12 Things you can do to make a milestone celebration memorable and awesome, while we're all stuck in quarantine and social distancing.
It’s not easy throwing a milestone birthday in quarantine. But we did it. And it went exactly like this (see above), and the birthday boy had a great time!
The hardest thing for me was accepting that my vision - months of secret planning to create the perfect epic event - was no more, and then I had to rally around the idea that I could still pull off something special that packed the appropriate Bender party punch (not easy for this Type 3 enneagram-er!!!). And I have to say I think I nailed it. And I learned a few things in the process that you might enjoy hearing about in case you too have to throw a celebration during this time.
Rally around a theme. For us that meant European style food and flair, punctuated with 90s jams. I recommend snagging some thematic decorations.
Recruit help. I had the boys help with appetizer setup which was eventful and adorable, and asked family and friends to send FaceTime and text pings throughout the day to the birthday boy.
Get outside. Plan part of the event around an outside activity. We went on a picnic hike, and had our first course outside.
Plan an element of surprise. I packed an Italian-inspired charcuterie picnic for our hike and loaded up our backpack with some delicious eats and craft beer.
Splurge on special touches. I bought veal shanks for osso buco, fancy cheese (Moliterno al Tartufo FTW!), caviar and we opened very fabulous wine. We're all saving a bit of mula that would have likely otherwise been spent on dining out for special occasions. Instead of having to spend on restaurant markups, now is a fantastic time to splurge on an over-the-top decadent meal while you’re in the comfort of your own home.
Purchase some cool/entertaining/funny gifts. I had the boys buy some very outdoorsy funny and useful Carhartt items, and one of my gifts was a Hawaiian Schefflera plant for the house — we have a (weird?) thing about gifting each other plants 🌱 and household items we can all use.
Bring out all the fancy glassware, serve ware and decorations. Or order some! Amazon prime has an excellent selection of party flair.
Order in specialty desserts. @MilkBarStore desserts rock, and offer super fast delivery!
Make a playlist for the guest of honor. 90s music, per request.
Dress to impress. We all dressed up — the Bender Boys wore bow ties and all.
Take it slow. Enjoy this pace of life. Have a long multi-course dinner.
Take pictures. Make the effort, heck wear matching outfits, or at least rally everyone together to take some family snaps (chocolate is a fantastic bribe). We have the time!
Lastly, remind yourself that this won’t be like this forever, and you will have an opportunity to throw that big celebration if you want to down the road.
Enjoy!
xx, Danielle