Party People (in Cedar Hills)

Party people: Their may be meth at some underground gatherings in Utah County, but the biggest party scene in Cedar Hills seems to promote an entirely different kind of high.
Shopping.
In the few months that I've lived in this tucked-away part of the state, I've been invited to a dozen or so shindigs where entrepreneurial souls hawk everything from tank tops to greeting cards to expensive cookware to designer jeans (my personal favorite).
It's the next generation of Tupperware parties, only instead of microwave-safe containers you can by 7 for All Mankind jeans at almost half price.
(In fact, if you go to a denim party, a jewelry party and a tank top party, you can get yourself a nice little outfit, as well as a meal of cookies and fruit slices. But I digress ... )
Now because Cedar Hills has no real industry or shopping to speak of, enterprising neighbors and friends have schlepped these wares up the mountain and into their homes.
In Tucson, Ariz., where I grew up, parties were either the kind with Chex Mix and board games or the kind with drunks standing around a bonfire in the desert. Neither featured elaborate wall stencils or $20 spatulas for sale.
And the saddest part was I didn't even know what I was missing. But now, with a closet full of extra-long Shade T-shirts and a kitchen drawer that's home to a very fancy measuring cup, you can bet I do. You can bet I do.
-- Elyssa Andrus
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1 on April 5, 2006.