I agree with Carl.
My 'must-do' list was minimal in early recovery and there were no parties involved. I never would have made it. And, I don't like the idea of making excuses as to why you're not drinking. I certainly don't recommend telling everyone, but for me, I had to stop lying. I just had to. So, I simply started saying 'No, thanks' to parties, drinking, etc. No excuses, no apologies. I had to scrape up my self-esteem and those things were necessary for me to do that.