more photos on flickr >>

 

(Note: It took me a while to get this post up — I received a free product from Nintendo as a result of hosting this party, so I couldn’t post it on a page where I have BlogHer ads. I changed the date on this post so it wouldn’t appear as the latest post on my blog. The party occurred on 7/17 and I published the post on 7/28.)

I recently received this text message from my friend Dana: “3 days post-Nintendo party and I am frighteningly addicted to the DSi.”

Dana was one of a terrific group of ladies who attended a Nintendo-sponsored party in Washington, DC on Friday, July 17th. Who was the hostess? Me. (I know! I can hardly believe it myself.)

The fabulous ladies from Brand About Town asked me if I’d be interested in hosting a party. My role: invite up to 25 females of my choosing. Their role: provide the location (G Fine Art), food and drinks, and entertainment. Oh, and everyone who attended the party would go home with a Nintendo DSi of their very own. For free.

(Yes, I realize that I had a very difficult job, being forced to invite and hang out with a big group of my girlfriends for three hours. It was tough, but I persevered.)

The cool thing was, I’d never hung out with all of these ladies at the same time before. I invited local bloggers, local non-bloggers, three friends from Richmond, my two sisters (also from Richmond), and one co-worker.

It was an awesomely good time. Many of the attendees contacted me afterward to tell me what a great time they had — but as I told them, the pleasure was all mine. It was really cool to see my blogging and non-blogging friends interact.

There were four game stations set up, and everyone took turns playing each game. While everyone played, there were waiters walking around offering champagne, white wine, and various appetizers.

I was too busy socializing with my guests to sit down and play anything (but that’s okay; my DSi was mailed to me the week before the party so I was able to play with mine in advance). I did miss out on the ability to play Mario Kart with someone sitting next to me — apparently the system can seek out other DSi players nearby and you can play against each other instead of just the computer (how cool is that?).

Here are various pics to recap the party. I took some of them from the Nintendo gals’ photo set on Flickr, and some were sent to me by my friend Dana. My complete set can be viewed on Flickr at Nintendo Party, 7/09.

(Some of the bloggers who attended the party are anonymous, so rather than trying to remember who uses their real name and who doesn’t post photos of themselves on their sites, I’m not posting pictures below unless I’m sure these people either don’t blog at all, or they’re not anonymous.)

First of all, I had my very own sign out front. How cool is that? So of course I had to pose. (Please excuse the flip flops. I hadn’t changed into my heels yet.)

This was a chalkboard where my guests were supposed to write something about me, finishing the sentence: “We *Heart* Zandria Because…”

Everyone’s favorite reason for why they *heart* Zandria was the one my roommate added at the very bottom:

These are two fellow BlogHer.com writers, Laurie and Sarah.

Three of my friends from Richmond (Teresa, April, Dana).

This is me with my two beautiful sisters, Elissa and Angela. (Yes, my hand is wrapped around Elissa’s thigh. What of it?)

Receiving my Nintendo-themed charm bracelet.

I was so happy to be sitting on the pink couch (that matched my dress!) and talking to my friends.

Some people had already left by the time this group photo was taken.

All in all, it was a fantastic time. Many thanks to Nintendo and Brand About Town!

(Note: I read today on DCist that the gallery where the party was held, G Fine Art, will close next month.)