Glühwein

Last Friday night my roommate, Ashley, and I coupled up with downstairs roommates, Brandon and Darnell, and held what may become our annual Glühwein Christmas party. Glühwein (Glow wine in German) is a hot, spiced wine also known as mulled wine. In essence, the drink consists of wine and spices heated to just below boiling point before drinking. Admittedly, the first swallow of the stuff tastes a bit bitter and it's easy to put down after that. But it was an acquired taste, and I acquired me some 18 glasses of the stuff by the end of the night.

The party consisted of the four of us, and 152 of our friends. Both floors of the house were open with the downstairs apartment being more party-ish and the upstairs apartment being more loungey. We also had lots of other alcohol and a vodka/cranberry/lemonade drink in pitchers. The party started at 8 and lasted until about 1:30.

Surprisingly, the house didn't get that wrecked. The first floor apartment was worse than the second floor, but all in all it cleaned up quickly. No one threw up and nothing got spilled, which is amazing considering so many people were crammed into the space (the only real mess came when some idiot put a Fresca in the freezer and it exploded). With the exception of one guest who kept insisting I stand on the Vita-Mix blender to prove that it would not break beneath my weight, everyone was nice, normal, and friendly.

All in all, very festive, very Christmas-y, and very fun.