It's that time of year again.
The season of no home-cooked meals, the season of hurried commutes, the season of constantly booked agendas. Grad party season. From the way I just described it, it might sound like a nightmare. However, with a few tips and tricks in mind, these few weeks can be some of the most relaxing weeks of your summer. Rather than chaos, you can enjoy free food, encounters with friends, and lots of laughter.
Coming from a girl who has been to fourteen grad parties in a single day once, here's what I've learned along the way:
1. Plan your stops ahead of time.
This is so, so important. Before each day of party hopping, lay out your cards. See which parties have conflicting times, and decide how to split the hours between them. When you have numerous parties in a day, time will usually be evenly covered. There will be late morning to early afternoon, early afternoon to early evening, and early evening until sunset (the sun sets at a later hour in the summer anyway). This way, you will be able to navigate from party to party without missing any of them.
2. Plan your meals ahead of time.
This might be even more crucial than tip number one. We all know grad party season means copious amounts of free food. Even better, every party's host is desperate for people to eat as much food as possible so there are no leftovers. This means that each day of party hopping usually ends in a full and content stomach. However, if you aren't careful, you might get too full earlier in the day; this will result in you not being able to eat as much delicious food at later parties. The best way to avoid this dilemma is to figure out what food is being served at each party, and rank them in a hierarchy of preference. If you know that there is a party later that has food you like better, save your stomach for now. If you like all of them equally, take smaller portions at each party so there is room for them all.
3. Grab a buddy.
It's so much more fun to party hop with a friend. It might get too hectic if you're going in a large group, but one or two people to hang around makes an ideal squad. A buddy will help keep you sane as you drive from party to party, and they make a great Google Maps handler as you figure out addresses and directions. Plus, you are guaranteed to know at least one person at each party--your travel buddy.
4. Look at the pictures at each party.
I'm referring to the pictures on all the poster boards and easel boards. Whoever is hosting the party probably spent hours upon hours making these arrays of pictures, and it's heartwarming to see countless baby pictures (and awkward middle school pictures). It's easy to forget what grad parties are about when all you can think of is free food, but just think: this might be the last time you see a certain person (or the last time in a long time). You want to reflect on as many memories as you can.
5. Speaking of memories, sign people's yearbooks and leave them cards.
The grad party is the most tiring for the host. They have to greet people all day and might not have time to address each friend extensively. At the end of the day, though, they'll be reading the yearbooks that they put out and opening the cards left in their box. They'll take the time to smile and think about each and every memory documented.
6. Don't be afraid of all the cake.
Eat your heart out. That's what grad party season is for.