Soup Party at my house

Every winter for the past 10 or so years, I've hosted a 'Soup Supper'.  It started out as something to do in the bleak midwinter, and  has evolved to.....a lot of fun.
Would I be so smug as to say that my soup party is the party to be at?!  Why yes I would (at least in January---in our small town. Among my group of friends.  lol  LOL -- LOL)
Okay, so I don't know if it's "the" party to be at, but I do know that its fun.   
I have a confession to make....I really do like to entertain....which is really puzzling because more than anything  I  love to curl up in my jammies. warm slippers and read a good book.   But I LOVE to throw a party.  But then I need my alone time, then a get-together, then a solitary stretch..... see?  It's a mystery.  

I belong to 2 book clubs which I attend regularly, so I decided to invite both of my book clubs, and their husbands to this year's soup supper.  The Lit Wits and Totally Lit.   It was fun to see them mix and mingle.  It was a bit slow going at first, as they tended to hang with you they knew, but by the end of the evening...and a glass of wine or two, everyone was old friends.

I had every intention of taking great pictures thru-out the evening.  We had 12 soups  (when I send the invite, it says to bring a pot of soup or some homemade bread to share---and then it ends up being like a taste testing of some kind) so....we had twelve soups.  Did I take a picture of any soup?  NO.  I did take a couple pics of breads.....and a couple of the handwritten soup label/descriptions.  And a few of my friends here and there, but no soup.  Not one.

The Handyman is a great helper after we have a dinner party....he begins picking up and loading the dishwasher , taking out the garbage, even if it's midnight when the last party goers head out the door. As with any gathering there is always some residual party stuff left over the next morning...all the wine goblets that don't go in the dishwasher, a bread bowl, a game left out and open, a chair or two out of place.  And that is where my house still sits--with the lingering party bits and pieces scattered around. 
I don't care.  It's a lazy Sunday at my house.

This is my living room...notice that it is empty.  And yet, I had 17 couples in my house, so that is 34 people.  Where are they?

Why do people always congregate in the kitchen?

And...there was a football game on the TV in the other room, so the men gathered there...for a bit.

Eventually, we co-mingled, ate some soup, mingled some more, tried more soup, ate some cookies, more soup, bread and...WINE or other beverages.

Then we had to play "Battle of the Sexes", where the women had to bring back the gold!  Last year the men won, and have been holding it over our heads every since.

THE WINNERS!!

(my bff bookclub friends!! I love them.)

(some of us are making the 'W' sign for WINNERS)

THE LOSERS!!   So shamed they couldn't face the camera.

(some of them even ran back to the room with the TV, they were so shamed)

In closing......can you see how big this bottle of wine is?  I had to finish it this afternoon!  Wine goes bad you know if left open in the fridge for too long.

(at midnight, I made Mitzi and Shelly pose for a photo op....I wanted to show how big the bottle was)

It is hard to pour if you're by yourself....as I am this afternoon.  But no worries (sigh), I figured it out!