Daily Party Dish

Halloween Office Party

Tomorrow is Halloween as you all should be aware of.  We here at Party411 hope you have your costumes and candy ready to go.  As you know we always like to have a party whenever the reason fits.  Friday usually fits the bill but today we decided to celebrate Halloween.

We last dressed up for Talk Like a Pirate Day and today we were expecting the normal participants. However, we had participation from almost everybody.  As you can see we had a Santa, Charleston dancer, hilarious clown, gunless Queen Amidala, a married woman, scary monster and a pirate.

I have to say I’m impressed with the variety and quality of the costumes.  Amidala made her costume from scratch.  Yes you read that right, from scratch.  She even made her laser gun look like the one from the movies.  Any way you cut it, an impressive display.

It’s hard to ignore the scary monster.  Look at the detail; I’m impressed, as you should be too.  As he said, “People sure got out of my way on the road to work today.”  Looks like a sure fire way to get to work on time, even during Halloween.

We had the typical office grub of pizza, salad, and wings.  Amidala was nice enough to bring in punch.  She went so far as to scoop sherbet into each glass.  Attention to detail is why she would make a good queen.  Santa then brought cookies to all the good boys and girls in the office.  Hard to say, but this might be the best Halloween party I’ve ever been to.

Phenomenal Halloween Invites

Halloween is coming up and I’m excited. Normally I get dressed up and wait to pass out candy to the kids. Of course, the neighborhood kids rarely come by my house. I don’t understand it either, it’s not like we’re giving out “bad” candy. This year is different though. I got invited to a party.

Now we here at Party411 offer some really cool Halloween Invitations. These are really great but the invite I got went above and beyond, because it was a DVD. Yes, that’s right a DVD. I mean how cool is that?

 

The DVD invite gets you ready for the party because you notice the birds attacking the lady. Now movie buffs would immediately get this reference.  Of course if you don’t you would still see birds attacking a woman, which is in line with Halloween.

I popped in the DVD and Hitchcock was talking to me.  Well not to me but it was the intro to his old show.  4 minutes later and some clever editing by the host, I knew I was invited to a Hitchcock Halloween party and where the party was.  Could I have gotten this information out of a paper invite? Sure. Would I have been as excited as I am now? Maybe, but this invite is incredible and I’m ready to double up on passing out candy and partying.

-Brian

Excitement for Halloween

First and foremost, I’d like to apologize for our absence from the Daily Dish. We came down with the flu and needed to heal.  Well, we’re healthy and we’re back.

I’m excited for Halloween. I know almost everybody says that and I am looking forward to passing out candy to neighborhood kids, maybe attending a party and of course dressing up.  These things are all great parts to the excitement of Halloween.  However, there is something else I look forward to with Halloween, and that’s candy bars and cookies at my grandma’s house well before the holiday.

I was at my grandma’s house the other day to cut the grass and basically be a good grandson. She wasn’t home so when I was done I decided on catching another epic Law and Order episode. And to my surprise she had Halloween cookies. Delicious. Then in the T.V. room there was just a wonderful collection of mini candy bars. 

I love mini candy bars because you can eat more of them because they are smaller than a regular candy bar.  These treats were only available because of Halloween. This is yet another reason I look forward to the great holiday. I love the different cookies, and the appearance of mini candy bars in bulk.  That being said Halloween can not come soon enough!

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day.  Since this is a Saturday we at the office decided to embrace the holiday and dress up like pirates a day early.  There was a good deal of participation across the office, which is unusual for such a strange, yet amazing holiday.  The outfits were incredible, as some of us got really involved.  I think my mom had as much fun putting together my outfit as I did wearing it.

Roz for some reason would not leave me alone.  Every single time she had an opportunity to even attempt an attack she would!  The nerve.  Of course we as a group decided for the safety of the entire office we would give her a foam sword, so she wouldn’t hurt anybody, herself included.  (There were no injuries by the end of the day.)

Of course we had parrots, because what would a Pirate party be without a parrot?  And we brought some rum for the party because, again what would a pirate party be without rum?  We had the essentials plus amazing costumes, what a good day.  However, we did not intend for the parrot to get carried away and drink all of the Parrot rum.  Is that breaking some sort of rule? Parrots drinking Parrot Bay. Get back to me on this because I'm a little confused.

I enjoyed my little taste of rum…(remember the boss reads this, so I only had a little.)  I thought my Captain Morgan pose was pretty much phenomenal and I'm happy with it. Notice Roz attempting to stab me again, so glad it was a foam knife. As much as I enjoyed the (little amounts) of rum I really enjoyed the cupcakes. Kathleen always makes delicious baked goods for all of our celebrations and these cupcakes fit the bill and exceeded expectations.

Kathleen and I were probably the most authentically dressed, so naturally we decided to have a duel.  Things were pretty even with the sword fighting, to the point where Kathleen thought she might win.  Silly her, she didn’t expect me to cheat.  It’s Pirate day, of course I’m going to cheat.  I came prepared with a gun and I won. She tried to say I cheated, and my response was that I had a more authentic costume and she shouldn't be jealous.

Now on the drive to work I felt like Brad Hamilton (catch the reference, catch it) but then I thought, I’m dressed like a Pirate and you are not.  I feel sorry for you, so stop giving me dirty looks at the stop light, because we both know you're jealous.  Even better, if I attend a Pirate themed Halloween party later this year, I’m ready to go.  I know my costume is legit, and I’m excited to wear it again. 

How do you celebrate I.T.L.A.P.D.?

What is I.T.L.A.P.D. you ask?  Well simply it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. (It's a legitimate holiday.)  It's celebrated on the 19th of September, which is of course a Saturday.  We here at Party411 decided to get dressed up like Pirates and celebrate a day early.  Since it's not actually International Talk Like a Pirate Day, we decided we would give you a little teaser of what we did to celebrate.  We had a little rum, cupcakes, duels, back stabbings, all in all it was an incredible team building experience!  Check back tomorrow for more updates!

Woodstock Anniversary Music

 

I went to the library last Friday to get my usual dose of graphic novels. (Yes, I still read graphic novels and I’m ok with it.)  I was happy when I noticed a wonderful display of CDs dedicated to 40th anniversary of Woodstock.  I read about a Woodstock Party Playlist recently and I was intrigued.  I recognized most if not all of the artists but I wasn’t familiar with all of the songs.  This was an easy way for me to rock out to some classic music from one of the most influential musical festivals in history. 

I borrowed a Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, and three Woodstock CDs.  I was going to listen to each one in order in it’s entirety but I decided against it.  I made a playlist and put it on random.  I have to say this music is incredible.  Now I know why the other Woodstock’s didn’t have the same amount of success; the artists simply weren’t as good.   

The original Woodstock had performances by Hendrix, Joplin, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jefferson Airplane, to name only a few.  That is an all-star cast of performers.  Then when you look at the music of the entire decade, you can't help but be impressed.  I don’t really want to knock the music of today but are my children going to listen to it?  I doubt it; in fact they’ll probably make fun of me.  The music from the sixties stands the test of time, and will continue to do so. 

I wish I was older so I could justify throwing my own Woodstock theme party.  I don’t care that the anniversary has officially passed, the music is still good and I know everyone would have a blast. If I were to throw this party is there any artist I need to check out? Please let me know, so I can throw an incredible party.

Party on the Patio

My family recently threw a Summer Birthday Party and we now have an excess of beverages.  There was some talk of throwing a Poker party but that idea didn’t appeal to me or my mother because neither of us plays.  This was of course the perfect opportunity to throw our annual Party on the Patio where we invite all of the "old folks." It’s always a fun time and I’m really looking forward to it this year.

Now the old folks are in fact very old.  The group consists of my grandma, and all of her brothers and sisters, and their brothers and sisters.  The average age of the group is probably 80.  That being said these people are all young at heart, my grandma always jokes that she’s only 38. These people are always full of hilarious one-liners and great stories.

My favorite part of the patio party is when the food is cooking on the grill and the guests just start talking.  Once they start they do not stop, and I love it.  I hear the most amazing stories not only about my family history but also personal anecdotes that not even my parents have heard.  This has an interesting impact on my parents and aunts and uncles because they turn into well behaved children, listening to all that's being said.  Everyone wants to know what it was like for them to grow up through some of the most exciting times in American history. It’s one thing to read these stories in a history book, but it’s entirely different when you can put a face to the story.

I’m excited to have this Patio Party because in the past it’s always been a success.  This year we plan to expand the invite list so there is even more potential for hilarity.  My Uncle Bob sings songs that will bring tears to your eyes.  It’s really not fair to us.  So if you have a porch or a patio invite some friends and family over and relax.  Enjoy the summer weather while you can!

Perfect Guy's Birthday Outing

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Perfect Guy’s Party.  The Jimmy character is also my father so I was involved in the party all the way through.  He talked about what the Birthday Outing entails but he left out an important part of the perfect party, anticipation.  I look forward to this party every year, because it comes at the perfect time. When the party actually rolled around the house itself looked ready to party.

Golf.  I play only once a year.  My team is called Team Awesome, and it’s a fitting description, because we’re awesome.  We're so good we only play once a year, to give others hope.  We played the best we ever had this year, and as a result we didn’t finish last.  We were so overjoyed we did victory laps when we found out.  We have been last for three straight years, so now we’re a team on the rise and everyone needs to watch out.

Food.  We got back and the grills were already getting ready.  It’s important to be patient when grilling food because if the grill is too hot, you lose.  And when you’re cooking for 60 or so people you want the food to be good.  To be honest, we probably had too much food.  There were burgers, brats, chicken, sausage, beans, potato salad, fruit and desserts.  We’re still making our way through the food.  If I see another hamburger I’m going to lose it.  Although if I see a cookie, I could probably stomach it.

 

Games.  What would a party be if we didn’t have games or entertainment?  It would not be very fun.  We had plenty of summer party games for the guests to enjoy.  We had horseshoes, which were incredible this year because they were neon orange and neon green.  Trust me; they were a site to behold. We also had bocce which is normally a hit at the party but this year it was a dud of sorts.  This is because we introduced cornhole to the equation.  This is probably my favorite summer game.  I would make that a suggestion you clarify rules before you start.  I say this because my house rules were ignored in a game I was playing.  Needless to say I wasn’t happy about it.  That being said I can comfortably call myself King of Cornhole.  We played till it was dark and then moved into the light and played till people went home.

In the end, this party lived up to the claim of Perfect Guy’s Birthday Party.  There was fun had by all and the food and games were phenomenal.  If you have a summer birthday you still have time to throw the perfect guy’s birthday party.

-Brian

Jell-O Shots at the Office

Today I was treated with a wonderful surprise when arriving at work.  Kim, the Master of numbers, brought in Jell-0 shots.  Being the intern I was a little surprised at this, I know Party411 is a great fun place to work, but Jell-O shots?  Turns out Kim occasionally brings in Jell-O shots for the office to enjoy.  I asked Kim about her famous jell-o shots and how to make them.  Her basic tip was, “Instead of the cold water stir in the vodka.”  She used strawberry banana jell-o with Vanilla vodka for her vodka shots today.  I was impressed but then she said I should go to this make jell-o shots website  because it had more information than she did.  (The website handles almost every question you would have regarding the shots.)

As you can see, people were pretty excited about the idea of Jell-O shots.  This is why I enjoy working here, we work hard but we also play hard.  I thought, being new here, that people would casually enjoy these treats but I was wrong, because people literally threw back the shots.  Of course it was attempted but the jell-o stuck to the plastic and the flashback to college was thwarted temporarily.

As you can see, we enjoyed ourselves and we looked good doing it.  Today, Jell-o shot day, might have been my favorite day at work.  And if you are wondering as I was, we classify these events as team-building exercises.  We also were tie-dyeing while enjoying Jell-O shots, so this was most certainly a team-building exercise.  I’m sure we’ll share the pictures of our adventures in tie-dyeing with you in the near future.  All in all I would deem this a successful day at the office.

Party Safety Reminder

I’m writing this as a reminder to all of my peers.  We are older now and throwing parties in our houses with our money is a new responsibility to us. (Remember, I’m a recent college grad and I should be living in my new place.)  We have to buy the food, condiments and the beverages.  I went to D.C. for the Fourth of July and I can honestly say all of our parents would have been a little disgusted with us.  All had a good time though.  I just want to go recap some party fouls we committed but got away with.

Tiki Torches – This seems pretty simple right?  Wrong.  First the oil looks like apple juice and there were two people who wanted to drink it.  Hard to blame them.  However, the oil is not safe to drink in any way shape or form.  Make sure you fill the torches early and hide the oil.  The placement of the torches is important as well.  Don’t place them under trees or bushes, as we did.  We got lucky nothing burned down but we really should have had some more sense.  I mean we put the one torch directly underneath a branch and the other underneath a bush.  Hooray future!

Food – This party was different than other Fouth parties we all had been to because we were not relying on our parents to provide any of the meat.  Naturally we were more interested in taking care of it because our hourly rate tied to the meat.  We were fairly angry when someone left out some burgers.  I mean it’s not only gross it’s disappointing because that’s our hard earned money.  Of course we weren’t really bothered by the two hot dog buns left out because you don’t need a bun to eat a hot dog and you can use a hamburger bun if you’re in a pinch.

Condiments – I arrived on the Wednesday before the Fourth.  We grilled out and we were catching up.  Of course we left some of the condiments out because, honestly, we didn’t want to deal with it.  This was a bad plan because we were going to be grilling out for the next 4 days.  Good thinking by us. Hooray youth of America!  There was extra ketchup and some mustard in the refrigerator so it wasn’t a total waste. However, eating plain hamburgers and hotdogs for four days straight would have been a waste and disgusting.

Start Times – I used to laugh when parents put start times on their invites.  People always show up whenever is convenient for them anyway.  Now I see the wisdom in the start time.  Getting around D.C. during the holiday weekend is hard and you need to plan.  Of course with no start time people casually show up whenever they want.  There is no impetus to get anywhere on time because there is no time.  This is a mistake and we know now that start times are a must.  End times did not exist however because we stayed up late celebrating and embracing Democracy and Freedom.
 
So Youth of America, put your food back in the refrigerator, don’t put tiki torches under flammable objects, and create a start time.  But also remember these are guidelines and can be bent if necessary as I've demonstrated.