Catching Up With Christmas Pt. 1: Lots And Lots of Ugly Sweaters

I'll have several short "Christmas catch-up" blog posts in the next several days, and here's the first entry. Appropriate, since I'll be writing about a party we attended on December first. Onward!

Our good friends, the Nielsens (pictured above), decided to throw an Ugly Sweater Party for Christmas this year. Ugly sweaters are an inadvertent tradition among many elderly and overly "festive" people, and ugly Christmas sweaters are in a gruesome category all their own. The only reason I don't see more ugly sweaters on the streets every Christmas is because I live in Arizona, where sweaters aren't needed all that often.

Nonetheless, it was surprisingly easy to find an ugly sweater...or two...plus an ugly sweater-vest (which are almost as plentiful as their heavier sweater brethren). The sweater I ended up wearing to the party was one I found at the local White Elephant second-hand store; sadly, it wasn't a Christmas sweater, but it was still breathtakingly ugly, and I couldn't resist buying it (for the towering sum of $3!). I had originally intended for Nathan to wear the sweater (since it was a man's sweater), but it ended up being too small for him. However, another friend of mine who had bought several extra sweaters ended up having more than she needed, so Nathan found a sweater among that pile that suited him (by which I mean, it fit him and it wasn't too ugly! He feels a bit self-conscious at "dress-up" parties).

See...Nate's sweater is pretty okay! His expression, not so much.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time at the Christmas party...in part because it was an adults-only party! This is no knock on my children (or children in general)...I also enjoy parties where whole families are invited. Sometimes, though, it is just nice to have complete grown-up conversations and sophisticated company...well, as "sophisticated" as you can get when everyone is wearing knitted holiday monstrosities, that is!

My buddy Lexi and her husband Lee, looking tacky!

The Robinsons were in charge of party games...they are quite the cut-ups

My buddy Tawnya, whose family just moved back to ID...we'll miss them!

The Allens and Brent Jackman, wearing sweaters in varying shades of ugly

Scott and Kelsey Tew wearing some excellent "old-person" sweaters

In more examples of "sophisticated" company, we played a few games at the party (including a "name that Christmas tune" contest). We also had a white elephant gift exchange; I managed to give away some plastic holiday trays festooned with colorful holly-berry designs (also purchased at the White Elephant store, natch). One of the hottest items of the gift exchange was (no lie) an inflatable tie that Nathan possessed for a short time, but ultimately had to relinquish to Scott, the party host. There were also several jars full of candy; guests needed to guess how many pieces of candy were in each jar. When there was a tie for one of the jars, the finalists held a "dance-off" (at my husband's suggestion, of all things!) to determine the winner:

Yes, these are adults wearing ugly sweaters, fighting over inflatable ties, and having dance-offs in living rooms. Maybe this did feel more like a party with "children" attending. But we had a wonderful time; it was so nice to know everyone at the party, and to feel comfortable and welcome there, despite being kind of weird people. The Nielsens papered up one of their walls with wrapping paper, so everyone could have a photo of themselves to take home in remembrance. It was a Christmas party I will remember fondly for a long time.

Here are the sweaters Nathan and I wore...together for one glorious night!

Several people at the party referred to my sweater as a "Bill Cosby" sweater...it's a definite candidate for being a sweater like his from the 80s or so! It was definitely ugly, whomever it belonged to! Better yet...it won me the "Ugliest Overall Sweater" award at the party! In the words of Yukon Cornelius, WA-HOOOOOO! I won some goodies and a Christmas DVD for the kids.

Funny epilogue: a few days after the party, I put both sweaters into the washer and dryer. My glorious ugly Bill Cosby sweater tragically unraveled in the spin cycle...the collar was hanging on by a few flimsy strands, and the waist was coming undone as well! I guess the poor old thing was clinging to dear life just long enough to win me the contest...then, it purpose accomplished, it gave up the ghost. Farewell, ugly sweater...and thanks! I hope I can find another sufficiently ugly sweater to be a contender next year!