Hungover but happy

Yesterday's party went wonderfully well. More than 35 bottles of champagne were consumed (thanks to our guests for bringing more bubbly with them, as we'd have run out otherwise); most of the food was inhaled; and surprisingly not a single glass was broken. I'll be on dishwasher duty the rest of the day, but apart from that all we have to do is vacuum and mop the floor - hardly the wreckage expected after having 30 people crammed into the living room and kitchen.

I feel blessed by having so many friends and am happy to see that the three major groups of people (my friends from work, Heidi's friends from grad school, friends from Heidi's on-line community) got on so well together. A great time was had by all. Now that the last few guests have left it's time to sit down, drink a lot of water, and tell our stressed-out kitten that it's all over now and she can stop hiding and hissing.

I'm still feeling the alcohol, but one great thing about champagne is that it leaves less of a headache than, say, red wine. Because drinking this much in wine or spirits would have given me a splitting headache for the next few days, comparable to the Absinthe Incident from a few years ago, and right now I'm feeling queasy but fine.

Taste-wise, the winner of the evening was a magnum of vintage Italian, the 1995 Barone Pizzini; I'll have to ask the wine store if they have more of those. The pink Laurent-Perrier came in second. Beyond that, it's all a blur to me...