And the Oscar Goes To...

March 10, 2010
Sunday we held our 5th annual Oscar Party, something we look forward to every year. We rolled up our sleeves to spruce up the place, then rolled out the red carpet to welcome fifteen or so good friends to watch the festivities with us.

This year's front runners were Avatar and The Hurt Locker, with The Hurt Locker running away with majority of gold by the end of the night. Highlights of the show itself were the John Hughes tribute and the acceptance speeches by both Mo'Nique and Sandra Bullock, which all moved me to tears. We were also excited to recognize some of the dancers on stage during the tribute to the Best Song nominees, since choreographer Adam Shankman drew from the talent at "So You Think You Can Dance" to fill his stage.

Despite the fact the Doug and I once again set out to see the Best Picture Nominees (he managed to see eight, I saw seven), neither of us ended up in the running to win the Oscar pool and the coveted Oscar trophy. First place honor went to our good friend Victor, while second place went to our attendee-by-proxy, David. I think we're going to start making David actually attend if he's going to keep winning the pool. For the rest of us, it was an honor just to nominated (to donate our money to the winners).

For a new twist, we added and appetizer contest this year, and the players came to win. We had two fantastic chili dishes, Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups, stuffed mushrooms, turkey meatballs, sushi rolls, homemade guacamole and salsa, bar-b-qued ribs--some really amazing offerings. The competition was fierce and the judges were enthusiastic in the taste-test. Hands-down, though, Donny's unbelievable ribs were the party favorite and yielded him the $20 Starbuck's gift card for his award. It's no Golden Trophy, but it's nothing to sneeze at either.


With all that fantastic food, it was hard to save room for the belle of the Oscar ball: Donny's incredible Oscar cake, a coffee flavored cake with almond filling, specially designed for the occasion. I had no idea we had such talented friends!

As always, we had a wonderful time with family and friends, and when we closed the door after saying goodbye to our last guest, we were already looking to ways to make next year's party even bigger and better.