The first party I remember was my parents’ Christmas party in 1966. I was 4, but it changed my life forever – my mom with her big hair, the swirl of large martinis, everyone smoking and a stack of records on the Hi-Fi. 

I still remember the taste of the white grocery store cake with holly icing decorations. Every sheet cake I’ve seen since has made me think of that cake.

That night must have been full of magical moments that I can’t even recall, but I remember that I loved the happiness during the build-up to the party and the evening itself, where music brought dancing and merriment. 

I learned that parties bring all of the good stuff together: people, fun, energy, food and music. 

For my fifth birthday, my dad let me pick my present. I wanted to meet the chef at the Doctors Club. I loved that club in the Houston Medical Center. I still serve a few of the dishes I had there as a child. 

Meeting that chef would be a topic of conversation and a life-changing event even 22 years later – a great story over a glass of wine.

I was just a pretend party hostess with my Barbies at that point, but once kindergarten started, my party life came into full swing. 

My first best friend in elementary school got carte blanche for her birthdays. Her mother smoked sky-blue cigarettes, and her bleach-blonde, spun sugar beehive was wonderfully offset by her ever-present tan and tiny figure. I felt like I was born into the wrong family.

We planned her parties months in advance – the best being a winter wonderland train ride with Santa and an exotic Japanese restaurant party. I still have the pen that was the party favor.

I continued hosting parties throughout all of my school years, from tiny to major events. I either served on committees or joined groups just so I could plan parties. I have several scrapbooks filled with invitations and fun memories.

At Texas Christian University, I lived inside the only co-ed dorm on campus, full of international students. Many were diplomats’ kids, and we all seemed to have gold American Express cards. Each month, I hosted the Skaggs Alpha Beta Party (the grocery stores’ motto was “Food & Drugs”).

These were early mail order days (pre-Internet), so we would jingle up Harry & David or Neiman’s to have lavish treats delivered. We loved it!

I have been hosting major events now for 40-plus years – some for organizations, but mostly just for me. The list is LONG, but some of my most memorable include (in random order):

• A “Dr. Seuss at the North Pole” kids’ party, which featured a forest of colorful flocked Christmas trees and a scaled-down train on tracks that my husband bought from an amusement park. I filled the backyard with large confetti a foot deep, so it was like walking in a rainbow. The budget for just the lighting on the house was $17,000. That was a kids’ party!

• A “Tequila Rodeo” party in my Ontario garden, which I timed so hundreds of peonies would be in full bloom. I manned a double long barbecue, and dinner was served on an 80-foot table covered in cowboy flannel and a ton of small river rocks down the center with Christmas lights poking out through the rocks and hay bales and silk pillows for seating. It was so magical that night with my house on a small pond, giant spruce trees and gallons of freshly squeezed margaritas. Oh my. Perfection!

• A “Lunar Eclipse” party on the helicopter pad of the Methodist Hospital, Houston – a great story. I served MoonPies and champagne with star fruit.

• A grand opening for my first Sugar Factory in Kitchener, Ontario. The mayor and I bit into a long rope of liquorice instead of cutting the ribbon.

• An “After the Parade” party, where I filled my home, ankle-deep, with tiny confetti and debris that shocked my guests and my husband. I cleaned that mess out of the floorboard cracks for years. 

• An “All Night Full Moon” party during my ceramic days. We built a wood burning kiln out of NASA space shuttle tiles and fired beer steins as the souvenirs.   

• A “Fire Ball & Corn Roast” party at my cottage in Canada. I invited the entire lake neighborhood, so no one called the fire department on me. I laugh just thinking about it.

• A “The Magical Mystery Tour – University of Waterloo Anniversary” party. I put the major donors on a big, yellow school bus and drove them around campus – not on the road, but on the walkways, touring the campus and then to a hill where several hundred students with poster cards spelled out the theme. On the way back, I missed a turn, so we had to back up quite a ways, much to the university president’s horror. He is now the governor general of Canada, but he will never forget that party.

I had a nightclub in my penthouse in Toronto called Sugar’s. It was only open on the weekends. The stories from that time could fill a book – nothing bad, just characters and joy. 

Each night, I would make a meal for the staff, drink coffee, open the club and say, “welcome to Sugar’s,” greeting each guest and hugging everyone at the end of the night. I had so much fun.

I have held parties for under $10. I have planned parties with budgets large enough to buy large, posh houses. I have had three parties going on at one time. 

I have had heads of state, Fortune 500 presidents, world-class surgeons, divas, rock ‘n’ roll stars and thousands of friends at my parties. I loved them all equally.

Want to make me happy? Ask me if I want to have a party, and then watch me smile.

The Secret World of Gay Isber & Her Sugar Factory on Koenig is located at 1800 West Koenig Lane in Austin, Texas. For more information, call 512-949-9322, email gayisber@gmail.com, look for Isber on Facebook or visit www.gayisber.com or www.fivestarmemoir.com.