The idea of having a going away party hadn’t occurred to me until weeks before my flight to NYC. It wasn’t on my radar, until it hit me: I want to say goodbye to everyone and I don’t have a lot of time… people have going away parties when they move away, duh, why not me too?
I knew no one was going to plan one for me, so I contemplated if it was worth the money, time and effort into planning one myself when I was so busy as it was: celebrating my 30th birthday, selling all my belongings, wrapping everything up at work, hitting up as many restaurants on my list as possible, preparing for my move, spending time with family, and seeing as many friends as I could. With just a few weeks left, where could I squeeze this in?
I’m good at planning, but I don’t like planning parties. With so many decisions to make, and things to consider, from the invite list to the food, from the location to the budget — the whole thing overwhelms me.
But I’ve never moved anywhere before, except to Corvallis for school, so I knew this was a moment worth commemorating. And I’m SO glad I did.
For food, I wanted something very low maintenance: no need for heating, refrigeration, cooking, assembling, utensils, or plates. The easy option was pizza, of course, but how boring — I am a foodie, after all. But not only that, what style of pizza; what toppings; how many pies; and from which pizza joint? Plus, it can be expensive $$$ because knowing me I’d want good pizza at my party #bougiefoodie.
And then at some point I realized the PERFECT food: spam musubi’s!! Spam musubi’s are a Hawaiian snack comprised of a slice of spam and rice wrapped in nori (seaweed). They are tasty, portable, and can be made vegan by replacing the spam with something like tofu. Just what I was looking for.
Just because it was last minute didn’t mean that supporting small, local business was not top priority still. For my party I wanted to support local, BIPOC or women-owned businesses, so I thoughtfully curated my menu that offered options for meat-eaters and vegans alike.
THE MENU:
Musubi’s from Smokin Fire Fish:
- Spam musubi with egg and furikake
- Tofu musubi with egg and furikake (vegetarian)
- Tofu musubi with furikake (vegan)
*Furikake: a sweet and salty rice seasoning
Ube crinkle cookies from Shop Halo Halo
Gorgeous platter from the talented Pretty Party Platters
Strawberry passion fruit limeade from Mama Dut
THE DAY OF THE PARTY:
My sweet friend, Jo, spent the entire day with me running around all over Portland helping me set up for my party. Our morning started off with brunch, then we made the rounds, picking up food from each business, ran some errands, and made deliveries (of things I sold) in between.
It was a little frantic getting the final things for the party, but we made it just in time to set up for the party, and friends started showing up one by one.
Everyone loved the food and the weather was beautiful. I got to see friends from childhood, high school friends, foodie friends, ex-co-worker friends, and some new friends. It was a perfect day.
As my Hawaiian friend said to me: “it’s essential [that everyone got to come and show you their love] because they will build up your mana flow for you to take with you on your journeys.” And I couldn’t agree more.
