Several weeks ago, I invited three families over for a BBQ and to celebrate NATIONAL S’MORES WEEK a little early. It was a disaster.

I had these grand plans to decorate my house, inside and out, for an elegant beach-themed barbecue. I had visions of planning the party with my sweet little girl and hearing all my friends say how lovely it all was.

That did not happen.

First of all, the weather forecast predicted the day of our get-together to be super hot. As in, 105+ degrees. And since that same forecast had been accurate for the past I-can’t-even-remember-how-many days, I figured it was pretty likely to be the case during our party.

It was.

So my plans for buying a few tiki torches for the backyard and decorating the patio table with a beach-themed centerpiece went out the window. Or, in the window. To the air-conditioned house.

Well, the semi-air-conditioned house. Unknown to me, our poor A/C was barely working that weekend and would go out completely on Monday. But even barely chugging along during the party, it was cooler than the backyard. So, I had no choice but to cram all our friends (and their kids) into our tiny house.

At that point I still planned to decorate the house. Annalyn had been going on and on about our “beach party” for about two months and was super excited to decorate. I had a grass table skirt, festive serving dishes and leis for everyone.

But right about naptime, as I was almost-but-not-quite frantically preparing the last of the food, my party planning assistant decided to throw a fit. And so I decided that not decorating would be her horrible, natural consequence.

And speaking of my darling child and her attitude that particular weekend . . . yes, this was the same evening that she threw the Monster of All Fits. In front of our friends and hers.

Finally, though, after she wound down and our dinner settled, I remembered half the reason for our party: S’mores!

I’m not going to try and tell you that breaking out the graham crackers, marshmallows and HERSHEY bars lowered the backyard temps to a pleasant 75 degrees, cured my daughter of her attitude problem or brought my camera back from my parents’ house (Oh, did I not mention that? That I wanted to take pictures of our S’mores but had lent my camera to my dad? Right.). But I will say that right then, S’mores really did make things a little bit better.

Sometimes, taking a break is necessary.
Sometimes, a sweet treat can bring everyone together.
Sometimes, chocolate really does make everything better!

Honestly, what saved my disastrous party was our friends. They were gracious and forgiving for all the mishaps and mistakes, and in the end, we sat around my dining room table, getting sticky with S’mores and having a great time after all. So, maybe the party was saved by our friends – and the S’mores!

This week is NATIONAL S’MORES WEEK, and you’ll find great tips and ideas for celebrating on the HERSHEY’S Facebook page. Each week this summer, HERSHEY has featured two bloggers who share their S’mores party experience. This week, I’m excited to be featured, along with Audrey of Mom Generations!

When it came time to make our S’mores, we went a few rounds debating how to roast the marshmallows. Because it was so stinking hot outside, I suggested baking them in the oven. Others suggested nuking the marshmallows or warming them up over the burner on my stove. In the end, though, we sent the guys back outside to roast them over the fire, just like God intended.

How do you like to make S’mores? And will you celebrate NATIONAL S’MORES WEEK?

This post is part of my participation in the HERSHEY’S CAMP BONDFIRE campaign. All opinions expressed (as well as all the many party fails) are mine.