Party Planning for DH's 40th b-day! Want to help?

[DIY-DY]

DH turns 40 the end of this month, and we'd like to have a gathering. I've picked his brain until I fear he's beginning to think I'm a turkey vulture, so, to save his sanity and preserve our marital bliss, can I pick yours for a while?

Here are the very basic guidelines:

* He's requested no "over the hill", no headstones or other darker images. He's worked hard to get to this point, and although I think it sort of snuck up on him (sneaked up on him? slipped under the radar... however you'd say it), we're trying to keep it life-affirming, but not dorky.

* It's a family-friendly gathering, all ages invited. (Not so big on organized activities - but there's plenty to do - a barn to play in [kid safe], six fenced acres to explore, room to play ball, a dog who loves children [and will be contained for those who are not so comfy w/ dogs], and they'll probably shoot water bottle rockets.)

Um... that's about it.

The Balcony O' Death won't be done in time, so we're moving the party to the upper meadow. I'll rent a tent (like you see at outdoor weddings), and go from there. I guess decorations will be dependent upon the theme...

Menu - He's thinking he wants to do kabobs (both meat/veggie and just veggie - maybe seafood, too), pintos... what else goes with that? Or what other easy-to-get-ready-as-people-get-hungry ideas can you think of? I had planned to use the Pig Pot (I kid you not, that's what it's called) to make asado, but it needs to be sand-blasted first, and he confided tonight that he'd really rather make a few meals in it to break it in again before we use it for a shin-dig. I can appreciate that, but it leaves me with no ideas, and very little creative prowess on my part.

Theme - I'm thinkin' "Fiesta!" Or something beach-oriented... Jimmy Buffet-ish, maybe. Nothing's etched in stone, and I'm open to suggestions. It's obviously a laid-back gathering, but since I'm going to beg a friend to burn us a good CD for background music, I need some tunes to suggest.

So, party on! Let the creative juices flow, guys! I need you!!! :D

[PrairieAir]

I don't have any ideas, Dy, but you might try perusing noblepig.com (http://noblepig.com). I discovered her blog recently and boy does she have a lot of great food and drink ideas. She writes her recipe posts like Ree, too, with lots of pictures. Happy 40th to Zorak! It sounds like it'll be a great party.

BTW, Danny and I did make an over the hill birthday cake for his uncle once. He was turning 50 and dh's aunt and grandmother thought the over the hill theme would be so funny. We've never been into that kind of thing and so when we were asked to make the cake, we decided to put a nice twist on that theme. We baked a sheet cake and put a Wonder Mold (hill shaped) cake on one side. The going up side of the hill was rough and full of candy rocks. The going down side was green and pretty with a stream below and two mini Wonder Mold hill cakes beyond the stream with horses running in front along the stream. We found a middle aged looking miniature man at a model train store (along with the horses) and stood him on top looking over the scene below. I think we wrote "It's all downhill from here" on the cake. He loved it.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

DH turns 40 the end of this month, and we'd like to have a gathering. I've picked his brain until I fear he's beginning to think I'm a turkey vulture, so, to save his sanity and preserve our marital bliss, can I pick yours for a while?

Here are the very basic guidelines:

* He's requested no "over the hill", no headstones or other darker images. He's worked hard to get to this point, and although I think it sort of snuck up on him (sneaked up on him? slipped under the radar... however you'd say it), we're trying to keep it life-affirming, but not dorky.

* It's a family-friendly gathering, all ages invited. (Not so big on organized activities - but there's plenty to do - a barn to play in [kid safe], six fenced acres to explore, room to play ball, a dog who loves children [and will be contained for those who are not so comfy w/ dogs], and they'll probably shoot water bottle rockets.)

Um... that's about it.

The Balcony O' Death won't be done in time, so we're moving the party to the upper meadow. I'll rent a tent (like you see at outdoor weddings), and go from there. I guess decorations will be dependent upon the theme...

Menu - He's thinking he wants to do kabobs (both meat/veggie and just veggie - maybe seafood, too), pintos... what else goes with that? Or what other easy-to-get-ready-as-people-get-hungry ideas can you think of? I had planned to use the Pig Pot (I kid you not, that's what it's called) to make asado, but it needs to be sand-blasted first, and he confided tonight that he'd really rather make a few meals in it to break it in again before we use it for a shin-dig. I can appreciate that, but it leaves me with no ideas, and very little creative prowess on my part.

Theme - I'm thinkin' "Fiesta!" Or something beach-oriented... Jimmy Buffet-ish, maybe. Nothing's etched in stone, and I'm open to suggestions. It's obviously a laid-back gathering, but since I'm going to beg a friend to burn us a good CD for background music, I need some tunes to suggest.

So, party on! Let the creative juices flow, guys! I need you!!! :D


Music: Wooo Hooo! Break out the 80's stuff!

Party Favors: You could make a "newsletter" of all the major headlines of each decade he's been alive. You could also include top movies from each decade as well as trivia from each decade--how much was gas, how much the average home cost, how much the average income was, etc. It would be fun to include pictures of him in it and quotes and well wishes from family and friends.

That's all I have so far. I gotta go to church!!!! Happy planning!

[DIY-DY]

[B]You could make a "newsletter" of all the major headlines of each decade he's been alive. You could also include top movies from each decade as well as trivia from each decade--how much was gas, how much the average home cost, how much the average income was, etc. It would be fun to include pictures of him in it and quotes and well wishes from family and friends.

That's all I have so far. I gotta go to church!!!! Happy planning!

That might even make a fun game for any lulls in the rhythm of the day.

You know, I thought about the pictures/stories thing (SIL did it for BIL's 30th last summer, and I thought that was so sweet), but then I apologized to him pre-emptively for the fact that I'm not going to solicit pictures and anecdotes from family and friends. I know myself well enough to know that I'd never get it put together or even presentably done and would end up with a box of stuff we'd have to find somewhere to stash. He looked at me and said, "And that's one reason I love you. I don't want anything I have to fix, work on, or store."

Thanks, and I hope you had a lovely day at church. :)
Dy

[DIY-DY]

I don't have any ideas, Dy, but you might try perusing noblepig.com (http://noblepig.com). I discovered her blog recently and boy does she have a lot of great food and drink ideas. She writes her recipe posts like Ree, too, with lots of pictures. Happy 40th to Zorak! It sounds like it'll be a great party.

BTW, Danny and I did make an over the hill birthday cake for his uncle once. He was turning 50 and dh's aunt and grandmother thought the over the hill theme would be so funny. We've never been into that kind of thing and so when we were asked to make the cake, we decided to put a nice twist on that theme. We baked a sheet cake and put a Wonder Mold (hill shaped) cake on one side. The going up side of the hill was rough and full of candy rocks. The going down side was green and pretty with a stream below and two mini Wonder Mold hill cakes beyond the stream with horses running in front along the stream. We found a middle aged looking miniature man at a model train store (along with the horses) and stood him on top looking over the scene below. I think we wrote "It's all downhill from here" on the cake. He loved it.

You know, I thought about just inviting some of his guy friends over to a work day that would end with a huge, bang-up BBQ and cold beer so that he'd have help finishing the balcony. I know he'd appreciate that, but I'm not so sure his buddies would.:tongue_smilie:

I love the idea of smooth sailing from here on out. What a sweet twist on the over-the-hill theme. You didn't, perhaps, post pictures of it somewhere, did you??? ;)

[Needleroozer]

I threw a huge surprise party for the Dude for his 40th. We used a tropical/luau theme. His niece made and brought tons of decorations- palm trees, etc. all from construction paper. We had a plastic swimming pool for the ice/drinks, and someone brought plastic flamingos that we put at the edge of the pool. I was pregnant with Piano Girl at the time and was suffering from morning sickness big time, so we did it as a potluck so I wouldn't have to do all the cooking. We marinated chicken and beef, and made skewers. Auntie Pam made her famous coconut cake. Everyone was told the theme ahead of time, and brought all sorts of amazing side dishes, salads, etc. Two families brought their grills and those dads did the barbecuing so Dude wouldn't have to. We had enough food to feed an army!

The only thing I hired out was an amazing storyteller- he told folk tales from Polynesia and Hawaii- the kids were enthralled, as were many of the adults.

Oops- I am being paged- call me or ask me for more details.
Hugs,

[DIY-DY]

I threw a huge surprise party for the Dude for his 40th. We used a tropical/luau theme.

While I was doodling out a menu to go w/ the kabobs, it just sort of popped out at us - baba ganoush, flatbreads, yogurt dip, ohhhh, yeah!

Now to figure how to decorate that! Where'd you find the storyteller? I'll give you a ring.

Still in need of more ideas..
Dy

[Needleroozer]

While I was doodling out a menu to go w/ the kabobs, it just sort of popped out at us - baba ganoush, flatbreads, yogurt dip, ohhhh, yeah!

Now to figure how to decorate that! Where'd you find the storyteller? I'll give you a ring.

Still in need of more ideas..
Dy

That sounds wonderful! I have a bunch of recipes if you need them. I should mail you some olives! LOL.

I can't remember how I found him (maybe as simple as the yellow pages, as this was before we had a computer), but he was very good.
LB

[Patty Joanna]

If you do a Mediterranean theme, you could just as easily do a Carribean theme, and then you could get your dh the same prize possession I got mine on his 40th--a humidor, but only if you can sneak in some Cubans.

About halfway through the party, my friend noticed my dh's attention to the humidor and said in an awestruck whisper, "HE'S PETTING IT!"

Just a suggestion.

[Needleroozer]

About halfway through the party, my friend noticed my dh's attention to the humidor and said in an awestruck whisper, "HE'S PETTING IT!"



This made me giggle. I can so picture him doing this. :001_smile:

[Patty Joanna]

Yeah, it was pretty funny.

(But it is also a really pretty humidor, so I can't blame him...)

Your trip sounded wonderful--and the pics were great...

[Needleroozer]

Yeah, it was pretty funny.

(But it is also a really pretty humidor, so I can't blame him...)

Your trip sounded wonderful--and the pics were great...

Yes, it was WONDERFUL! One of the best vacations I have had in a long time. I felt so rested and relaxed when I came home- which was good, as the kids and the Dude had done absolutely nothing in the housework department the entire week I was gone. You would be proud of me- I so wanted to scream when I walked into the house, and I didn't. Very hard that was! As punishment for not functioning though, I haven't done any of the kids' laundry at all this week.

How are you? I am missing you! I will try to call you this week.
Hugs.