Here’s a good way to annoy me

Liz’s birthday was this weekend. She decided that she wanted to have people over to the house rather than going out after dinner. Okay. If that’s what the birthday girl wants, that’s what the birthday girl gets.

So, as the roommate and as the consummate party planner, I volunteered to make snacks. Not that I anticipated any of us being terribly hungry after a decadent dinner. But all good drinking is paired with snacking.

On Saturday morning, Liz passed me the baton on the snacks and I was off and running. Baked brie. A hummus dip. Caramel corn.

I planned to make the caramel corn at my mom and dad’s house that afternoon. I prefer my mother’s baking setup. And this one giant bowl that's perfect for caramel corn. I drove to their house, completing my shopping on the way.

A trip to Trader Joe’s.

A trip to the grocery store.

Another trip to another grocery store.

I had the distinct privilege of going to two grocery stores because my parents don’t know how to answer their cell phones. I needed to know if they had corn syrup. Did they wait until I left the first grocery store – without corn syrup – to call me back and tell me, yes, I would need to pick some up? Of course.

So that was irritating.

As was walking into their house (corn syrup in hand) only to see that my mom had started on the caramel corn. Which was very nice of her. But she couldn’t have started on the caramel corn without the corn syrup and THEY HAD CORN SYRUP.

I was a little confused as to why I made an extra trip to the store. Like, really, two trips to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon is totally enough for me. No lie. That was annoying but I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut. My mom would have no problem kicking my ass for sassing her about making me caramel corn.

And then Liz sends me a text message that says “oh, hey! Don’t worry about food! Denise is bringing snacks.”

I WENT TO THREE GROCERY STORES FOR NO REASON.

I’m still bitter about it.

But I brought caramel corn to the fiesta anyway and it was obviously a huge hit. (Homemade caramel corn is the jam.) There was a tiny bit left on Sunday morning and Liz and I sat on the couch and drank coffee and ate what was left of the caramel corn.

And then on Sunday night we both made out with random dudes.

Behavior that we’re blaming the caramel corn.