*Portland Party*

My first ever Portland game night was a .... success! So my house has become the "go-to" party place since it has a fairly large living area, and most of my other friends live in studio apartments.
Before the party I cleaned, baked, and sewed some new covers for the chairs in my living room. (oh yeah. just call me Martha Stewart).

Kim and I invited all the friends we had met in Portland so far, and the attendance was outstanding.

The first to arrive was Reese. That was my favorite, because he is so shy that I swore he tried to sneak back out of the house when he realized no one else was there yet. This guy reminds me so much of my friend Aaron Williams, that I ended up calling him Aaron about 17 times that night. I talked his ear off so he didn't have time to think about how he was the only guest there.

Next came Kim and P.J. These are my faithful Philly friends. They brought with them the games, pizza... and a measure of safety for poor Reese. Kim is the best person I know for making friends, and P.J., well, let's just say that he's the best person I know for ignoring the rules of games.

Enter in Brei, with her roommate Erin. Brei is one of the nicest girls I have met while out here. We were in the same night class together (before I stopped attending it), and she introduced herself to me so we'd become good friends. She loves to laugh. I had never met Erin before, but she was this pretty redhead who proved to be a killer teammate in Electronic Catch Phrase. I was glad to have her join the group.

Soon after followed Kimberly. Here is a college student I met that morning at our church's women's forum. She is a really intelligent girl who is studying web design and formatting. We hit it off pretty easily, and so it seemed natural to invite her out tonight. She fit right in, and made friends quickly with all the others.

Aaron soon came after that-- you know Aaron. He's my neighbor, transporter, and most consistent Portland friend here. He's a runner, and obviously came to the party on his own two feet. In the rain. He kept thinking I was talking to him every time I addressed Reese. (who I kept calling Aaron, remember?)

Matt was almost the last to show-- mainly because he had to finish watching the Oregon Ducks' game. Matt was one of the first guys I hit it off with out here-- he was in my Economics' class (along with Aaron). Several of the girls were drawn to him, and he showed some amazing panache for the game of Catch Phrase. (although he did guess some odd answers in a disturbingly quick fashion).

Last to enter was my roommate Katie, and her best friend Jessica who was visiting for the weekend. They had just returned from a day trip to the Coast, and were coming in wet, but happy. It was a perfect time to transition into Fax Machine, which, thanks to Katie taking a drawing class, turned into some brilliant displays of artistry.

All in all, there were about 12 people here laughing and cheating and bonding.
It was simply a solid, good time.