Daily Party Dish

Camp for Moms! Now, that is a party!

This past weekend I went to “Mom’s Camp” at a local overnight camp! What a great weekend.  Mom’s camp is just like overnight camp you remember as a kid…swimming, canoeing, arts & crafts, horseback riding, hiking, rock walls, campfires with S’mores, yoga classes… you name it and it was available!

But there is a twist – the campers are pampered all weekend long.  Counselors were on hand to serve us gourmet catered meals with wine and cocktails at every meal.  Snacks were available all weekend long. (Who can resist hot apple pie and fresh popped popcorn at midnight?)  We were also treated to professional massages.  What a life!

Surrounded by good friends and wonderful weather, we were free to relax, play or spend the weekend any way we chose! 

Now, you don’t need an organized camp weekend like this to enjoy friends and relax.  Gather some friends for an impromptu weekend away or even an evening away.  You don’t have to throw a theme party! The point is to be together and have a great time.  Then it’s always a party!

Campingly Yours,
Amy

Preschool Dinner and Fire Trucks!

I helped plan a dinner at my son’s preschool last month.  It was a really fun evening!  All of the kid’s classes made decorations that we used as centerpieces and as decorations in the rooms.  (I’m telling you, there is nothing cuter than a flower centerpiece made by a 3 year old)

 

We had a pizza, pasta and salad dinner and working with a group of moms concerned about anyone going hungry, we ordered way too much food.  WAY too much food.  At the end of the evening we had sheets of pizza and big pans of pasta leftover.

 

Someone offered a great suggestion for all of the leftovers that I thought was “blog-worthy.”  We called a local fire department and asked the crew there if they would like the leftovers.  They were more than happy to take the food off our hands!  At the end of the party, my 3 year old and I brought tons of food to the guys at the station.  They were thrilled and my son got a personal tour of the fire trucks.  How cool. 

 

So, if you’re looking for something to do with all of your leftovers, consider this as an option.  It’s certainly better than letting all of the food go to waste! 

 

Amy

 

P.S. We also learned that night that police stations are NOT allowed to take food donations, so stick with the fire department.  And be sure to call and see if they are interested before you show up at their door.

The Winner of the What’s a DAME to do?! Giveaway

Drum roll please......

The winner of our What's a DAME to do?! giveaway is ..... comment number 31!

 

Joy is our winner! Here is her winning comment -

"I blogged your giveaway here ... http://myreasonstoblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/giveaways-galore.html"

Thanks for entering everyone!

The Partyettes play Obama! The Card Game - Win one for yourself

I am extremely impressed with the width and breadth of the Barak Obama commemorative items available. Obama pajamas (Ojamas) anyone? A little Hope on a Rope? Or maybe you are in the market for a set of Obama nesting dolls. I know I am :)

If you want an Obama commemorative that will not sit on a shelf and collect dust, you should check out Obama! The Card Game. It's a game where you are Barack Obama, and your objective is (natch) to win the White House.

Julie and I sat down to see who could bring the most hope. It took us forever to get through the first game because we were laughing so hard at the cards! 2 points for Oprah heart's you! Here we are after I play my Palin card and take the lead ... "You betcha!"

Seriously, this is a really fun game with really funny illustrations. It is $14.95 at ObamaCardGame.com.

We are also giving one of the card games away. Just comment on this post between now and February 5th and you are entered to win.

 - Kathleen

*** Thank you to everyone who participated! Our winner is our 4th commenter John, who was chosen by the Random.org integer generator! Congratulations!

 

Inauguration Day Parties - Sherri Foxman on Good Company

Our very own Sherri Foxman (aka the Party Girl) recently appeared on a local morning show "Good Company" to talk about Inauguration Day Parties.

Even though it was early in the morning, Sherri and the staff had a great time! Here is a clip from the show!

Here are a few pictures Julie took during the taping!

Inauguration Day Party Giveaway! - Take Two

A few weeks ago we had a contest for an Inauguration Day Party Giveaway. After the contest ended we received a boatload of emails from people who just missed the deadline and wanted to enter. So we spoke with Sherri, and she is letting us re-run the contest! Yay!

And all you have to do to enter is comment on this post! Double yay!

We are giving away a party’s worth of personalized goods:

• 25 Obama or Bush Party Invitations with Envelopes
• 50 Obama or Bush Bottle Labels (for Beer or Water)
• 50 Obama or Bush Candy Bar Wrappers
• 50 pieces of Bush or Obama Personalized Money
• and a fun party hat with a few more goodies inside
  

Here is a sampling of the styles the winner can choose from:

  
 

 

See all of the Toodle-oo "W" designs

or

See all of the Howdy-do Obama designs

So whether you want to have a “Bye Bye Bush” or “Hello Obama” party (or a little of both), this prize package will have you covered!

The Rules:

1. To enter, leave a comment on this post. Or you can email [email protected] with the subject line “Entry for Blog Giveaway”. 

2. Contest is open from Tuesday, January 6th to Tuesday, January 13th, 2009. The winner will be chosen at random on the 13th at midnight and we will contact the winner Wednesday morning, by email for your address and prize choices. We will ship the prize package within 3 days of getting your information.

3. Only one entry per person please.

4. This contest is open to US residents only (we will only ship the package to a US address).

Good luck, and don't forget to check out the Toodle-oo “W” and Howdy-do Obama Inauguration Day Party for lots of great party planning ideas!

- Kathleen

Toodle-oo “W” and Howdy-do Obama Party Giveaway!

Inauguration Day is almost here, and we are ready to party!

Party411.com’s Toodle-oo “W” and Howdy-do Obama Inauguration Day Party has been such a big hit that we decided it would be fun to do a giveaway to all of our loyal Daily Party Dish readers (that’s you)!

We are giving away a party’s worth of personalized goods:

• 25 Obama or Bush Party Invitations with Envelopes
• 50 Obama or Bush Bottle Labels (for Beer or Water)
• 50 Obama or Bush Candy Bar Wrappers
• 50 pieces of Bush or Obama Personalized Money
• and a fun party hat with a few more goodies inside

Here is a sampling of the styles the winner can choose from:

  
 

 

See all of the Toodle-oo "W" designs

or

See all of the Howdy-do Obama designs

So whether you want to have a “Bye Bye Bush” or “Hello Obama” party (or a little of both), this prize package will have you covered!

So here’s the deal, all you need to do to enter the contest is leave a comment on this post. Simple right? Ok… here are the “official” rules:

The Rules:

1. To enter, leave a comment on this post. Or you can email [email protected] with the subject line “Entry for Blog Giveaway”. 

2. Contest is open from Monday, December 22nd to Sunday, December 27th. The winner will be chosen at random Sunday at midnight and we will contact the winner Monday morning, December 28th by email for your address and prize choices. We will ship the prize package within 3 days of getting your information.

3. Only one entry per person please.

4. This contest is open to US residents only (we will only ship the package to a US address).

Good luck!

Pass the Halloween Candy please!

I was looking in my cabinets this morning and I realized that we still have Halloween candy from our Halloween party last year.  Seriously.  My kids are too little to eat that much sweet stuff and apparently I have just enough self control not to eat all their sweets.  As trick or treating is quickly approaching, I was beginning to wonder what I would do with all the candy we get this year!

 

Well, I just heard about this great website, http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/.  Kids can bring their Halloween candy to a participating dentist (who are listed on the site) and they will get $1 for every pound of candy they bring in.  The candy is then sent overseas in care packages for our troops. I just love it. 

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

- Amy

 

Halloween at Party411.com

A few of us dressed up for Halloween, and we wanted to share:

 

That's me (Kathleen) in the ninja costume, and Amy (on the right) and Nanette (the left) were both dressed festively!

The boys were also wearing cute costumes -

Dylan as a biker...

 

And Brady as a little devil (doesn't he look thrilled?)

He put his pirate sweater back on after the photo shoot because the hat was annoying him.

Happy Halloween from everyone at Party411.com!

Chasing those Post Halloween and Election Blues

Bored? No pumpkins to carve? Costumes to buy? No annoying political calls? No ads to watch on TV?  Not to worry—the holidays are around the corner and both November and December have plenty of other stuff to celebrate.  If your mood is more bah humbug than ho ho ho, read on.

The national holidays in both months have something to offer even the least creative.  Among other things, November is national Pomegranate Month, Roasting Month and Peanut Butter Lovers Month (it's all about food).

December is the Birth Month of Bingo (celebrated nationally I'll have you know), Choose a Summer Camp Month and, lastly, Tie Month (could it be that more ties are sold at Christmas than in any other month?  I betcha!).  Try having an Ugly Tie Party…the winner gets, uh, an even uglier tie.

Let’s move on to Saturday nights. Since we can’t rely on Saturday Night Live still being a must-see, better have fun between 7 and 11!

Saturday, 11/1
Hockey Mask Invented (1959)-- Sarah Palin will be partying, you should too!

Saturday, 11/8
Abet and Aid Punsters Day--invite people over to make dreadful puns--or not.
Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day—sounds like the perfect time for a bold and pungent pot luck!

Saturday, 11/15
National Bundt Day—have a contest; there’s more than 40 shapes available.
Elephant Roundup at Surin, Thailand—I couldn’t pass this up.

Saturday, 11/22
Alascattalo Day—honoring humor in Alaska (haven’t we been doing that?  And, oh, by the way, theoretically an alascattalo is when you cross a walrus with a moose).
International Aura Awareness Day—invite guests to share their aura!

Saturday, 11/29
Wow…nothing but Howie Mandel’s birthday—no big DEAL.

Saturday, 12/6
Ira Gershwin’s Birthday—time for a Broadway sing along, no?
Missouri Earthquakes Anniversary—the most prolonged series of earthquakes in US history, let’s shake, rattle and roll!

Saturday, 12/13
National Day of the Horse—time for a Night at the Races video party!

Saturday, 12/20
Anniversary of the TV premiere of The Dating Game—pretend it’s the Newlywed Game or We’ve Been Married Forever.

Have fun!

- Sherri