Life On the Brink
Life On the Brink
How To Throw a Great Party w/ my sister Sarah!
Hello hello, welcome to Episode 87 of Life On the Brink!
Today we’re talking about celebrating! I mean, who doesn’t love a party?
Few things excite me as much as a party, and even more so when I get to throw it! When the time comes to celebrate the special moments in life, there’s so many opportunities to be creative, to nurture others and foster relationships, and even better when you can tie it to a THEME <3.
Well, today I’m joined by someone who shares my passion for party-throwing, and is now in fact my co-party-thrower-in-crime. Of course, I mean my sister Sarah. She has joined me on the podcast several times for our Movie Night series, but today we’re branching out into all-out parties and other creative ways to celebrate.
In this episode we talk all about:
-the planning process
-how and where to gather supplies
-setup and time management
-how to incorporate a theme or vibe
-parties we've thrown/want to throw
...and a lot more!
Plus, Sarah has a yummy Little Joy and we're sharing an album of music that can act as a lovely party soundtrack.
For the complete show notes, click here!
For full transcript, click here!
Site: lifeonthebrink.live
Social: @anna_on_the_keys
Welcome to Life on the brink, a lovely little place filled with inspiration and creativity that is dedicated to enjoying life one day at a time. I'm Ana. And together, we're exploring the beautiful things in this world that fascinate us. And often discovering something new. Hello, hello, and welcome to episode 87 of life on the brink, hope you're enjoying your springtime. It's a very special time of the year because not only does it invite, gathering again, especially outdoors, but also it my birthday is in April, basically. And so I start thinking about parties and getting together and the end of the school year as I'm a I'm a teacher, and so a little bit more room a bit more freedom. And one of my favorite things to do is to have a party. I mean, why not. And I've talked quite a bit about smaller gatherings and some parties as I've been making this podcast. But today's episode is all about parties. Because I must say, I throw a pretty good party, I've come from good stock, my mom always made such a nice birthday parties for us growing up in a very homespun DIY kind of way that is just so nostalgic, and beautiful. And also, I'm bringing on a guest. My sister Sarah has joined me several times to talk about movie nights most recently was Holiday Movie Night. And basically, we're just taking it to the next level because Sara throws a good party as well. And we've recently decided to team up our efforts and throw parties together. And so I know I've spoken to some people in my life, especially in the past couple of years that really love to gather and to make a party and to go to parties, but it's kind of intimidating, to know where to begin, and how to make it special. So we've got lots of ideas for all of those questions. And ultimately, it's just about getting together with the people that you love. So hopefully, by the end of this episode, you will be inspired and ready to celebrate whatever. Really any gathering can be a party, if you're if you want it to be. And I just think that this is right in line with what I tried to bring through this podcast what life on the brink is it's celebrating the everydays in the midst of whatever's going on. And sometimes that takes the form of celebrating things as they come. And it doesn't have to be a birthday, although we talk about plenty of birthdays or holiday parties. But it's also just a way to think about celebrating life. So go ahead and make yourself a cup of something warm or iced depending on where you're living right now. It's a beautiful like spring is officially here where I live and I'm loving it the dogwood tree in the backyard is in full bloom. It's gorgeous. So anyway sidetracked go ahead and make yourself a cup of tea or maybe a coffee. And without further ado, this is my conversation with my sister Sarah talking all about the throwing and planning of parties. Already Hello, welcome, Sarah. Welcome back to life on the brink. Now, Sarah has been on the podcast several times, but only ever talking about Movie Night. Because we have lots of Yeah, I think so. I thought we did one more. Is one more Movie Night? Oh, well. But really, those are kind of a party. And today we're talking about more full scale parties. Yes. Now you have thrown many parties in your home and love to throw parties and I have thrown several parties as well. And only recently did we decide and realize I came to you and we decided we ought to throw parties together now in a very Frasier and Niles fashion because it's more effective. I'm Niles. Why don't we go all the way back to how did you Sarah begin in a very short answer, like, why why do you like to throw a party? And how did that come about? Party secrets? Okay, I was gonna talk about it too, but I didn't know I wouldn't I wasn't even expecting that question. But I mean, the answer is clear. Yes. So back in the day, I'm not sure what year this book would have come out, perhaps 2005. Sarah's looking it up. It was by the American Girl franchise back when they had all manner of extracurricular books. And it was just at its peak. And there was a particular book called party secrets, which was very instrumental to our girlhood it would seem, which was just about it was kind of like Emily Post, but for child party secrets, who to invite must dance music, most loved munchies and foolproof fun. Do you have a publishing year? 2003? I wasn't too far off. Yes, so the must dance tunes were like, Smash Mouth, etc, right. Um, we loved this book, and wanted to throw all manner of parties. Our mom was really great when it came to birthdays and stuff. So we we've always loved a theme. And I think that when you're an adult, sometimes a theme, I love a themed party when grownups do this. But also, sometimes it's just a general vibe, you know? So we will consider that as well. So what do you think Sara would be the order of steps to go about planning a party? Where do we begin? Well, normally, I get an idea for a party and then figure out where I'm going to fit it in, in my year. So that's backwards. So scheduling, yes. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to say, well, do I invite everyone in the whole world? Like who? Oh, what all? Yeah, what kind of person would enjoy the party? Because to me, really, the guests are an element of the party fun. It like the same as your decorations, or your food and beverage. Maybe that's because I normally enforce some kind of participation element. So whether that's a tire or activity or an activity or bringing a snack or something, you have to know what kind of person is going to jive with you, on that theme. True. I will say though, that we live near our family, and we see our family a lot. At some point in our lives, when we didn't see everyone like that was just all the families coming as well. And so it is important, or it can be a nice thing to try and incorporate clever ways to incorporate whoever may be there. Yeah. So I like to make lists in general. And so what helps me is usually to think of a theme or the season or the person. And if it's a birthday or something. And to just kind of brainstorm on paper, we did this recently, we'll use a, an example. We are collectively together throwing our brother's 21st birthday. I know Tony doesn't listen to this podcast. But Tony, if on some chance you were listening, stop listening to this episode. It's going to be a Frazier themed birthday, because his favorite show of all time, and they're always throwing parties. So we were going to make a Fraser themed party. It's so layered right now, it's not going to be until September. But there were ideas just as we were talking that were sort of flowing. And so I said, we've got to write these down, otherwise, they won't get out of my head. So we have a big we have a shared Google doc now. But no matter what the occasion, I always think it's nice to write out what I'm envisioning in my head. So last year, I did a whole episode on the Tea Party picnic I did for my last birthday. And so I had, you know, a little column for food, what are we making? What are we packing another four elements of decor, and also where we're going, who's coming RSVPs or not, or whatever. And just making that very early on? I think that's, for me, that's like almost the most fun part so far. Because you can just brainstorm and see what it could be. I like to put little emojis next to each of my categories. To see at a glance, what are we eating. And also, it's just nice for organizational purposes so that you can stay streamlined, you can stay on your theme on what you originally envisioned, so that when something comes up, but it's not going to quite work, you don't feel pressured to include it or incorporate it somehow. And I think it's a nice way as you're going through each category. What do you think like the main categories of party planning would be I said food, decor, food, and decor and activities or entertainment. Possibly dress code? Yes. She takes it seriously or encouraged dress code. encouraged, but why would you not want to? It's just so much fun. It is well, okay, but Josh, like my husband, Josh has a good like control group, because he's not a stick in the mud. But he's also not as theme crazy as we are. But it all generally feels on theme. Yeah. So when you're going through these categories, how do you go about developing the theme or general mood of the party within those elements? And how can you bring them back to a cohesive feel? Let's take your shark party, for example, Sara, through I mentioned it last summer. We had a book club meeting slash movie watching party for the MEG last summer. And so we just called it the shark party. And everything I can't remember what all you did, you can elect to explain how it sort of brought it back into the theme because I remember it just being so cute. We had themed snacks. There were what did we eat? Oh, we had shark coterie. And, right, right, and that shark attack punch which was just read punch with like, optional shark gummies next to it that apparently, I should make it every party our brother said because it was so good. I remember. Yes. The shark coterie. Yeah. Oh, and the the watermelon. Oh, yes, Christian carved a watermelon into the shape of a shark with its mouth hanging open with little spiky teeth and the fin on top. And we put huge eyes on it. It was very cute. And that watermelon, you know, you grab from the inside because it's also a summer. It was so summery. So not super like, like what does watermelon have to do with sharks, but it just has, you know, kind of a beachy vibe, right? So that's the way I like to go about it. Just sort of going through each element and thinking how can I make this a little bit more special? How can it go with the general idea be cohesive with everything, but without sacrificing like, you know, how yummy it will be or something? don't usually ask what we're drinking at the beginning. Oh, that's true. Well, at this point, I will have invited everyone to have made a cup of tea in the intro. Oh, I'm sorry. No, but I didn't share what we're drinking. We're doing it wrong. No, we're not. We're drinking tea. It's the it's from the Republic of tea. It's called Celebrate with a cup of cake. A premium green rooibos tea with lemon vanilla and coconut. Because it's a celebration episode. Yeah. So we have our brainstorming done. We know what we're going to do we have a general idea. So then comes the most difficult part, which is the the in between, in between the brainstorming and party date. The anticipation is absolutely killer. It's the gathering supplies. So where and how do you like to gather such things? Primarily to places my house? Good answer, good answer. And the thrift stores. And anything else just fills in the gaps. I am such a believer when it comes to party throwing in the idea that you don't have to do anything expensive. Because, okay, Shark party, I decorated the table with literally things from my house. I'm very selective with what I get rid of. And you know, I have little craft things lying around. And so you need something to elevate, use a color coordinating book or a little box have something that looks cute or those little weird stones that you put in like a vase or something I had a bunch of those in my craft stuff flying around and seashells from I don't know how long I've had them. And just start with that. I mean, I got some streamers and stuff like that from the store, but then you put it away for the next time. You need blue streamers and who knows when that'll be but yeah, no, I completely agree. I think sometimes you wouldn't necessarily think I have a lot of nautical or aquatic decorations, but it's because they're dispersed throughout your whole house. So if you bring one element like I have a lot of house plants, but if I put them in one spot, it'll look very rainforest. Oh, if I move my own Rainforest Cafe. Oh, that would be so fun one day okay, sorry. So, and we do forest cafe. Live for something. Okay, nevermind, Jungle Cruise. Moving I jungle. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah like Skipper, Skipper canteen. Yeah, vibe. Yes. So you were already brainstorming. Um, what I mean to say is that you probably have more in your home. But when you concentrate it into a general area, it can show itself a bit more. And I do have any leftover party supplies of any kind, especially disposable, like cups and papers and silverware and whatnot. They're all either in a box or in a closet together so that when I'm trying to throw the next thing, how many little summary luau things have I dried? Another thing? Why do you need plates that have like I really loved as kids, it was meant to be economical. But looking back, I see we were ahead of our time, because the fact that our mother never bought like the paper plates that had Ariel on them or something they were doing what people do now, which is the colored ones that are just, well others of the character. Yes, I have memories though of perhaps she would get like smaller like cake plates that had Ariel, for example. Everything would be like solid colors, but she would get like one item from the store that was like of the icon and a couple of balloons, but you're those would you know be used up and then to your point, right? The things left over could be used again. And there's cheaper. Yes. So solid colors as you do with wrapping paper or whatever. It's a great way to go about it. And the thrift stores. I have a good story about the thrift stores. Oh, yes, go ahead. When I threw on his very small, intimate bachelorette it was it was COVID Time party. Yeah, very intimate. It was probably like, I don't know what like five or six of us and just a small little luau themed. Actually, my inspiration was tiki room. I think it was like on a like sticky root. Tiki Room. Yeah. And we were going we were planning eventually our honeymoon would be Hawaii. Right. That was the other time. Uh huh. So that was on the horizon. And so the activity for the evening was the escape room. That was also a theme adjacent. It was like, what was it? Neptune? Yeah, find the Lantis it was underwater. It was underwater. There were beads, you know, so that I couldn't find one that was more like little. Yeah, I was looking for something like that, but it was too far. Anyway, so then when we came back to the apartment, I had gone. I think it was literally the day before. Not that I was saving things for the last minute or anything. She just goes to the thrift store like every other day. Yeah. And so I went through the goodwill outlet, which is where you can buy things by the pound, literally whatever the leftovers are of used items. And they were closing in like three minutes and I found like this cool wooden placemat thing to use that probably cost me a few cents and another thrift store. I had bought like one of those laundry. What is it? It's a drying rack that kind of expands with that diamond pattern on the sides. I had gotten that for maybe four or $5 at the thrift store and turned that into like an awning for the top of the table with a little canopy of grass coming off it Yeah, like for a little a little Kona ice shack thing. And my best find in my three minute goodwill outlet Dash was a little scrapbook that was unused. That was a souvenir I guess from a cruise or something like that that somebody never used. And on the front it said Ana Maria Island just went first and middle name right. It was just too good. Yeah. To me, that is a real island. It must be Oh, but somebody went to Ana Maria Island and bought a scrapbook that was really cute with a little palm tree on the front that looked like all natural texture and everything. So that was the centerpiece on the table. And then I gave it to her. Yeah, I still have I mean I'm gonna The plan is to put our Hawaii photos in the album. But that was great. And it was nice and I remember that there was kalua Style Pork in the crock pot. Yes in the crock pa with the Hawaiian rolls. We made little sliders. You were making frozen drinks. And then we did sort of mock dole whip. Yeah, in the blender and there was other little Senate when I have done a Hawaiian party. We had just gone there. And we came back and I was like, I'm having a luau. And I made like, macaroni salad and rice. And I did. Oh, that mac salad was good. And pineapple, everything you know. But that's a great example of just like finding things. When we had the Tea Party last year for my birthday. I think I got like, maybe I think I found some tablecloths or basically like, more like blanket items, but everything else I owned already. And we just use what we had. Yeah, it was great. Okay, so you've gathered things you've been shopping around? I like to keep those in a little list as well. So it's approaching party day or party weekend or the day before? How have you found either the easy way or hard way? How to eliminate stress and make it more fun? I think that the party prep can be an activity of its own. If you're doing DIY type stuff. Yeah. i If it were me, I'd probably put on a theme, a movie that goes with whatever activity, why not. And then maybe, like we're doing have a cup of tea that's on the theme, just so that it's fun leading up to it too. Of course, I have a tendency to cram, once I get towards party time, spend most of your time choosing the right. But I don't I work well, sometimes when you have that buzz of like the few days before the party, and it just all comes out. I do try to do the things that I can do in advance, you know, some decorating and things like that. But I think that if you're not having fun, then maybe you're taking the wrong approach, like just start there. And think, why am I not having a good time when this is supposed to be fun? And then just try to make it lighter? Lighter for yourself? Yeah, I think it's sometimes it does come down for me to time management. And so, like you said, doing as much as you can beforehand, because everything takes me longer to do than I think it's going to, and I know that probably everybody says that. But I think I'm gonna do this, this this this. Here's a here's a crazy thing. Do you remember when we watched a crazy episode of I bribed Zillow or something one time, and the bride wanted to be the last one ready? And everyone was looking at her? Like, what are you doing? Like, you need to get your makeup done. And she was freaking out because she wanted everyone to be like, done and ready and at the church, and then she would finish getting her hair done. I think about that a lot. I have I have not thought about that since the day we watched that, like 10 years ago. Well, sometimes I think there is something like pleasing about that moment of like you finished setting the you know, the last candle in place or something and then the door opens like just the steam button, the floodgates where it's I think we romanticize maybe without knowing it, the hours and minutes leading up to when something is too. Or maybe that's just me, or do you know, I know that you vocalize that. I definitely relate. So in a different way. When I've tried to counteract that, I was just a hosting one time just tea like an afternoon tea for me and one other person. And Josh and I had like, I already had dinner or like weren't going to use the dining room table. And so I I laid out the tablecloth and I said it the night before because I was just thinking of it. And I had the energy to do it. And I thought I'm not going to use this table between now and tomorrow. Stairs giving me a face. Yeah, that was probably smart. Right. So those kinds of things are not as fun because the energy of the day might not be there. But it'll be smarter in the long run. Yeah, I mean, I don't even like Christian to see my look like before I'm done sometimes. It was so weird about that kind of thing. But I Yeah, then I don't have to cram so much right. It gets stuff done. Yeah, let it be little pieces until until the floodgates. I also would like to point out that I've mostly pay attention to this when it comes to the food, especially if things have to be hot. Because if they don't, you can make them so early in advance. I remember back in the day, maybe It was Food Network magazine, or even Rachael Ray magazine. They would do like particular spreads of like a party and all of the things and then there would be a timeline. There'd be like, ooh, five days before, do these steps three days. Remember that, like Thanksgiving? Everyone does this at Thanksgiving, but never again, I think that it's a great thing to put into practice it for a dinner party for a larger sort of party or whenever you need it. So then people arrive. And I will say we both know the pain of people canceling the day of can I just make a gentle PSA? Sure, I really think it's important to consider as with a wedding, obviously, it's not a shark themed party in the middle of summer is not on the same level of significance at somebody's wedding. However, somebody had to take the time to consider this party and the people that they wanted to be there. And I think if everybody appreciated that just a little bit more, the fact that somebody wants you there, and that there has been an effort to orchestrate this thing. That at least that if you can't make something expressing that to your host or hostess is always very much appreciated. Rather than a sorry, I won't be able to make it 10 minutes before you were expecting me when something obviously has not just come up in the last five minutes is always appreciated. It's sad. It's a it's a damper on the energy a little bit. Obviously, people get sick and things happen, man, because I know you said shark themed party, because that happened at your shark party where like many people Yeah, the day of or day before we're like, such and such. But that was still we have good memories of that. Right? We have still had a keystone positive memory. Yeah. So flexibility. Let's talk about flexibility. Because all of this planning leading up to this party would suggest rigidity, but flexibility is needed. I know how I did one party what you know how you do over plan to the max so that what you end up with that's actually achievable, is probably at the level that you want it. Can you elaborate. So if my vision is so grand and like out of reach so many elements, okay, let me give an example. Okay. In my head and my shark themed party, the big alcove? Uh huh. That is like this. I don't know, there's no other way to describe it as they're really like one of those big alcoves that was like a pretty designed feature and a lot of early 2000s builds. We have a flat wall. And I was just going to, in my head, I was projecting onto that screen onto that wall, like a full size aquarium projection of like, the Georgia Aquarium. And then I was like, How do I crop people's heads out of that, like it was going way too far? It was going way too far. So then where I ended up was not with a full size, aquarium projection, but you put the ambiance on the TV. I love TV ambiance your party background. Oh, yes, we should have mentioned that with decor. It's it's slash ambiance, which includes music and lighting as well. lighting as well. I love my Hue light bulbs. Oh, that highly recommend if you like that part of party throwing the theme? I don't know if I'm talking to right. If you like the specific elements of throwing parties, I recommend hue bulbs, so that you can adjust the color palette and color. The colors of your lights. Yeah. Yeah. And I think if you're if you're in a party, or you're throwing a party and you're thinking, Hmm, the energy's a little weird in here, ask yourself, Is there music playing? Music is huge. Probably not. The music is big. Doesn't have to be top 40 By all means, avoid. But even a soundtrack who doesn't love to make a playlist I have? No. That's part of the fun. It's it's really a Disney park approach all the senses consider what impression you're going to get sight sound, smell, taste, touch, and how you can incorporate your theme in that way. So funny. Okay. So back to it. So flexibility. Sara and I both work in the entertainment industry and have been to hundreds of parties and events and I mostly children's birthday parties which are theme heavy theme heavy yet, we don't yet have any children of our own. So we can't speak to throwing children's parties, but we've been to a lot of them. And one thing that I think is just like, too much work for the party thrower, for really no reason is over scheduling the order of events. Yes. And now, we do encourage an order of events, if you want to have certain activities, or there's a cake to be cut later or whatever. But that can all be that can flow. We've been to some parties where the children are ushered from one activity to another activity to just so many. And they're all saying, Can I go outside? So Right? Because the whole, all of the planning in the creating of the party is just to facilitate the engagement of people just having a good time. And a good time. Yeah. So in the same way, I always bring a lot of things back to jazz, for example, different jazz tunes, especially if they're very orchestrated like big band music or something. They're all just creating a certain vibe in which to house improvisation. So that saxophonist stands up, and he's going to play or she's going to play a solo that is going to be influenced by all of the crazy stuff that the band just played, it's going to be a different solo, ideally, artistically if then a song that is completely different. So all of this planning and the food and all of the things is creating a very nice vibe, so that you can just facilitate the improvisation that comes with human beings and a room together. That's good. Yeah. Been on a jazz analogy show yet? So yeah, so really, I think a lot of unstructured time is great, because people are just catching up and talking to each other, which is so much fun. And then once you've done enough of that, then you throw in a little Hey, the game the thing, the book club meeting, the unveiling of such and such, right? And that just adds another element, which then brings a new flavor to the improvisation. Yeah, I think that part of that comes with knowing what kind of group you've invited as well, and what kind of group has shown up? Because I recently, well, sort of recently, it was at Halloween, went to a very small Halloween party, thrown by friends. Oh, hi, Delaney. It was super fun. I loved your Halloween party. Because, you know, in a setting where I didn't know everybody, personally, I found it very fun to have like lots of games to play that were scheduled and like required supplies and everything. That's a good point. So that we got to know each other a little bit, you know, and talk about what we do and like who we are and stuff but didn't feel necessarily pressured to No, you're absolutely right. Too much time. Yeah, delving into all that where we had just had a lot of fun. You're right, the same level of unstructured hanging out time might have been awkward for you who didn't really know anyone, right? So that's a good thing to consider. Didn't think about that. So do you have any lessons or things that experiences that have taught you how to refine the party throwing skills? Um, I don't know, maybe this sounds uppity. But if you I just realized, personally, I really needed a Cricut Oh, I would say if there's something that you really want to invest in. You don't have to think that it's silly, because you're just going to use it for for for fun stuff for throwing parties or for your own personal leisure time or whatever. Because if you have the means and you will really make use of this thing. That's okay. I'm not about to start selling Cricut stuff on Etsy. I'm not that kind of lady. I am the kind of lady who cut out with nail scissors 50,000 miniature Club Penguin shapes to make custom play your cards in keychains. Yes, sir. Our little sister Nino's Club Penguin themed birthday party. She threw a Club Penguin themed party for Nina which was great. And yeah, I met I made sure they were the right size and the computer and I printed them out. I think I had them printed at like Office Depot too. So they were like nice quality. And then I enlisted Christian to help me. We should have put on a themed movie that day because it was just us like hunched with two pairs of nails scissors, cutting out so the cookie cutter purses and hats in, like micro size. And so the Cricut I realized after that day, that would be a really good personal investment treat for me. You. And so I have one now. And I got to use it at Shark party. That's true. It was great at Shark party. So I just wanted to sort of either brainstorm ideas or just hear your thoughts on throwing parties for reasons other than birthdays. What do you mean reasons? Well, like, for example, what are some other things that let's just sort of spitball? That would be nice, fun parties together. So book club for one bow. Okay, like that. Okay, gotcha. That could make a good one. Could be for me this year, a movie premiere? A premiere? Yes. Because I am considering throwing a Barbie party for the premiere of the film. Yeah, I'm very excited. Okay. Yeah, that would be just another level on top of going to see a movie. Right? Well, seasons seasonal? Well, we have our Oktoberfest party every year, as well. Yes. In which we just make German food and party. That's, that's a themed although it's gotten a little more involved with each year, I guess. So, let we grow. We have discussed the, our clue Movie Night, which I talked about, I guess it must have been I wanted to do it this past winter. But you know, we were moving and whatnot. But basically playing the game of Clue but in costume and in character, and with cocktails and spooky music and all of that. So that's it's been on my mind, ya know, it's still to come. So anything where you would normally gather with people can become a party. I mean, simple as that, honestly. So with that, there are many reasons to celebrate. Are there any specific parties that you want to throw in the future other than other than Barbie party or the party and the clue the clue and now Rainforest Cafe Jungle Cruise? thing? Yes. Yes. Aside from those I have wanted for a while to actually okay, well, one first, I have thought it would be fun. I think it was when one of Nino's birthdays was coming around the corner. And I thought it would be a cute idea to do like, maybe it sounds dumb, singing out loud. But like that kid core aesthetic themed birthday party, where it's basically the Rockem sockem scene from the Santa Claus to catch up with like classic games and like because like Toy Story land? Yeah, yeah, that kind of thing. What he's lunchbox, grilled cheese. Yeah, grilled cheeses and tater tots and gummy snacks and all that kind of stuff. You'd have to invite the right kind of person. Inner Child. Yeah. Then inner child kind of party. I'll come. Yeah, I think that would be fun. And like low, low stress. And then I've also wanted to throw a teddy bear tea before because Well, there's two variations of teddy bear to you either gathered to make teddy bears or you bring your favorite teddy bear to the tea party. And sometimes your teddy bear count. How would you Oh, is that I know. And I just love the idea of the color palette. That's all golden Grammy. So I want to throw a teddy bear T hairbows. And, and warm colors. Do do you set play settings for the bears? I haven't gotten to that stage yet. Okay. Very cool. I guess they would need to eat right. Um that question you're so determined. Well, that's nice. I'm just pleased that now, Josh, he now like brainstorms party stuff with me. Because last year, we had a true party for Josh. He liked it. That was fun. That was fun. And it was totally him. Because it wasn't themed per se. It was just at our house. But what he wanted was to make basically he wanted to force all of his friends to play tech in the it's a video game. Because I would have been like, what's that? It's a fighting style video game. And he loves it and he was great at any he won the tournament, but he like, found a bracket and assembled, you know, a tournament for everyone who came over to fight and there's a loser's bracket and a winner's bracket and like, we were playing for a couple hours everyone playing and it was hilarious because most of us didn't know what we were doing and I was just pressing buttons, and we got pizza. though, because he loves pizza, and I made Oh, I made the espresso brown butter chocolate chip cookies and ice cream. And that was just fun because there was this ongoing tournament. So a bit of excitement. But then we were just hanging out. I like to think he was inspired by my birthday party. Oh, which I guess we haven't talked about, oh, my gosh, that was a good one. Well, you know, I might have mentioned it all the way back in the day, there's an episode, I'll link it in the in the blog post that was all about, quote, making special days special, which was really a pandemic thing where you couldn't like have normal experiences. And so I think maybe a lot of our the next level of party love that we had came from COVID. That's probably when we couldn't go do things. And so, yeah, Sarah had a birthday where she would normally go to this anime centered convention that comes to town around her birthday. And it wasn't happening. So she threw a themed party, which included, everyone had to give a little bit of a presentation. But it was like, Yeah, well, the whole theme was like, we were just going to recreate the con in the apartment. And so there had to be a panel of some kind. And so when everybody arrived, I sent them on their phone, the character that they were going to present on, and I said it's wrong answers only though. So you have to come up with something funny about who this character and it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. It was so much fun. And I was really glad that everybody enjoyed it. Yeah, everyone was a good sport. I, for example, was sent a picture of Spyro the Dragon, and I began my panel. As if I was going to begin I was going to talk about Dragon and whatever the other two dragons are from Game of Thrones, because I just been watching Game of Thrones. And so everyone introduces their topic. And then the image is shown. It was just so fun. So he probably was a little inspired by that. We had a Mario Kart tournament after that. That's right. That's right. And so now he's like, wondering what he's going to do for his neck. He mentioned his birthday the other day, and I was like, looking at my watch, like it's October your birthday. But that's that made me really happy. He likes to brainstorm party stuff now. But because it was getting him, it wasn't a whole, you know, Tea Party picnic extravaganza that I wanted. It was like, exactly, him. So I think it's fun, as we've been also throwing parties for our family members, learning what is going to be special to them. And I also personally, when possible, if you are throwing a party for someone else, I like to include a surprise of some kind, because why not? surprise and delight? If not the whole thing not actually surprise party, but like Tony is going to come to his party, same as Nina and her Club Penguin thing. Knowing that there's a party, but not knowing anything about it, then I think that is fun. Does he not even know it's Fraser themed? No, he does. Okay, but he doesn't know that all of the things that we're going to do that are on our list. So yeah, and then would probably leading up to like the mega boss, we will be planning our mom's 50th birthday, which is in like two years now where the theme is mom, the theme is our mom. And that's going to be probably the biggest party we will have thrown because she wants catering. Right. So this is just so great. Parties are so fun. And if it's not fun, if it's stressful, then then it doesn't have to be take a step back and simplify a little bit because ultimately, it's just people getting together to celebrate. Do you have any parting thoughts? Party on Friday as your party thoughts, right? Well, I would love photos. I'm going to share pictures from the Club Penguin party from Shark book club, my bachelorette party, also your bachelorette party. We were each other's maid of honor. Right? Yeah. And I'll include pictures of all that stuff and Oktoberfest and whatnot. So, do you have a little joy to share with us? Oh, man, I always forget that thing. You have a few minutes we'll explain. For those who may not know I always invite my guests to share a little joy, which is something that is either a physical item or an experience or a moment something that has brought joy to their lives that is perhaps small but impactful. When you are on Sara I was going to say one but then I realized I always say a food. Well you don't always say a food but I mean, there was allowed olives that were so good. Okay, can the little joy be a moderate joy? That is called I like olives now. Yeah, okay. I'm like we are bye NO MEANS picky eaters. But when we were little kids olives was one of the foods that I didn't like. And as I grew up, I realized olives are really good. They're so good. Just like a little salt bomb. So tasty. So I had these olives the other day they were coming for Shark Tank, right? That were so good with them. I don't even know what they were seasoned with. But Kalamata and green olives and I'm on I'm getting on the green olives. Now. Wow. Mata was the gateway. Wow. Yeah. So shout out to those olives. Well, that's good. Wonderful. And I can either share me it for the music this week. Do you have any that you'd like to share? Or? I don't know. I know that we must have had playlists. But I think for shark party I had. Like, it's I was most inspired by Mack the Knife. Oh, yeah. So it was it was going that direction also, because the MiG features beyond the honesty in the trailer. So we went that route with So Bobby Darren, I can share a Bobby Darren album, the one I think it's self titled that has Mack the Knife and be on the sea on it. Yeah, that works. Yeah. Okay. That's always just nice to listen to as well. So any party that's good background music? Yeah. Is there anywhere that listeners can find you for party stuff or otherwise? Online? Um, every once in a blue moon, I put something on Instagram. The things that I make and costumes, costumes and DIY things, so Okay, well, I will link the Instagram then. Yeah, well, this is always fun. Glad we can branch out from simple movie nights to big parties right on the podcast. So thank you so much for coming back. Uh huh. So there you go. I hope that you enjoyed our conversation. I know it was a little bit rabbit Tralee at times. But it was all fun. And I'm excited to see what our next little get together will look like. And as I mentioned, I will be leaving photos of all of those parties over on the blog that's going to be at life on the brink dot live. And this is episode 87. Also, I found out that the album that I was referring to the bobby Darren album is not self titled it's that's all. It was released in 1959. And it starts with Mack the Knife followed up by beyond the sea. And it's got a lot of other great arrangements. I have this one on vinyl, so I knew it was something about me. And also, if you enjoyed this episode, I would recommend checking out podcast 54, which was the Tea Party picnic of my dreams in which I went into more in depth the planning of probably one of the more ambitious celebrations I've planned. And all the way back on podcast eight, also in 2020. That was making special days special, which I referenced in our conversation today. Just different ways to celebrate special days when maybe you can't have a party all the time or you're not sure how to celebrate. It's a really heartwarming episode. I think it was made during lockdown, but it can be applied to many other things. So feel free to check out those episodes as well as the whole movie night series. With me and my sister. We've got every season covered as well as spooky movie night and Holiday Movie Night. Finally, I just want to say that if you have ideas or you have suggestions for future episodes, feel free to send me an email drop me a line. If you do go to life on the brink dot live at the bottom of every page, there's a box that says let's chat and you can just send me a quick message. Let me know how you're doing and what you'd be interested in hearing in the future. Also down there as a little side box that says want more inspiration, which is where you can sign up for the free monthly newsletter. It comes out on the first Friday of every week. And so that'll actually be this week if you choose to sign up on the day that this episode is released. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a wonderful day that you're enjoying the spring season. I will be back in two weeks with a new episode and until then, may you find many reasons to celebrate. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Life on the brink. If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to leave a star rating or even better leave review on Apple podcasts to help spread the word. For podcast show notes and extra inspirational posts throughout the week. Head to the blog at life on the brink dot live. And if you'd like a little extra dose of inspiration in your life, sign up for the monthly newsletter, which lights up your inbox the first Friday of each month. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, friends, you have a lovely week. Bye