The best part about planning a party is creating the menu. I love figuring out what is going to go together — and what can be done in time for the party.

I got back from my Utah trip on Thursday. The party was on Friday, so I immediately prepped a grocery list and we hit up Costco, Party City and Vons.

On Friday I woke up and started prepping and baking.

On the menu for actual food was lemon tarragon chicken salad sandwiches, a small cheese plate and savory watermelon.

This was my take on the Watermelon Chili Sliders that are posted over and over on Pinterest.

I couldn’t find alpepper or white balsamic at my local grocery store. And I was running a little bit late. So my process was this:

1. Created the watermelon cubes

2. Drizzle with olive oil and lime juice

3. Drizzle with regular balsamic (the recipe has you cut half-moon shapes into the cubes of watermelon and fill with vinegar).

4. Slice serrano peppers and stick into watermelon cubes.

Honestly, the watermelon was already quite flavorful at this point that I didn’t worry about adding salt and pepper.

For dessert, cupcakes were the main event. I made husband’s favorite — banana chocolate cupcakes.

I made rice krispie treats (recipe from the box) and dipped them in chocolate. Because the cupcakes and rice krispies already had chocolate in them, I made Martha Stewart’s lime meltaways and topped them with a sugar glaze and blueberries (instead of smothering them in powdered sugar).

The meltaways were a sad story — I pulled the second batch out of the oven and tripped. The warm cookies went flying and splattered all over the floor. Sad!

I arrived to Balboa Park about 90 minutes early so I could start to prep. I was terrified of making everyone sick because the chicken salad had mayonaise in it. So I spread out ice in a shady area and did my best to keep it cold. It never reached room temperature, so I think it was OK. No one got sick so I’m calling it a win.

I learned a lot from the last party I hosted in the park. I brought plenty of garbage bags and hid all debris away from the actual celebration so nothing looked cluttered. I minimized the stuff I brought and used throw-away decor so that it was easy to clean up. We were out of the part in just a few minutes and home by 8:45. Our friends helped, but no one had to carry more than one bag of stuff.

When I arrived to the park and started unloading food I was immediately stalked by squirrels. I was so worried about them getting into the food I was trying to keep cold that I transitioned the watermelon from the 9×13 pan that I transported them in to a serving tray and then gave the squirrels the pan.

They licked it clean! And the little critters stayed away from the real food. Thank goodness.

Next time I throw a party I’m going focus a little more on table decor, since I think the table looks a little bare. But bottom line, it was a great time and that is what matters more.