From the planning perspective, everything about Monday night seemed perfect. Kim was supplying grilled chicken and wine. I was bringing salad fixings. And Ali was bringing a slew of cookie decoratingness.

And yet, everything went awry almost immediately.

Although I've been to Kim's house multiple times and she only lives about two turns away from me, I got very lost, thus delaying the evening's start. A seasoned salad maker, I also somehow managed to forget key supplies, including dressing and cheese.

And although the wine pouring was successful, with so many missteps at the start, we were off our game for the remaining kitchen activities.

Cookie decorating really couldn't have gone more wrong. We decided to Pam the stovetop, as opposed to flouring it. Proving to be a total failure, we then Pammed the rolling pin. Instead of solving the problem, our dough just got very greasy and yet still stuck to the rolling pin. Laden with grease, they managed to stick to the stove top, but fell apart after we cookie cuttered them.
Calling the first batch a wash, we opted out of the cookie cutters and chose to go with regular circles. Losing interest, we quickly threw them in the oven and didn't look back for the next ten to twelve golden browning minutes. However, we soon discovered that we didn't turn on the oven, and our dough had just been hanging out at room temperature the entire time.
Because of the delayed start, it was almost 11 p.m. at this point, and by the time the cookies came out of the never-fully-heated-oven, we'd lost interest in decorating them with the amazing toppings Ali had purchased.
And yet, even with all of this, it turned out to be just a lovely evening of holiday happiness. We laughed a lot, and caught the end of Christmas Vacation, which I haven't seen since I was nine, and man, oh man. It's a whole lot funnier when you get the jokes.

I'm really happy to have Ali and Kim in Atlanta with me, even if our domestic skills fly out the window when combined. They're really great friends :)