ridiculous(ly awesome) parties

I have had the honor of hosting several parties in my time ("my time" being the last five years or so). Here are my top five favorites:


1. 24 themed Bridal Shower: My roommate, Kate, and I were usually such calm ladies in our peaceful Summerland loft, but once Jack Bauer came on the screen, we'd unabashedly yell at the screen for a shameful four episodes a night. So when it came time to celebrate Kate, I thought a surprise 24 themed party would be appropriate. Somehow, her maid of honor agreed. Basically, we gave Kate a video of her fiance being held hostage by an evil puppetmaster, and she had a limited amount of time to collect clues around Santa Barbara to save him. We had people waiting at the post office, our old dorms, by the freeway, etc. There was even a (squirt) gun fight. It was epic. And it all ended in a rather classy fondue party. Yeah. (This was partially inspired by an Alias themed surprise party that Zoe threw for me and two other friends. So cool!)
2. Stick Party: For Jeff's 25th birthday, I threw him a stick party. We had food on sticks (kebabs!), food that was sticks (pretzels! carrots!), straws (they look like sticks!), and a pinata (we hit it with a stick!). One guy even came with a plastic gun and said it was a stick up. Har.

Guests came dressed either as if they had a stick up 
their butt or distinctly did not have a stick up their butt.

3. Hunt for the Strange and Awkward: To celebrate nothing, I held an annual hunt for the strange and awkward at the Orange County Fair. And by "annual," I mean one year a big group of people went and the next year Mikkele and I went and the year after that I lived in Virginia and the tradition died. This celebration was inspired by the summers I spent in a ticket booth at that fair, getting paid (poorly) to read Harry Potter and people watch, two of my favorite things in the world. Basically, we tried to find the strangest things and people possible at the fair. There was an abundance of material for this.

Strange thing example: Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich.
Kind of makes you want to curl up in a ball and die, doesn't it?

Strange person example: This is also a cute person example.

4. Cookie Party: For Jeff's 27th birthday, I threw him a cookie party. I asked guests to bring different kinds of cookies for him to sample. We also had a Cookie Monster coloring contest. This was my most simple concept, but was rather successful.

C is for Cookie, obviously.

5. Snobby Bad Art and Fundue Party: For Mikkele's 23rd (I think) birthday, we put bad art that we found at thrift stores and in people's front yard trash on the walls and guests competed to come up with the best name for each piece. We also drank champagne and ate fondue. But mostly it was about the art. This was my favorite party concept to date.

Mikkele called this "Five Flowers and a Funeral." 

I encourage you to steal these ideas if you get the chance. And invite me.