Geek Pride Day 2014 - Party for Two

See today, May 25^th, is deemed “Geek Pride Day”. Now there is a holiday we can get behind.

What is Geek Pride Day you ask? It seems:

“So many reasons for nerds and geeks to celebrate this Friday! It was originally chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the first Star Wars film’s release, but it’s also a day for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy enthusiasts to commemorate the passing of author Douglas Adams by carrying around towels, and it’s the day of the Glorious Revolution in Terry Pratchett’sDiscworld series, for which fans wear lilac and raise money to give to Alzheimer’s charities (Pratchett was diagnosed with the disease in 2008). The day was officially conceived of by nerds in Spain, who celebrated in Madrid by creating a giant human Pac-Man game. Since then it’s become a worldwide phenomenon for all things nerdy.” - http://flavorwire.com/292968/9-weird-subcultural-holidays-you-didnt-know-existed

The husband loves Star Trek. He enjoys Dr. Who. Both of these have now been imposed upon me so long living together in happily married geekdom. Does it surprise anyone that I score a lot better on Trivia Quizzes after marriage then I would have before? I have a fondness for Big Bang Theory, HGTV, PacMan, shoes, teapots, and anything 80's. Together we encompass many GeekGenres. So this sounds like a perfect day for a party for two. You know, those evenings at home curled up on the couch eating pizza and watching a movie. The epitome of Geek married bliss. So here is a little from our Geek Pride Day celebration.

TV viewing – We read an article online that there is a movie, “Unicorn City” that sounds too funny for words. It was suppose to be available on Netfilx. Insert sad Geek Disillusionment here. Oh well we do own the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And recently we had discussed that perhaps we should re-watch the Star Wars movies. For the most part, when someone mentions Star Wars – to us - “Wrong franchise!” But I do have fond memories of watching these movies on TV at my neighbor's house when we were children. He adored these movies. And he had all the cool toys. I admit I use to want to borrow the Ewok Village the most. Followed by the Playdough Star Wars set. So we have started ordering the Star Wars DVDs for rental from Netflix, (http://netflix.com). Luckily the second original movie has arrived in time.

Fete Avec Moi

Food - So here I sit, in my Star Trek pajamas. Eating pizza that we cut with a Starship Enterprise pizza cutter (given to us by my brother-in-law). Drinking my Pepsi from a Uhura glass. For dessert I will be having chocolate sandwich cookies (like Oreo's but the $1 Stop and Shop kind) that are kept in a Tardis shaped cookie jar. And I will have Pacman candies, R2D2 candies, and drink a Pacman energy drink. That should be enough sugar to keep the fatchick inside me quiet long enough to enjoy the Star Wars movie.

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Decorations - I gathered a bunch of the Geeky items we have from around the house: my Rubix cube tissue holder, my shoe wine opener (mental note to use THAT later this evening), our Star Trek glasses, our Star Trek pizza cutter, and the Dr. Who Tardis cookie jar. I purchased Pacman candies (in miniarcade game looking tins) from our local Five Below (http://www.fivebelow.com/). They also had Pacman Energy drinks. I've had these before. I was rather happy to find them. And they had R2D2 shaped candy holders. I pulled all of these items onto a side table with a framed picture I created. The picture frame now reads, “Wow, you say geek like it's a bad thing” inside a pair of glasses. You'd think I found enough cr-p, I mean stuff. But apparently my husband felt that I had forgotten the Star Trek tissue box from the bathroom. Yes, we have a Star Trek themed bathroom. ;) I guess I have taught him well with decorating. It did bring some balance to the table.

Did you show your Geek Pride Today? The twitter hashtag is #GeekPrideDay.

A collection of photos:

There's No Place Like Home...

My sister has worked enough years and reached that point in her life where she can hang up her typewriter and retire. I knew the transition from working to not working would take some adjusting to. So to make her feel better I visited on her last day of work and decorated. My theme? "There's No Place Like Home" aka a Wizard of Oz/Dorothy inspired event. I ran to our local Target. Did you know that the movie version of The Wizard of Oz is celebrating it's 75th Anniversary this year? Target has the movie on DVD available for just $12.99. If it isn't already in your family's collection that is a great price point to acquire this wonderful classic.

For the decorations I wanted something simple yet cute to welcome her home that evening after work. So from a dollar store table cloth I created a yellow brick road. I taped a yellow table cloth down from the front door to the landing by the stairs. With a permanent black marker I drew a brick pattern. My mother couldn't get over how quickly I put that together. I think she may have enjoyed it even more than my sister did.

Did I mention that the idea for this party and the idea to have a small family party only struck me at 8pm the evening BEFORE her retirement?! So here is what I managed to put together in a few hours. I was finished decorating by 2pm the next afternoon. Perfectly ahead of her finishing work around 5pm.

So the thoughts began to swirl like the Kansas hurricane...
I own some brown and white gingham tablecloths from my country Christmas party. I had considered using them. After all the scenes at home in the Wizard of Oz are in black and white. So I post this as an idea in case someone wanted to replicate this and use that color scheme. But I decided to embrace the technicolor side and go with blue and white gingham. So the thoughts began to switch. The house to pitch and suddenly the party was pulled off without a hitch.

I had white Styrofoam cups. I went online and found a picture of Dorothy with the caption "There's No Place Like Home". I always try to give credit where credit is due: http://nolaridge.com/sites/all/files/XL1729_1.jpg?1329408757
I printed these on labels. Placed the labels on the cups to fancy them up. And I taped a strip of white paper around water bottles that I had left over from the Shoe Shindig. Then added the same graphic on top.

I flew faster than the Wicked Witch on her broom to our local Party City. In the Halloween costume area, they had Dorothy's ruby red slippers, Glinda's wand and a Toto in the basket. Snatched and added to my cart. Flew to the Christmas Tree Shops for tablecloths. Found round ones and rectangle ones. Perfect. I had also headed to the Christmas Tree Shop for I had seen a puzzle rollaway there the other day. Earlier that morning at Target I had found a Wizard of Oz puzzle. What a great gift! Snatched all and added to cart then back out to my sister's to go decorate.

The night before I had printed a copy of this adorable graphic that I found online at http://mlblogssfdiamondgirl.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/no-place-like-home.jpg. This was used on the Kitchen table as the perfect theme accent. On the way to my sister's I grabbed Munchins (of course) from Dunkin Donuts. I had Hershey Kisses (labeled Tinman Hats) and Green Rolos (labeled Emerald City Rolos). We had hot dogs (Toto Dogs). My family loves marinated artichoke hearts. I happened to have had a jar. so they received a label that read, "The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart".

Credit must go out to: http://getsboredeasily.blogspot.com/2013/01/wizard-of-oz-retirement-party-tables.html for the theme idea. At 8pm the night before her retirement I had the idea that maybe I should surprise her and decorate while she's at work. I took to the net for ideas on what theme. Surf, sailing, luggage, etc but nothing felt right. Then I saw a horse of a different color on this lovely blog. I had been teasing my sister earlier in the week that "There's No Place Like Home" as she retired so it seemed perfect.

Here are a few photos of the decorations that welcomed my sister home:

"Eggcellent" Easter

I suppose friends and family appreciate the decorating that I do. My neighbor commented, "Aren't you going to decorate our hallway for Easter? When I opened the door the other morning I thought for sure you would have made it look pretty". Hehehe hadn't really planned on decorating the hallway. But okay why not. So I got creative with some Crayola Construction Paper. I made Easter Bunny ears for the hallway window. Simple, easy and yet adorable. And best of all a decoration for in the hall and out the window.

I still had the pretty blue garland from the Shoe Shindig so I left that up. And tied a bunny headband to the railing. And on our apartment door, I rehung last year's green basket with the little white stuffed bunny rabbit.

I spent more time on decorating the outside. I found two inexpensive large sets of plastic Easter Eggs at our local CVS pharmacy.  As I had ExtraCare Bucks this made the eggs not just inexpensive, but free. Free is always Fabulous! I always have ribbon. I love that our local dollar store sells huge rolls for just a dollar. Purchase once and decorate forever. I wove the ribbon (you need to fold it in half - rather a pain by the way) through the small holes in the plastic Easter Eggs. I created two garlands of Easter Eggs. One was used to decorate each side of the front steps.  

Last year I found a blow up Easter Bunny in the clearance bin after the holiday. I thankfully found it again in time for this Easter. I admit I love those blowup Easter Bunnies. They remind me of one that my Aunt Joanne gave me when I was a small child. The thing was bigger than me at the time. But I paraded around the house carrying that thing forever. We had it for years and years. It was pulled out of my mother's Magic Closet this time of year. (Hehehe guess the decorating bug is hereditary. Yes, my mother had what she called her "Magic Closet" as we got older it was the off limit closet where presents were stored and decorations were kept)

Hope you had a very Happy Easter!

Big Bang Party Gone Bust!

So my birthday was January 6th. I had to work that Monday. We were off the week before hand. So I decided to have some friends over for my birthday. So the email to see if friends would be free went out. Luckily a few friends said yes they would be free. Then Mother Nature decided to wear a pointy hat.
Snow. Snow. And more Snow. Roads iced over. It just wasn't safe to ask my friends to come out. So in the end there was no party.  But as I searched online for ideas I didn't find all that much (some but not that much). So to pay it forward I post for the next person looking for ideas.

My Big idea - a Big Bang Theory Party. Let's get together. Let's order pizza and Chinese and watch Big Bang. We have several episodes DVRed. So I thought: This would be cute. This would be easy. This would be fun. This would be low-key. Sadly, this wasn't meant to be. But hopefully these ideas help the next person.

I thought okay, how can I decorate a bit to make the apartment say "Happy Birthday". At the dollar store I found a silver Happy Birthday banner. A great start. I lined the apartment dining area with it.

The food plan was easily covered- ordered Chinese and Pizza.  And at Walmart (of all places) I found cupcakes in their bakery section decorated with red and white sixlets. If I had thought about what type of cupcakes to have I couldn't have designed better ones. What a great find!

At the dollar store I found yellow plates. I had red napkins. I had yellow cups left over from Halloween. I left over red utensils from Christmas. Great! I love a party that only needs a small budget to pull off. I found multipack of red Chinese Take Out containers. I printed Big Bang Theory logos and taped them to each person's.

I printed a couple of pictures from scenes from the show The Big Bang Theory. I printed the "Friendship Algorithm scene" and wrote "Thanks for being part of my friendship algorithm". I made a label for my spot on the couch. (I usually give it up at parties. But hello this party was for my birthday.) Had to have a note about Sheldon's spot there. One summer I had a party that was palm tree themed. I had bough favor boxes that were suppose to look like palmtrees (clearance). They were horrible they looked like pyramids not palmtrees. So I put them away - until now.

For those of you familiar with the show you may remember the opening lyrics -
"The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall (we built the pyramids),
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang!"

So I placed a few on a silver charger. With a Sheldon birthday card that I found at Walmart.

Of course the TV show is based on the cast of characters being nerds. So Post-its were part of my decor. I a labeled a few items with lines from the show, "Roses - the most beautiful and surprisingly the most expensive of all the flowers", "There's tears in the frosting", etc.

I continued to think, how else can I make this birthday party-like. Oh party hats! I thought about getting a pack of yellow and red ones from the dollar store. But then I remembered that hysterical scene where Sheldon gives Amy a tiara. Done! So I purchased one big Birthday crown tiara for me. And little barrette ones from my girlfriends. Not familiar with the scene? It is too funny not to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duiKAT-33Ss

I always label the food options so my friends know what they have to chose from on the buffet.

I thought about "Bazinga" explosions but I wanted something a bit more clever. I remembered that I had a pack of construction paper. I hand cut out beaker shapes and labeled them for the food choices.

My friends and I enjoy candy buffets. At Walmart, I found several boxes of "Nerds" candies. I had left over caramel kisses from Christmas. I had left over Airheads. I found Red Vines at CVS (Sheldon's favorite). So I made a nerdy and not-so nerdy candy buffet.  

Next I consider what to do for fun/decoration/game time things. I had a few glow sticks left over from Halloween. I labeled a glass bottle "chemiluminescence" and had planned to have a few glowing it. Have to "nerdify" the display. I found online that if you use a waterbottle you can separate the yellow from an egg. I remembered a Bernadette line where she yells, "You suck so hard!" so I called the game "You Suck so Hard - A Nod to Bernadette". I had a few packs of Poprocks left over. So I setup to do the old urban legend of mixing PopRocks and Coke and you will explode. NOT! So I called it "The NOT So big Bang theory". And my last idea was to soak some dirty copper pennies in a vinegar solution. A nod to Penny - "Copper Oxide Removal". Had to make it sound nerdy.

Okay so now for the photo gallery. Hope this helps someone else if they are looking for ideas.

Nerdy and Not So Nerdy Candy Buffet - a nod to the cast
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Chemiluminescence
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Copper Oxide Removal (nod to Penny)

Not So Big of a Bang Theory
(PopRocks and Pepsi)

You Suck So Hard (Nod to Bernadette)

Red Chinese Takeout Containers with Big Bang Theory Logo

Food Labels

Dessert Labels

My Spot!

"Roses, the most beautiful and suprisingly expensive of all flowers." - Penny

Images I found on Google Images

 And yes, we had Bill's Tardis cookie jar on the table. If you are Big Bang Theory fan, you may recognize the scene above. Sheldon tells Raj if he doesn't have a Tardis at his party then his party stinks and he stinks.

"There's tears in the frosting" - Amy

"Oh, it's a tiara!" - Amy

Chinese chopsticks of course

Saddened that Mother Nature decided that I didn't need to have a birthday party. We kept rescheduling till it be came a fruitless experience and I gave up. But I hope the planning I did can help the next person.  Maybe plan your Big Bang Theory party for the spring or summer when snow won't keep falling outside. Of if your friends live across the hall this might be easier to pull off. Hehehe ;)

Sleigh Bells Ring... Thanks for Listening...well reading

Many years ago while in college, my mother suggested that I host a “Christmas Cookie Swap” party. A what?! I looked online. No mention. I looked in cookbooks. No mention. What on earth are you talking about. My mother explained that her mother (my Nana) and her friends use to have them all the time.

So I hosted my first Cookie Swap party. The next year I found a book Betty Crocker's Christmas Exchange Book (http://www.bettycrocker.com). It was like a minimag at the checkout at our food store. Hmmmm, there it is! Then the next addition was the Wilton line at Michael's Arts and Crafts (http://www.michaels.com ) started carrying Cookie awards and cookie boxes and more. It seems after about my fourth yearly Cookie Swap party suddenly they have come into vogue again. Everywhere you turn someone is talking about ideas for a “Cookie Exchange” as the magazines now refer to it. Love that my mom was ahead of the time. I have honestly lost count at how many Cookie Exchanges I have hosted. But I have loved them all. So here is the recap of this year's party – with a Sleigh bell/Country Christmas theme.

The inspiration for this year's theme came from a gift last Christmas from a friend. She gave me a large container of red sleigh bells. The brought to mind all those lovely Currier and Ives scenes that so beautifully represent the holiday season. So after several stages of visual word association in my head – I conjured up mental images of sleighs, sleigh bells, vintage parcels of brown paper with beautiful ribbons, mason jars of cinnamon and sugar, and more. So the party prep began.

Fete Avec Moi

At the dollar store I found a great brown and white gingham printed table cloth. Grabbed one for each of our tables. Add a little greenery – things are simply decorated. I wanted brown and red gingham ribbon. This year I could not find it anywhere. My husband joked that he is beginning to believe that the manufacturers are reading my blog and borrowing ideas the next year. (Isn't he sweet!) But watch next year, when I no longer need it, the correct ribbon will be available. So I settled for a nice green and red plaid ribbon from the Christmas Tree store. At $2 a roll they couldn't be passed up. 

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Along the way I found a slightly nicer ribbon (red and beige gingham). This now adorns our Christmas tree. From an ice tea party (see former blog post), I still had plastic orange and lemon slices. I made a small slit in each and added them to the branches of the Christmas Tree. Our Christmas Tree Store had brown sleigh bells with gingham ribbon ties on a garland of old fashioned style string. Of course several of these were immediately purchased at $3 a garland.

At a Michael's Arts and Crafts, I found a lovely gold sleigh. I filled it with greenery and mason jars containing greenery, salt (to look like snow) and a gold faux candle. At the Christmas Tree Store I found snow blankets $2.99 a bag. And each bag when unrolled really has quite a lot of “snow” in it. They are perfect.

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This lined the landing in our apartment hallway. A wooden sled welcomed guests and wished them Happy Holidays. A wooden set of mittens hung in the hall window also cast a warm hello to guests.

Now what party is a party without favors. Of course since this is a Cookie Swap (Or Cookie Exchange as others like to call it now), the was the obligatory box for cookies. This year's was beige with mini gingerbread on the pattern. A large tin of Cookie cutters served as another favor. And then I visited my favorite dollar store, The 1$ Zone on Central Avenue. They have such great items. There I found (http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/One.Dollar.Zone.914-793-7640 ) wooden spatulas (serving utensil kind), plastic mini spatulas (the removing batter from a bowl kind), and aprons. One for each of my friends was purchased and tied up with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.

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Since it was expected to be a chilly afternoon in the forecast, I made a big crockpot of vegetarian chili and another of cheese tortellini in chicken broth. Of course we had to have some snacks. Gingerbread flavored popcorn was interesting find. Regular popcorn. Cheese platter. The usual.

Then it was party time. My friends thankfully arrived despite the threat of snow and the cold. They each brought cookies to share. And recipes – or information about the bakery. And we sat around enjoying a hot chocolate bar, chili, pasta and warm thoughts. Thanks for coming girls. Hope everyone had a great time!

Cookies Galore - Fete Avec Moi

  

Favors - Fete Avec Moi

Facebook inspired Front Door Decoration - Fete Avec Moi

Thanks, Dad!

Fete Avec Moi

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. It was time to update our apartment's front stoop. Several years ago, I purchased these adorable pilgrims from The Christmas Tree Shops. The amazing thing is despite acid rain, neighbors' children, and all they are still in good shape. This weekend I hauled them out and propped them up. Of course a yellow ribbon was tied around their waste so that they don't blow away in the wind. This afternoon was quite breezy.

I remember going for walks with my father near Iona College in years gone by. Many an afternoon of my childhood was spent on that campus. And this was long before I was old enough to even be thinking of which college I was going to attend. My dad was a quiet man. But a kind man. He quietly made a difference in many students' lives. Several are immensely grateful for his assistance in getting into Medical School or Schools of Engineering. I learned to tinker from him. He use to call me his little engineer. Well while looking up ideas for holiday decorations (don't want to give away too much to spoil blog posts to come), I came across a great idea. Taking a man's belt and adding sleigh bells. You can see the original concept blog at: http://restlessoasis.blogspot.ca/2012/12/diy-sleigh-bells.html. So simple; yet so elegant. The blogger at Restless Oasis was more clever and poked holes all down the belt. But for me this was enough bling.

My dad worked hard in his early years. His father passed away when he was just a small child. Small tidbits of information still float around in my brain about his jobs in gladiola fields, silver shops, and something with leather. Before becoming the great professor of Chemistry that he is more famous for having done.

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Luckily my mother still had some of my dad's brown belts. Thanks for having them for me, Mom. Today at the Christmas Tree Shop, I found inexpensive gold glittered sleigh bells. I fed those through the holes of dad's well worn belt. I love that the hide of the belt is strained from all the tightening and un-tightening from dad wearing it. I think it gives it added character. I topped it off with a nice green, gold, and red bow.

I think this sleigh bell decoration is perfect for this time of year. So many generations took this time of year to reconnect with family. They bundled the family into the wagon and drove to visit family. As the song says, “Over the river and through the woods...” To me, this decoration is reminiscent of that and reminds me of my Dad. As my father passed away the morning after Thanksgiving celebrations one year, this time of year also always brings him to mind. This piece will continue to do that for me as I walk past it hanging in our dining area.

"MARVEL"-ous Halloween

The summer seemed to speed past our eyes quicker than the speed of light (fading daylight apparently that is). The warm summer days give way to cool autumn nights. As we dig out the blankets, jackets, urgh real shoes, it is time to admit that Fall is upon us. I loathe saying goodbye to flip-flops (well at work anyway). They still adorn my feet for grocery getting. But still my more rational side must admit - It's Fall.

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The few highlights of the Fall are the return of pumpkin infused everything! Muffins, donuts, coffee, even macaroni and cheese, and pancakes now get a little touch of pumpkin. Bring on the yum. And once I begin enjoying the Halloween Captain Crunch, you know it is time to begin thinking about Halloween. Well for normal people. I've been thinking about Halloween since the early summer. Deciding on our costume theme takes priority. Then that leads to our decoration theme. And then that leads to our Halloween theme. And voila the magic begins.
I was a good girl for the neighbors. I decorated just the upstairs hallway at the beginning of October. I didn't go marching in all barrels blazing with festivities. But now that it is time, yep I had fun.

Fete Avec Moi

Fete Avec Moi

The second weekend in October was the perfect spot on the calendar to break out this year's decorations for the front walkway. My husband teases me that if I do this much with just an apartment stoop and walkway, things will probably be quite amazing when we have storage and decoration real estate.  So since we are dressing as characters from The X-men I started planning X-men themed ideas. But then somewhere along the way I remembered wait X-men started as that great MARVEL comic book series that i loved.

So MARVEL lead me to super heroes. Which had me tie blue and yellow (wolverine colors) with masks and capes and then the web searches began. So during the summer the hunt for MARVEL (no I'm specific not DC - so no Superman, no Wonder Woman, no Batman, etc.) kids costumes began. I had this picture in my mind of several costumes hanging on the front step railings. I wanted child sized costumes as I didn't want them to be too scary for neighborhood children.

Walmart has a great selection of children's dress up clothes (wasn't really costume season yet). But if you get creative and explore the Clearance racks, you will be surprised what you can find. I found a Spiderman mask and pant set on sale for $6.00 in the clearance bin. It was missing the shirt but okay. So while visiting a friend in Pennsylvania I found a red shirt. Outfit complete. At the BigLots in CT I found an ironman costume. In Vermont on vacation I found a few more decorations. On a weekend away we visited the PEZ tourist center. Guess what they had? MARVEL Pez dispensers. Of course we had to snap them up for prizes. On the drive home we stopped at a Christmas Tree Store and found an Incredible Hulk costume. Then it was time to wait. Search online. Complete our costumes. Curate ideas for our annual Halloween fun.

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Then finally after sitting on my hands long enough this past weekend it was time to decorate. In my searches I found several adorable pictures of wall art scenes that could be used for photo-ops. My friends seem to really enjoy participating with these when they are visiting. So I just had to recreate something similar as: sample one and sample two for our hallway.

After Halloween of course I will have more to share. But I don't want to ruin all the fun for our guests. Hope you will check back after Halloween to see the additional updates.