For a good ten years of my life, party-going had never required my “forte”. Back in the days of my youth, my timid and introverted self never seemed to find enjoyment in social interaction. At any birthday, Christmas, New Year’s, going-away, welcome-back party, you’d find me glued to my mother’s hip surrounded by adults as if I were one of them. The sentence “Go play with the kids” terrified me more than the fear that Santa wouldn’t visit our house on Christmas Eve.

As I’ve grown older, become wiser and learned to “broaden my horizons” in the social interaction category, the more I’ve understood that’s there’s a method to having a good time in this madness and that parties can actually be pretty darn fun. I’ve come to consider that whether you finally get the courage to try that bomb strawberry cheesecake you have been eyeballing all night or the DJ finally starts to play all the songs the guests have been requesting, parties seem to end a lot better than how they start.

While I was a kid, it never occurred to me that one of the biggest rule of a party-goer is to never attend the party on time. Now I know this might sound insanely rude and as a host, you want your guests to show up around the time you specified on the invitation; but honestly, no one wants to sit alone in an empty venue filled with food and balloons and no people. So to prevent that situation either a) go with a friend or b) wait till everybody shows up with a legitimate excuse as to why you all decided to show up late.

Once you get there it is important to keep in mind the safe spots of the party. If it’s a house party and your best friend is the host then you don’t have much to worry about, but if the host is your mother’s best friend from work then here are some locations to keep in mind. Most important: the bathroom. Nothing is worse than frantically running around trying to find the nearest port to put your waste in, when your stomach feels like it’s trying to commit suicide because you decided to have one too many pigs-in-a-blanket.  Second most important is the second bathroom because if toilet number one is filled because someone made the same mistake you did, then it’s essential to make sure you have a back up. Lastly, the back door or an alternate escape route when trying to leave and not make it obvious. You never know how parties these days can turn out. They can be the time of your life where you never want to go home or home is the only thing on your mind. When you first arrive at the venue, map out your options if the front door isn’t your best choice. If the party is outside chances are the side gate is open that leads to the front yard. If not, you better have a better excuse than the reason you gave for showing up late. 
An hour into the party, the chips and dip become a thing of the past and the main “finger-licking” food should be about ready. (If you’re not at the party by now, say “goodbye” at the chance for some food and “hello” to a spot on the wall because that’s where you have to stand since they ran out of chairs.)

Now the food not only satisfies your hunger and taste buds; it also opens up the door of opportunity to meet someone new if you’re alone. One time I was at a graduation party for my best friend's Jailey's older sister Janae. Janae had just graduated from UCLA with a B.S. degree in Psychobiology, so there were some future doctors in the building. Unfortunately, I was the only there out of my friends and Jaliey was running around making sure the party was in order; so I was all by myself. I sat at a table with a bunch of 20-year- olds hoping they didn’t acknowledge my presence so I wouldn’t have to answer questions about my basic and boring lifestyle. However, I didn’t want to appear rude, so I sat with an interested look on my face as if I knew all the jargon of a pre-med student.  Next thing I knew, I was waiting in line for some chicken when the sight of the pasta salad stopped me in my tracks. “Oh, that pasta salad looks good!” I said aloud.

“Yes, girl that’s my favorite too!” said the young girl next to me. Boom! We were instant BBF’s for the night.
Once the trips to the food table become one too many, the next best option, if the music is good, is to start dancing and there are enough people on the dance floor because nothing is more unsatisfying than attending a party with a bad DJ. We all know the ones that play the same genre of music for an hour, only stopping if the host demands them to play a song everyone knows. If you don’t know how to dance, that’s okay because this could be the part of the party where you have to go home to feed your dog or the night where you learn a new skill. Reminder, if you’ve made it this far, congrats! You did great.

I’ve come to a consensus that a party is what you make of it. If you think it’s going to be lame and you’re not going to have a good time, there’s a 95% probability that your “Negative Nancy” senses are accurate. Or if you know only one person or the entire guest list, just keep in mind that you’re there for one reason: to be there for the host. So go be the life of the party, the reason why people will forever remember that night.