Party Time!

It's such a momentous occasion for me to go to a party on a week night, you'd think I'd have written about it sooner. Apparently it was so exciting I had to take some time to relax before I could get the words out. Last Wednesday night as many Listen To Your Mother NYC folks as we could manage got together to eat and drink and laugh and plan.

One of our cast members, Rebecca Land Soodak, has a close connection to Union Square Wines. The fine people at USW allowed us to gather in their tasting room and, for a truly modest donation per person, we were able to sample wines and Rebecca ordered us some munchies from Fresh Direct. The room was the perfect size so we could feel comfortable and we were the only people there so we could leave our bags unattended and mingle without dragging our belongings from pillar to post.

The wine was unbelievable. I should have taken a picture of the wine list so I could remember what we tasted but I wasn't that forward thinking. It was also served by a super kind, knowledgeable man who also happened to be a dog person. I walk into a party, find the dog people, and instantly feel better! Sadly this guy disappeared before I could thank him and stuff his pockets with caramel**.

As you might imagine it's weird to go sit in a room and share a very personal story with people you may never have met before. In my case before our first rehearsal I'd only met a small handful of the other participants on one or maybe two occasions. In my piece I'm sharing something that I believe in very strongly but that is often scary to say out loud. Now, you do it because it's what you went in there to do and you were lucky enough that someone else endorsed your choice by casting you. That doesn't mean it's easy, though.

We have our second rehearsal at the end of this month and I think it's going to be easier to go in there and speak my heart because now I know a few more of the folks who have my back. I'll have Momma D's encouraging voice in my ear. I'll have Laura's laughter lifting me up. I'll see Mary Beth's eyes shining back at me. I'll know that Sofia is watching me with her filmmaker's eye and I won't want to disappoint her. I'll have so much more, too, from the local team - Holly, Amy, Varda, and Shari - and the national one - Deb was serendipitously able to join us.

I am the world's most ardent Monday Morning Quarterback with social situations. I cannot turn off the endless loop of questions. Did I talk too much? Too little? Did I ask too many questions? Did I miss the opening for asking questions? Did I listen well enough? Did I laugh too loud? How inappropriate was that one story I told about my dog? Did I? Didn't I? Would I? Should I? If only I could go back and change it. I can't. I can only hope that everyone there understood how glad I was to be in their company and that I can't wait until we meet again.

*I was too busy talking. I only took 2 pictures and they're way too dark to share. So here's a picture of cake because parties = cake.

**What now? Since Spoonable Caramel is a sponsor I brought a bunch of caramel for party goers to try. Michelle is a firm believer in letting people know what they're endorsing. She likes you to taste and she trusts the product to convert you to a believer. I think we turned a number of tasters into advocates last week!

***The New York City Listen To Your Mother Show is happening on May 12, 2013 at 5pm at Symphony Space. Ticket and venue information can be found here. I hope to see you there! If you aren't close to this show please check this site to see if there is a LTYM show near you.