Normally, my answer to party invitations is, "Please, no, don't make me." I usually turn down invitations -- or ignore them or, on several occasions, actually forget them until it's too late to do anything about it, usually because I've gotten caught up in something I enjoy doing instead.
However, I attended one on Saturday night that wasn't half bad. It was a reception for some visiting professors in my department. I wasn't looking forward to it because I'd just spent several days as a conference volunteer and hadn't had time to relax. I was really getting worked up, too, because of something that had happened earlier, but decided to go anyway and hope for the best.
Once I got to the restaurant, I found the party was being held outside on the patio and I was able to find a table where I could sit with my back to the garden so that no one could walk behind me. There were too few tables for all of us -- an error in the reservations -- so several people from the department came and sat at my table including several professors and I was able to talk briefly about my interests and just mostly listen in on the rest of the conversation. At the end of the evening, I actually felt better than when I'd arrived instead of drained and frazzled as usual.
Regards,
Patricia