Well, everyone, I finally took the plunge. Each year my husband and I host a Halloween party where we try to get together, if only for a few minutes, with all the good folks we know and miss and rarely get to see.

Halloween is my favorite day of the year--well, now second favorite, after my son's birthday--so I try to pull out all the stops. I cook, I shop, I decorate. It's all a lot of fun. The nice thing about the party is that over the years it has turned from a full-fledged evening soiree into a brunch.

Brunch allows people to actually talk and hang out and get to know each other again instead of fighting with the blaring music of a traditional evening party. Brunch also has a limited time span. Normally a brunch lasts for about three to four hours. Then everyone goes home and you get to clean up and relax while it's still light out.

This year we'll be hosting that party again. It will be dramatically different in that I will have a baby to contend with during all of this (as well as other babies who may attend). My son is a jewel and is very social, so the party itself should be no problem whatsoever. He already has a Halloween costume ready to go. As for me, that's a whole other ball game.

This year I'd like to get something new, decorate the house better, have better cocktails and cook more. Nice tall order for someone with a six month old, eh? It's that darned Martha Stewart and her Living magazine. She makes all this decorating and cooking business seem to easy. She doesn't have an infant crawling around though, does she?

But we're having this party--er, brunch--anyway. I have my husband to help and an apartment just the right size for some decorating but nothing over the top. I've become very adept at quick cooking--you have to be with a little one around. More than anything, having a baby has taught me to be flexible--so we'll just do what we can with what we have and get one with it.

All people really want is to see each other, hang out and eat a bite anyway. I don't think they expect me to give them the moon.

Fabulous pumpkins pic by controltheweb.