its generally best to go with her opinion. Love you, Mom. My dad was slaving away making his my garage all pimped out and organized and cleaning up the backyard in preparation for all of my guests to arrive. Good thing we got around to hanging my flag! I didn't even need to tell people that my house was the third on the left - they all just somehow knew which house was mine.

So you might be wondering what makes a 20-Something house party different than a college house party?

I mean, really. Cursive.  This qualifies me as an over-achiever.

1. It starts at 7:30 because I'm lame and now hate staying up late.
2. It has actual food. Well, kind of. There was a crock-pot in use. That has to count for something.
3. No one goes thru the dog door to see if it really is human-sized. Just kidding. Of course this happened. You can't just go around saying its human-sized without having someone test it.
4. It doesn't have just one theme but two because we're sophisticated now. Cinco de Derby? And yes, I wrote "derby" with STREAMERS in cursive. I believe this qualifies me as just plain talented.
5. Costumes could consist of a mustache on a popsicle stick. Or possibly a sombrero on a stick. Or anything seersucker. Even dogs wore costumes. We had a Bandito and a Prize Winning Horse. I'm sure you can guess which one was Brodie (its all in the legs).
6. Flip cup games don't break out on center islands. Just kidding, yes they do.
7. It requires two naps on Sunday to recover. Probably because I still woke up at 8:30 due to my inability to sleep in.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Oh and by the way, THANKS FOR READING! Did you notice that in the last week Mishaps has had 900 readers?! HOLY COW! So go ahead and tell your friends! Like Mishaps on Facebook, repost it on your page, click the JOIN THIS SITE button, share the love!

How To: Give It The Old College Try

I had a lovely weekend showing off my house and chatting with my friends - both old and new! One of my guests even came up to me and said that she'd recently started following my blog. After I got over my oh-so-humble reaction of people telling me they think I'm hilarious, I started recommending articles that might be appropriate for things she'd been going through recently. 

Of course, our conversation led me right back to How To: Find 50 First Dates. It always does. I told her some of the pros and cons of online dating, a few of my stories, both good and bad, and then of course, as I always do, point out that really its different for everyone. To understand it, you'll just have to try it.

I realized afterwards that my knowledge base was missing one link - OKCupid. From a strictly research-based standpoint (and lets face it, I'm still single - can't hurt), I decided to give it one more College Try. 

I think I might have broken some kind of record. If I created a ratio representing the amount of time that I spent tweaking my profile to make it as accurate as possible compared to the number of hours I was actually subscribed... Let me just put it this way. I didn't even last a full 24 hours. 

Thanks for the free ego boost OKCupid users. Good thing I am completely comfortable being single. 

See you Wednesday!

How To: Read Between the Lines

Inspiration stuck this morning after having a conversation with my bestie Brad over interpreting something a guy had said to a friend of mine. Not everyone is as lucky as me to have a best guy friend to turn to (or vice versa) when you’re faced with tricky situations over figuring out the opposite sex.

I'm overgeneralizing here, but for the most part, women read into almost everything. We can't help it. It's part of the reason we're so good at adapting to situations - more than likely we've already thought of it anyway. Men, from my understanding, are much more simple. There are generally two reasons behind anything they say: 1. The truth. or 2. Something they think we want to hear in order to avoid the truth.

The biggest pitfalls happen when one party takes something at face value that isn't quite what they meant the other party to interpret and you wind up on the slippery slope of miscommunication. So frustrating!

Today’s post is slightly different than my standard format, but i'm going to give you some insight into several fabricated situations in where miscommunications are MOST LIKELY to happen. Luckily for you, Brad and I are here to give you the rundown on what everything really means.

EXAMPLE: 

Okay, everyone at some point in time has had this conversation or some version of it. It ends with both parties ready to slam their head into a wall. The open ended invite. To go or not to go - that is the question.

Guy Interpretation: Well, I was looking forward to a night with the boys. The only reason I even asked her was I thought she would say no! Its not like we're even dating. Can't we just hang out a different night and not have to ruin Guy's Night?

Girl Interpretation: He asked me to go! But he did say he was with a bunch of guys. Should I go or will I be crashing? I really like this guy though and I want to appear interested in the things that he likes even if I don't care about bar trivia.

General Rule: If they have something specific they mention (such as a guys night) that sounds like you might be intruding on, suggest an alternate plan for a different night and politely decline. This will get you much farther in the long run than becoming a tagalong. 

EXAMPLE:

Girls, if you've ever been left hanging with an awkward "Miss you!" left out there with no response, go ahead and start following Mishaps publicly. Just kidding! But really, you should go click the JOIN THIS SITE button on the top left hand side of the page.

Guy Interpretation: What just happened? We had a great night, and I thought things were going well. Is she really mad that I didnt say "Miss you, too"?? I dropped her off 5 minutes ago after just spent my entire night with her. I haven't had time to start missing her yet!

Girl Interpretation: He doesn't even CARE! Clearly by adding my "..." he knows that I was expecting something more and still didn't say anything! I'm completely disregarding the fact that I just spent the last 5 hours with him for the fact that 2 minutes later he doesn't miss me yet! HOW CAN HE NOT MISS ME, TOO??

General Rule: Consider the appropriateness of the stated "I miss you!"s before you throw it out there. Generally, if its immediately after a conversation with a guy or, even better, during a conversation, you're going to get left hanging. Don't jump to conclusions that this clearly means he's anticipating breaking up with you tomorrow and is glad to be rid of you - that would be a very girl-like thing to do so just CLOSE THE LID on the Crazy.


EXAMPLE:

The dreaded Friend Zone. This is the WORST case of miscommunication. Its like quicksand - once you're in it, there's really no coming out. Don't get caught!

Guy Interpretation: Awesome. I asked her to hang out and she wanted to do something tonight. This is even better than I thought. I wasn't sure if she was into me or not but I guess there's my answer! This could be a fun night!


Girl Interpretation: Its a bar - the more the merrier. He seems nice enough from what I know and this way i'm not forced into anything date-like. Is it 5 yet? I could really use a drink right about now. My feet are going to be killing me by 5. Why do I keep wearing these shoes anyway? Terrible decision. They do make my calves look good though. But for real. Ow.


General Rule: The second the words "Oh, we're just friends" comes out of either party's mouths - Donezo. You're sinking in that quicksand fast. If you are intending it to be a date rather than just "hanging out", be specific. Suggest a particular activity rather than just going with a vague suggestion. You'll get an immediate answer with a simple yes or no and move on from there.

So here is my only advice for this week.

1. Be specific. Say what you're thinking. I think you should click the JOIN THIS SITE button and become a loyal fan. Just saying.