How to Throw a Hurricane Party

Sitting in my living room with my roommates waiting for what is predicted to be the worst storm to hit the east coast in 100 years, Huricane Sandy, we are a bit eager and anxious about what to expect over the next day or two.

Trying to prep for the storm ahead, we walked around the streets of New York City to find many of the stores closed and much of the non-perishable food missing from the shelves. What we did see open? The locals bars and liquor stores, which gave us a great idea. If we're supposed to stay inside and prepare for what may be hours without power or hot water, we might as well make the best of it.

There are many key essentials for a hurricane party. Our priorities may be different than yours, but needless to say, wine must be involved. Invite a couple girl friends and have them come over in advance so they are safe while they travel. You should also be prepared to have them stay over your place overnight so have sleeping bags or air mattresses ready.

Tools to keep safe

Flashlights, candles, matches, extra batteries, bottled water and non-pershiable food items.

The "real essentials"

Lot's of wine. Since there are only wine and liquor stores open, we had no problem whipping up our favorite sangria recipe.

Games! We're prepared with Jenga, puzzles and Twister. If you're really trying to booze up, you can turn these into drinking games.

No-bake goodies are a must. Not like you need an excuse to use up some of those perishable items in case your fridge gets shut down because of power outages, but with all that sangria you will be consuming, you're bound to want something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Try these no-bake white peanut butter balls or make a batch of sweet no-bake snowball cookies. If you don't feel like making anything, just stock up on chocolate. No wino can resist that!