Costume Party Woman

Liezl turned six this week. I feel a small bit of sadness to think that she has grown so big in what seems like overnight. But that feeling is quickly replaced with gratitude, happiness, and pride. I am so blessed to be able to be her mom and learn lessons from her daily. I am thankful for the great sister she is to Quincy and Ava. Liezl is the most creative and imaginative person I know. She is a caring and thoughtful girl who is very close to her Heavenly Father. I am so excited for her and the many adventures that await her.
Liezl had a great birthday. One of the presents she asked for was to not ride the bus (she is not a big fan of the bus). I dropped her off at school with a plate full of cookies to share with her class, curls in her hair, and a new outfit to show off.
Liezl asked to go on our favorite little hiking spot for a family activity after school.
And the best present of all - Daddy was there!
Liezl with her best buds.
After the hike we had McDonald's (her birthday request), opened presents, and ate cupcakes.
Today we had a Hawaiian themed birthday party. Some of the highlights were the limbo stick, learning how to hula, and cracking open a coconut.
 

Birthday boy Gerald Tan?s (centre) 29th birthday party at McDonald?s came with games, party hats and guests decked out in school uniforms. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE

Dear old friend,

I am finally turning 30 years young and would love if you could come and celebrate my birthday with me at McDonald's.

The theme is 'back to school', so I expect you in nothing less than a school uniform.

Please come.

From an excited over-aged school kid

Huh?

Birthday parties at McDonald's these days are no longer just for kids. They have been quite a hit with young working professionals, too.

The chain has been noticing a trend of more adult birthday parties at its outlets since early last year.

Its oldest adult birthday has been for someone in the late 50s.

Adult parties make up about 5 per cent of the total number of parties at McDonald's, says the chain's communications director, Ms Linda Ming.

But it seems only the Golden Arches offers the appeal of a birthday bash for older folks reliving their cheeseburger youth.

When LifeStyle checked with other fastfood outlets such as KFC, such bashes were not a common occurrence.

A party at McDonald's, depending on the number of people you invite, would probably set you back a few hundred dollars - far less than what you would spend at a decent restaurant for a quiet sit-down dinner with close ones.

It costs $9 for a Happy Meal (kid's portion meal) or $11 for an Extra Value Meal (adult portion) and the party requires a minimum of 12 partygoers.

But there is one catch: No alcohol is served.

Instead, think of the novelty factor - Happy Meal toys, party hats, sitting in kid- sized chairs and eating at tables for tots (you can opt for normal-sized furniture), and taking every opportunity to scare one another with crazy-looking balloon sculptures.

You can almost imagine how it will turn out: a bunch of party-hat wearing grown-ups chasing each other around the premises with gun-like balloon sculptures, fighting to beat each other at musical chairs and then ending it off with speeches and toasts with cups of ice Milo and Coke.

One recent birthday boy is shipping executive Gerald Tan, who threw his 29th 'back to school' birthday bash at a McDonald's outlet in Hougang earlier this month.

He invited 25 friends to play kiddie games such as passing the ping-pong ball using spoons, dress up in their old (or new) school uniforms and tuck into hamburgers and fries, of course.

He says: 'I had always wanted to celebrate my birthday at McDonald's when I was growing up but never had the chance.

'So I thought I had better throw the one I had always dreamt of before I turn 30. I knew it would be crazy, but it really makes you think about your childhood days.'

When he told his cousin, operations manager Jolene Lee, 26, about the party and its school uniform theme, she thought it was hilarious.

She had to fork out $21 for a new school uniform to wear to the party. She says: 'It made me reminisce about the good times I had in school and shopping for a school uniform made me feel like a kid all over again.'

And like Mr Tan, actor Brendon Fernandez, 31, had also always dreamt of having a birthday party at McDonald's.

He says: 'I never had one as a kid and I am not sure if I even had the opportunity to attend one either.'

He threw a 30th birthday bash at the King Albert Park outlet for 30 of his friends last year.

His theme: Pink and blue.

He admits that he and his grown-up friends were very competitive when it came to the game of musical chairs - they were screaming, shouting and shoving, but all in good fun, of course.

'Everyone got a chance to be a kid again. It was really kitschy - it was people just having fun and no one really cared about whether anyone else was looking.'

Throwing surprise birthday parties for their significant others has also been popular with those in their late 20s.

Last year, lawyer-turned-fashion design student Lin Li, 27, threw Mr Leow Yik Shiong, then her fiance now her husband, a surprise 28th birthday party at the McDonald's at King Albert Park.

He had mentioned that he never had one as a child, so she decided to do him a favour and throw him one. His friends thought it was an awesome idea.

And boys, being boys, will always be competitive.

Says Mr Leow: 'We played kiddy games It was quite silly, but all in good fun because my friends were very good sports and thoroughly enjoyed themselves being extremely competitive at musical chairs.'

So, what next for these 'oldies' who have finally had a taste of the McDonald's birthday party they had always dreamt of?

Mr Fernandez offers this: 'I will probably have another party there when I turn 64. And you can be sure it will be absolute chaos.'

Have you run out of icy ideas for Christmas party invitations your kid can send to his/her friends? Here are some fresh ideas you and your kid might enjoy making:

Christmas Party Invitation In A Bottle

Materials: one little, plastic water bottle for each invitation, holiday stickers, one first class stamp for each bottle, plain white labels, return address labels, confetti (Xmas themed), red paper, felt pens, one wrapped, sweet stick per bottle, little plastic items related to Xmas that are little to fit through the neck of the bottle.

Wash the bottles and let them dry. Generate your party invitation on the red paper or on a computer. It ought to be no wider than the bottle is tall. Fill the bottle 1/3 filled with Xmas confetti. Put in several plastic Xmas items in case you have them. Wrap your invitation around the sweet stick and slip them in to the bottle. Put on the bottle top. Put a stamp on the bottle. Put your return address label on it. Write your guest’s name and address on a white label and stick it on the bottle. Put on a few Xmas stickers. When the bottle moves, the confetti and plastic items will swirl around; they are supposed to. The bottles may be sent through the regular mail to your guests.

Christmas Party Invitation From A Grocery Bag

Materials: brown, grocery bags (one per invitation), pencil, scissors, pinking shears, hole punch, overweight, red yarn, elderly holiday cards or pics cut from magazines, glue, crayons or poster paints, black felt pen, pencil, white paper, computer (optional), party favors (see instructions for suggestions).
These invitations are hand-deliverable only, because of their size. Acquire one brown, paper grocery bag for each invitation. The bag is going to be a Christmas stocking -shaped. Draw a stocking shape on the bag (the adult ought to probably do this). Use pinking shears to cut out the stocking, giving it a scalloped edge. You will have five pieces. Use a hole punch and punch holes all around the stocking, except for the top.

The holes ought to be five inches apart, about 1″ from the edges. Using overweight, red yarn, “sew” the five pieces together, weaving in and out of the holes. Tie the thread at the beginning and finish. Decorate the bag with holiday pics from elderly Christmas cards or magazines or draw snowmen, bells, stars, trees, presents, etc. with crayons or paint. Put the guest’s name on the “stocking” with the felt pen. Inside the “stocking” put your invitation, written on paper or created on your computer. Also put in a couple of party favors such as: crayons, a holiday cookie (wrapped in plastic), a lollipop, your picture, or a favor from a party store (plastic ring, etc.). Be definite your favors cannot fall out.

Try these unusual Christmas party invitations for children and see the reactions you get!

Do you want to make a celebration really one of a kind? Then you might understand that all this begins with invites. If you have cool invitations everybody will be fascinated with coming to your party. And here personalized party invitations site could be helpful to you – get the most elegant invitations. Also there are nice printable birthday party invitations.

And remember that we live in the world of high online technologies. It would be intelligent to use the online network to find anything on the best terms available on the market. Search engines, social networks, blogs and forums – all this will help you solve many issues.

Having a baby is a joyous occasion, so there is no need for the baby shower planning to be a hassle. Instead of trying to figure out all of the details on your own, use these tips to make baby shower planning as easy as pie.

Prior to planning the baby shower and sending out the invitations, you and the expectant mother should decide if you want the shower to be all women or co-ed. While traditional baby showers are usually a ladies only affair, many couples are now choosing to turn their baby showers into a party for all of their friends. These types of parties are gaining popularity because the father-to-be can participate in the shower without feeling like he’s out of place.

Because a baby shower just isn’t a party without some great snacks, it is important to decide what type of food you want to serve. In order to cut costs, it is common to have light snacks instead of a full meal, and if you have the party after the lunch hour, the snacks will be the perfect thing for your guests. It may be fun to surprise the expectant mother, and serve her favorite snacks. Not only will this make her day a little brighter, but it is a unique twist on the traditional the foods you usually find at a shower. Because pregnancy can sometimes affect the taste buds of the mom-to-be, make sure that you find out what her current favorite foods are and plan the menu accordingly.

If there are other pregnant women at the shower, you want to make sure that they have a comfortable place to sit. The last thing you want to do is have guests who are uncomfortable because that will bring down the mood of the party.

A fun game to play is to have everyone bring a baby picture and let everyone take a chance at correctly matching the baby picture with the adult it belongs to. To make this game even more fun, have prizes for the people who guess correctly.

A fun way twist on giving out party favors is to have a candy “bar” with popular candies where the guests can fill little favor bags to take home. Everyone loves candy, and this will save the host from having to prepare the favors.

Because you want to eliminate any possible awkward moments at the baby shower, it is a good idea to have some soft music playing in the background. This will provide a comforting atmosphere for your guests to feel at ease. And if the conversation starts to lag, your guests won’t feel uncomfortable because there will still be some background noise.

While baby showers are fun, many times they can drag on for what feels like hours. Since your guests were kind enough to take time out of their day, make sure you give the shower an ending time. This will ensure that your guests won’t get worn out and that the host of the party will be able to clear everyone out of their house in a timely manner.

Keep in mind that there is no formula to planning baby shower, and whatever you plan for the mom-to-be will be grateful for your willingness to plan her baby shower.

About the Author:
Tips brought to you by SimplyUniqueBabyGifts.com. Free shipping (lower 48 states) and lowest price guarantee on baby shower favors and personalized baby gift baskets.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 4th, 2010 at 6:07 am and is filed under Inflatables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hi Fodorites,
Hoping for your expert advice.

I am looking for a Manhattan or Brooklyn restaurant that has some fun live entertainment or live music.

I am pretty open to types; belly dancing, flamenco dancing, live folk music, opera singing, string quartet, Irish music sessions, you name it.

I have been surfing the internet, and it's oddly difficult to find this correctly in a category. Looking for a unique New York place. Nothing cheesy like jekyl and hyde.

What are some of your faves? Hoping the food is pretty good too.

Appreciate your expert advice. Thank you in advance for taking the time to help in this dining / entertainment quest.