Please RSVP in this thread. Please include what you are bringing to the pot-luck.

When and where will the kick-off be?

This years kick-off will be October 24th from 11:45-2:45 It will be in the Naperville Municipal Center lunchroom in the lower level. Everyone bringing something is welcome to park in the underground garage. When entering the door from the parking garage, take an immediate right through the sliding doors and down the long hallway to get to the lunchroom.

What is the kick-off party?

This is our chance to celebrate the upcoming start of National Novel Writing Month (we can officially begin writing after midnight on November 1st), meet and chat with our fellow writers and share some good food. It will be a pot-luck lunch party, so please plan to bring a dish to share.

What will we do? Do I have to RSVP?

We will have a couple ice-breaker games, eat lunch, do a brief Q&A on NaNo in case there are any questions, play games and have fun! RSVP'ing is recommended but is not required. If you are just finding out about the kick-off, come ahead! We should have plenty of food!

Can I bring a guest?

Definitely! The more the merrier! Bring friends, family.

Stuffed Animals

We usually have them for our group picture, mainly so we can toss them in the air. So bring one if you'd like.

Should I bring a pen or pencil?

Yes! We will have some writing games...

Ideas on What to bring for Food

• main course (always need lots of these)
• Vegetable side dishes
• raw vegetables & dip
• fruit salads
• green salads
• pasta or rice side dishes
• Rolls or bread
• cheese & crackers
• desserts - usually we have too many of these
• cold soft drinks in cans
• cold water in small bottles
• plastic forks, knifes, spoons
• good sturdy full-sized paper plates
• sturdy small plates (for desserts)
• Napkins - don't need a huge pack, maybe something smaller and sturdier?

What to bring (other)

• Serving utensils for your dishes
• (optional: writing-related) card or board games
• stuffed animals (for the group photo)

Attending (35 as of 2015-10-24 9:28 AM CDT)

• AwnnaMarie, veggie tray with dip
• samcadams, chili
• NewMexicoKid + Nan, vegetarian red lentil soup + pita bread
• TRRDEDEAN, sweet pumpkin dip with graham crackers
• CubFanBrian, cheese and crackers as well as paper plates
• Kiela Starcatcher, Hawaiian bread and spinach dip
• elle_writing, some kind of green salad (gluten-free and (mostly) dairy free) + bottles of water
• Ajey, broccoli salad from the deli
• Pen vs. Sword, plastic flatware, pan of biscuits, mulled cider
• Goddess_Astra, Mexican lasagna, dunkaroo dessert with cookies on the side for dipping, plastic flatware, paper towels
• mochomito, ?
• FinbarrMcG + KatherineWriting, turkey meatballs in bbq sauce (in a slow cooker)
• johnthetech + Kat's Meow, meatballs and rice crispy treats.
• DJRM + ?, drinks
• fishmama, hot crab meat appetizer and crackers.
• fdahlman, dessert
• Basil Cliffside, a "shepherd's pie" sort of dish.
  
  
• odd soul, BLT pasta salad, plastic silverware, and paper plates!
• catatone1, popcorn
• HuMVee15, barbeque meatballs
• Anastasia007 bottled water
• bdillvargaItalian Beef with bread
• Luke 1133 Something chocolate
• writerbeeme a Mexican dish of some kind
• jenniferbuh, pop or lemonade
  
  
• RLShepherd, roasted caluiflower
• anitairons, fruit salad
• PRJenkins, sweet or appetizer
• uniasus, one of those rotisserie chickens or something else hot and yummy.
• Cee-Bee, some sort of vegetable thing, probably a salad
• szdarcyk + guest, some type of dessert

I will be there!

I'll probably bring a veggie tray with dip. Wish I could cook, but my 3x3 kitchen is not conducive to party prep. :(

I will bring a chili.

I will be there. Trying to decide between bringing a vegetarian main dish of some sort ora pumpkin cheesecake.

My wife Nan will likely attend too.

--Tim

Howdy, I'll bring a sweet pumpkin dip with graham crackers.

Look forward to seeing everyone!

Dave

Hello!

I will be there and I will bring some sturdy napkins and vegetarian chili dip and chips.

I also just realized I never introduced myself so I will go back and do that now!

See you all soon,

Alison

I will be there.

I will bring cheese and crackers as well as paper plates.

Brian

I'll be there, hopefully with my hubby in tow. I'll commit to a main dish, although I don't know what kind yet (likely one for carnivores since my hubby is diabetic and has to be carefulwith carbs). Apparently it won't be chili though, unless we want to turn this into a chili cook-off! (In which case... BRING IT!) LOL (^_^)

The hard part will be choosing a stuffed animal. I'd try to count my hubby, but I can't toss him in the air!! No pewter dragons though. Those would hurt on the way down...

~Kiela

I'll be there, mostly like with some kind of green salad. I'm gluten-free and (mostly) dairy free as well so whatever I bring will fall under that heading. I'll commit to bring bottles of water as well.

Candy

Hello Fellow writers,

unfortunately I'll miss this years kick-off meeting, because I am out of town that weekend. But I want to wish everybody a great and successful NaNoWriMo Season this year, lets do this :-)

Have fun and enjoy your kick-off meeting

Annerose
aka AnnaVanEast

I'll be there with either cornbread or biscuits. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

I will be there and I will bring a side dish....will let you know as soon as I can.

I'll be there! I'll bring a yummy dessert and either a pasta or rice dish (probably a pasta). I might be able to bring some water bottles or soda, as well! :)

I do plan to be there! I do plan to bring broccoli salad from the deli. :)

I hope to be there. I'll be bringing plastic flatware, a pan of biscuits, and maybe some mulled cider. Who else is ready for another insane month of writing?

I can come! I can't wait!!! I'll try to think of some sort of main dish to bring...maybe a big batch of my home made tacos? or for easier eating...i'll turn it into a mexican lasanga...that way no one has to fuddle around with tortillas and shredded cheeses...or maybe i'll do eggchiladas?!?! or both..though, i doubt i am THAT ambitious

Though, i am thinking maybe a filipino dish...I am undecided...But my mexicana Lasanga sounds good...and if i remember correctly, the room has a microwave on the back? If i get SUPER ambitious...maybe

JUST MAYBE

i'll make a giant tub of

some

dunkaroo

dip.

for nostalgia sake

*mic drop*

yeah. I think i'll do mexican lasanga. I use healthy ingredients and load it with ground turkey, beans, corn, and peppers. My kids that i nanny for..eat it and unless i tell them...they NEVER know there's peppers in it! XD...but they DO know it's healthy and very low calorie

mmm.....if you do corn bread, i know for a fact...it pairs well with the mexican lasanga i'm going to bring! LOL! often times, when i go to work and cook dinner for my 3 kids...they'd rather eat my corn bread haha. oh look. How about that. I've made my mouth water...i better stop before i dribble on myself

Oh man. I should definitely not be checking this thread when I haven't had any dinner yet tonight...

*drool*

It sounds like a number of us are at least trying to be careful of what we put into our systems (although on special event night, all bets are off, as far as I'm concerned!!).It will be a nice change of pace, becauseevery time my office gets food, they only ever have fatty meats (including ham, which a quarter of the office can't eat - pork), full-calorie mayo, Hawaiian bread, andsuper-sweet syrup-y grape and strawberry soda. It's delicious... and SO very bad for all of us sitting on our duffs for 12-14 hours at a time. LOL

On that note... I should probably go eat something before my laptop starts looking tasty. (~_^)

I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but I hope so.

Barry (FinbarrMcG) and I will be attending. We can bring a main dish. Not sure if it will be gluten-free, or dairy-free, or meat-free, but probably not all three. We'll label it, whatever it is, including the ingredients.

I think the more home cooked something is that someone is willing to bring in...it is worlds healthier. I mean, common sense and all. My mexican lasanga? I don't use any salt...except for what comes in the bottled taco sauce. It was a test to try "no salt" because my mom has a salt sensitivity and even 1/4 a tsp salt on something...and her mouth feels like it's on fire...so "can i make somethin flavorful but use hardly any salt?"

And my husband, my sisters, my parents....my brother...NONE of them can tell.

and my dad...who HATES peppers...and my sister...who HATES beans...didn't even know it was in the lasanga until they finished eating it and i told them XD

I could use some healthy eating... <_< i am currently hiding a loaf of angel food cake under my desk where my husband can't see it >_>

Kat's Meow and I will be attending.

We'll bring meatballs and rice crispy treats.

See you there.

Mmm. Rice Crispy Treats... *drools*

Hi Gang: I have to send my regrets this year. Real life is getting in the way of my fictional life. Still plan on trying to get my 50K NaNo.

Look for my write ins in Lombard on the 12th and 19th. Carol CJEGV

I will be at the party. I am not sure if I will be bringing any extra people with me. Is anyone bringing drinks yet?

I'm coming and will bring a hot crab meat appetizer and crackers.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Elaine

I will be there and will bring adesert. It looks like there are only a couple at this point. There are a lot of main dishes. This will be a great feast!!

If you want to bring drinks that would be great. I can change to bring something that others have not yet.

Changed my mind. I will be there and will bring adesert. It looks like there are only a couple at this point. There are a lot of main dishes. This will be a great feast!!

I'll be bringing a "shepherd's pie" sort of dish.

I will be there! I will bring BLT pasta salad, plastic silverware, and paper plates!

I will be there. I'm not sure what I'm bringing yet. Most likely something appetizer/sidedishy. I'll update if I remember to.

I will be there! I will bring barbeque meatballs.

I'll bring a couple of cases of bottled water. Looking forward to seeing everyone!!

i suddenly got this idea to bake chocolate nutella cookies...BUT...with a thick dough as i make it...i should roll and coil the cookies into poop emoji's complete with emoji eyeballs<_< but...no. in seriousness...i can possibly make some cookies to go with my dunkaroo dip...

>_>

oh...no wait!! I can roll them into thin sticks and find "candy" erasers for them...and a piece of "sprinkle" lead! i could make pencil cookies and other writing utensils!! mini cookie laptops! pink/blue suger cookie erasers! mini books! or coffee mugs!

or i could just make ONE emoji...since we own a dog...and i when i lock the dog in the kitchen when i leave, i could leave an "emoji" in the living room for my husband to find XD

It's my Saturday to work, so I won't be able to make it. :(

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at write-ins and handing out prizes for the Library Crawl at the TGIO party.

Okay then I can bring the drinks as well as cups and ice to go with them. I will bring things like root beet and 7up and some kind of cola. Should I bring any diet? Because I have noticed not as many people drink the diet drinks in the past.

Some of us would DEFINITELY appreciate diet/zero sodas. Otherwise diabetics are S.O.L. - one can of soda contains enough carbs and sugar for an entire day's worth of food! (o_o) Definitely don't go crazybuying a gazillion different flavors though. Water's another option if you can get a good deal on it. Not sure if thefacility has recycling though.

~Kiela

Update: I may or may not be able to attend, as the 24th is also my deadline for my current writing project, and some technical issues earlier this week set me back a bit. I hope to still attend, but I'm not certain if I can or how long I'll stay. So I rescind my promise to bring a main dish at this point. It sounds like we have lots of volunteers this year though, so YAY!! (^_^)

~Kiela

I must regretfully update this: I can't make it, due to being in East Peoria for work :(

Everyone have fun for me!

Hi.

I am coming. I will bring italian beef in a crock pot with crusty bread.

Barb Dill-Varga

CHOCOLATE! I will bring something involving chocolate. Presumably something sweet

Hi...it is Holly Coop (aka writerbeeme). I will be there and I will bring something Mexican I think.

Looking Forward to it!

Holly

I plan on being there and I'll bring pop or lemonade

Oh good! Because sour chocolate would just be a letdown. (^_^)

I will be there and I will be bringing roasted cauliflower. I'm very excited!

I'm planning on attending! I'll bring fruit salad. :)

I will be there! And will bring a sweet or appetizer. Looking forward to it.

Ok...i finalized what i will bring:

-Mexican lasanga (which reheats fine in the microwave)
-my Dunkaroo dessert dip...with cookies on the side for dipping...probably graham crackers, nilla wafers, or animal crackers...or something similar. I have to go to the store today anyway...we shall see what strikes my fancy
-a a sh*t ton of flatware....spoons, knives, forks...somehow, i am not sure HOW or WHERE we aquired a costco sized thing of plastic flatware...perhaps my mother in law donated it but either way...i'll bring a huge thing of flatware...

I can also provide a roll or two of paper towels...for useage as napkins...or big spills...since most public places have that crappy brown paper towel that barely picks up anything...

and if there is extra time...i have scrabble, apples to apples, cards against humanity, life, chess, checkers, uno,...if there is a demand for me to bring a game...i don't mind (mwahaha..we can play CAH and see the TRUE colors of our nanoregion group XD)

We'll bring turkey meatballs in bbq sauce (in a slow cooker).

Oh, I'll vote for pumpkin cheesecake every time! LOL (^_^)

No pumpkin cheesecake for the kick-off, alas. We'll be bringing vegetarian red lentil soup (like you can get at Naf Naf but our version is much less salty) and pita bread.

Ah well. My taste buds might complainabout notgetting cheesecake, but my waistline certainly won't mind the healthier option - especially with the holidays coming up! (^_^)

I'm coming! I'll pick up one of those rotisserie chickens or something else hot and yummy.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

The Unfortunate Update: I will be unable to make the Lunch, due to having to work this Saturday (we're preparing for our upcoming Committee Days). Hopefully I'll be able to meet everyone shortly! So sorry! :/ But I hope everyone has a blast!

I'll bring some sort of vegetable thing, probably a salad. Whatever I can get together by Saturday.

As you're planning what to bring, don't forget (if you can afford it) to bring a few dollars to throw into the hat to pay for rooms next year. For an explanation, seehttp://nanowrimo.org/forums/usa-illinois-naperville/threads/255828

If you can't spare a few bucks, don't fret. One of the many things our region prides itself on is not requiring money to participate. We also pride ourselves on taking pictures of ourselves throwing our stuffed animals into the air--not sure why, but we do. We also pride ourselves on the best potluck in all of NaNo-land. Oh, and having the best planning sessions, the best wordwar prizes, and so on.

I thought I'd mention this since I know I don't carry cash much these days and 'passing the hat' doesn't allow for credit or debit cards. :)

I just had to set up a technician to come to the house....of course the hours they "might" be there include much of the party. I am sad that I won't be able to come, but hopefully I will be able to attend the finale party! *Fingers crossed* Thank you for hosting such great events. I hope to meet you all someday soon! -Alison

I see paper plates and utensils - do we have someone bringing disposable bowls and cups?

i'll be attending :) I'll be bringing some type of desert with my guest

AwnnaMarie wrote:I will be there! I'll probably bring a veggie tray with dip. Wish I could cook, but my 3x3 kitchen is not conducive to party prep. :(

Welcome to my world...I've become VERY adept at cooking in tiny spaces...but the down side is: things get piled on top of other things and every teeny tiny inch of space is utilized...dare i post a picture of my kitchen sink? >_<

Kiela Starcatcher wrote:I see paper plates and utensils - do we have someone bringing disposable bowls and cups?

My wife and I are bringing red lentil soup, so we'll be providing bowls and spoons for that.

If it's comcast...THEN I WILL JOIN YOU IN YOUR PAIN...as we've had OUR fare share of issues lately that...with enough anger from the hubby, got us up a few levels to get our issues resolved...

If it's not comcast...then still. they always say "between xx:xx and xx:xx o'clock..." and they show up at the LAST minute or LATE! or NEVER

I am having a tough time deciding on my stuffed animal...as...the sky bison i wanted to bring is still on loan with my friend LOL! I may the few that i can't decide on...and let people borrow for the photo.

Does it HAVE to be an animal/amphibian? I have some plushes staring at me from my bookshelf...WHICH MAKES THE CHOICE EVEN HARDER T_T

Goddess_Astra wrote:I am having a tough time deciding on my stuffed animal...as...the sky bison i wanted to bring is still on loan with my friend LOL! I may the few that i can't decide on...and let people borrow for the photo.

Does it HAVE to be an animal/amphibian? I have some plushes staring at me from my bookshelf...WHICH MAKES THE CHOICE EVEN HARDER T_T

One year I had a hastily-crumpled up paper towel with markered-on eyes and smile. ;-)

NewMexicoKid wrote:

Goddess_Astra wrote:I am having a tough time deciding on my stuffed animal...as...the sky bison i wanted to bring is still on loan with my friend LOL! I may the few that i can't decide on...and let people borrow for the photo.

Does it HAVE to be an animal/amphibian? I have some plushes staring at me from my bookshelf...WHICH MAKES THE CHOICE EVEN HARDER T_T

One year I had a hastily-crumpled up paper towel with markered-on eyes and smile. ;-)

haha! that's too funny!! Well, I AM bringing paper towels...i am sure someone will have a marker LOL!

K. I'll show up at least for a bit tomorrow. I'll snag some Hawaiian bread and spinach dip on my way.

I'll be flying solo, unfortunately. Husband has to present his writing to a group on Sunday, and he needs Saturday to finish.

~Kiela

I'll bring popcorn!

I'm going to be there along with my girlfriend Sara. I have already cooked a Broccoli Casserole. She has a video call right when this starts, so I'll need to take a quick break to pick her up from the library when she's finished.

Dang, i really wanted to come but it's 11 and this Metra is stopped two stations out of the city

Had a ton of fun with everyone! I was so stuffed by the time I left,maybe I should have waddled all the way home to Joliet. But then... I'd still be out waddling and nowhere near home yet!

Anyway, thanks to all (especially the MLs and helpers!) who made the event a great and tastysuccess. Now we just need earlier access to the parking garage. (~_^)

~Kiela

PS - my little blue and pink Doraimon stuffed toys thank everyone for getting them back to their mommy over and over during the picture-taking! (^_^)

I also had many fun times...(i was the one who discussed the website for character bios...check out my thread)...I can't remember who i met because i only remember a FEW user names to faces...so...If you talked to me and i can't remember...Say hi!! I was the one with the green bag of stuffed animals I let people borrow for the photo shoot!!

The cake was delicous...i only regret that once my stomach settled, i didn't take cookies home!!! I am glad my mexian lasanga was a big hit! I'll gladly share 90% of the recipe...as well as the recipe for my dessert dip (the one that as very spoopy)

And thanks to all the plot twists on my story when we played that last game!