On Our Way To Crazy

Last night we hosted the first annual Oscar Party EXTRAVAGANZA! It was a big success.

We had ballots, a scoreboard, fabulous prizes, lots of fun friends and enough food to feed everyone at the Governor’s Ball. If they were willing to eat pepperoni rolls and fruit salsa. Which they probably aren’t.

It was a hard-fought race with no clear frontrunner. Scott shot ahead in the beginning, getting the first three categories in a row correct and making us wonder how on earth he knew to pick The Blood of Yingzhou District in Documentary Short when the rest of us were so sure it would be Recycled Life. (Hey! Recycling is so hot right now.)

Then Shaun swooped in and swept the middle of the show, leading by as many as four categories at one time. But in the end it came down to Aaron and Jason, tied with 13 correct picks each with only Best Picture remaining. Aaron took a chance on long-shot Little Miss Sunshine, but he lost, sadly, to Jason with his correct pick of The Departed.

No one picked Best Original Song correctly, and Aaron was the only one to get Best Supporting Actor right. (He’s a Little Miss Sunshine purist.) Greg, who had a party-low seven right choices, was the sole correct guess on Best Foreign Language Film. Ten of out thirteen party people correctly guessed Pan’s Labyrinth would win Best Visual Effects (the highest number of right guesses for one category), and eight people got Art Direction, Best Actress and Best Director.

We had, seriously, so much food. Sick kids and sick spouses cut our original expectations of 18(!) people down to a much more manageable 13, but the food was already prepared. Aaron and I will be eating chicken salad cups and spinach queso all week.

The party was a hit, and we intend to keep throwing them and turning it into a tradition. Love me some traditions.