The office party I almost didn’t go to

Last December 6, my workplace held our annual Christmas party at Ristorante Papagallo in West Bay. Luckily for me, it’s close to where I live, and I wasn’t part of the planning committee this year. No running around, no stressing about venues, and no last-minute logistics on my plate. A small but very appreciated win.

Last year’s party was at the Kimpton, and while I don’t think I was officially on the planning committee then either, I still worked closely with the team that handled all of that. So this year felt… lighter.

I moved into my new role back in August, and so far it’s been both exciting and challenging. I’m now working with the sales team, which means I’m learning the income-generating side of the business. I’ll admit, I ask a lot of questions, but I’m genuinely grateful that my new bosses are patient, kind, and never make me feel stupid for asking. That alone makes a big difference.

Truthfully, I wasn’t even supposed to go to this party. I had already declined the invite a month ago, mainly because I’m six months pregnant. You know how it goes: constant bathroom breaks, getting tired easily, walking slower than usual, and everything just feeling like it takes extra effort. But at the last minute, Lisa came up to me and told me not to worry about any of that and she’d be there to support me however I needed. I agreed almost immediately. A few days before the party, morale around the event had dipped because the organizers were understandably exhausted. There were a lot of last-minute changes and miscommunications, and you could just feel the exhaustion.

The theme this year was Back to 1920s. One of my coworkers joked that this was the third party he’d seen that week with the same theme. His theory? Everyone probably used the same ChatGPT prompt. 🤭 The organizers didn’t even ask for opinions this year, which honestly made me think that whoever chose the theme already had an outfit (and a whole fantasy) planned in their head.

I also made a firm decision: I was not spending money for a one-night party 💢‼️

I refuse to spend on something I’ll wear once and forget about. And yes, I know, I have a reputation at the office for my questionable Amazon purchases, but this time I stood my ground.

I wore what I already had in my wardrobe, and just bought a church hat locally. And guess what? that hat cost me KYD $44. Forty-four dollars. For a hat. I swear, everything is ridiculously expensive these days. But that was my one and only splurge, and honestly, I think I did the theme justice. I was going for a wife of a mafia boss kind of vibe.

There weren’t as many games as last year. We had the big boss’ speech, the photobooth, and Christmas bingo… simple! Right after dessert, my husband and I dipped out. We truly ate and ran. 🤫

All in all, it was a good night. Nothing over the top, just good food, familiar faces, and a decent turnout. And at this stage of my life, that’s honestly more than enough. Sometimes, showing up is already enough.