It’s been quite a while since the quarantine started, and days have passed, locked up inside our houses, maybe enjoying the great company of a cat, or the dog, or some relative you live with. No matter how you’re spending it, this is not always easy, and we have bad days, good days, regular ones… and it is completely fine!
We might be overwhelmed by this situation at times. Maybe we’re trying hard to not lose track at work, studies, making plans to keep up with everything and still getting lost in time. We might be pushing ourselves a bit too much. This is not a normal situation and we have to accept that we need to pay more attention to our emotions and what we really need; I think, now more than ever, we deserve to enjoy our celebrations, to have a moment to connect with our loved ones and, to have fun.
Many of us are having to celebrate birthdays parties and are not sure how to celebrate them. But we can do it.
What’s the most important thing to have at a party?
No, food is not the most important although it came to my mind pretty quickly. We need friends, family, and those who we care about to celebrate with! (We’ll talk about the food later, don’t worry).
CONNECT
As we’re all separate, we need to find a way to connect online all together for the party. But first, you need to decide how you want your party!
If you want a pajama party, that will be easy (as we live in our pajamas lately). But if you want your party to be thematic, decide and tell your guests. Invite your friends and relatives, make online invitations for them to know when, how, and what. I like to use Canva, a webpage and app of graphic design, for this kind of project, as it has a lot of content and you can play with a lot of styles to find the one that reflects you and your event. It’s easy and fun.
Meet with your guests at the agreed time and start the party! There are many apps to use to have a group call, choose wisely.
What’s next?
BIRTHDAY PRESENTS
If we’re talking about a birthday, we need to talk about presents. If it is your birthday that’s coming, you could advise your friends about what you would like and where it can be purchased. As we can’t just go out shopping right now, I think we have to consider another possibility. I’m not talking about buying online, which is a possibility, but I’m proposing something better. There’s a lot of small businesses, vegan organizations, and local stores that are seeing their income decrease badly during these times. Those small stores we love to go, or those sanctuaries and associations we follow on Instagram, that we go to their events… right now need our support more than ever. Just check what your local entities are doing and offering to find a great gift for your friend, relative or for yourself! By doing so you would be offering an amazing gift and you’ll be helping these businesses to survive the lockdown. Even if you can only offer the promise of a future gift, show them that you bought something unique and with a positive impact.
FOOD
Yes, now we talk about food! You can’t have a birthday party without a cake, but you can’t have it without food either!
It may not be possible to cook a grand meal for everyone but, ask everyone to enjoy themselves by cooking something great for the day! I’d go with a delicious mushroom musaca of my own creation, with a base made of potatoes and onion, filled with mushrooms, dry soy and veggies, with thin layers of eggplant and covered with tomato sauce… it is delicious.
The party starts at the table, everyone dressed up for the occasion, food is warm and smelly (you can taste it almost through the screen), everyone has prepared their favorite dinner and we’re ready to go!
CAKE
The cake! Do not forget the cake! It is absolutely necessary to blow the candles (no need to be one of those with number shapes… we can spare that). How do you like it? Chocolate, carrot cake, lemon? I especially like lemon, but I could eat any. Of course, you will be making the cake for yourself and your housemates, so choose wisely and start baking.
Blow the candles! We need to use a bit of our imagination in this situation, so bow the candles of your cake or at the screen to extinguish those that your friends brought for you!
After this delicious meal is time to decide: do you want to play some games, watch a movie… dance a bit? Let’s say you want to have a good all classic night out but… is that possible? It is if you don’t mind dancing in your living room.
DANCE FLOOR
Everyone is aware of the plan and we move to the dance floor. You could even prepare the room for the show. With adequate lighting, some clothes hanging to simulate the crowded space of the club and dance a slow one with a handsome suit of the collection (well… that one is optional), turn on the music and dance with your friends. You can find apps that allow you to listen to a playlist all together at the same time, like Rave, All Connect, JukeBox, etc.
That might not be as fun as a night at the disco, but at least you get to release some stress by shaking your body to the rhythm of your favorite songs.
GAMES
There’s just so many games to play! You might already have picked up some favorites. Having the issue of not being there in presence, some games are out of the equation.
There is also an app called House Party that has games integrated and allows you to do video calls while playing. You can use it to warm up the fun and move to something else later!
If you like being creative, I suggest this: some days before the party, you and your friends or family prepare a video/show/performance for the birthday person. Think of what this person likes, (or despises) and prepare the show. You can also create a list of challenges that the birthday person will have to face at the party, such as sing a song for the neighbors (and you) to enjoy, or do twenty pull-ups (too much?). Just get together and design the tests!
Talking about singing… what about a Karaoke? Who doesn’t like a bit of embarrassing fun? There are apps where you can do that, again (Rave, for instance) but you can use more simple ways and sing along.
DRINKS
How could we forget about this! If you’re a wine type of person you have it easy, get that bottle, and enjoy! If you rather want to experience a homemade cocktail, prepare a master class and teach all your friends how it’s done! Of course, make sure everyone goes to the store before the party starts, we don’t want anyone missing a key ingredient at the last minute and face catastrophe.
HAVE FUN!
The most important thing of all, above all said before, if you have any celebration coming and you feel like sharing this time with the ones you love, just connect with them and enjoy that time. Being at home for so long can make us feel vulnerable, a lot of emotions running out of control. Having a moment for ourselves, for our friends, to laugh, to dance and to play is more important now than ever. Let’s have fun, don’t stop enjoying yourself because of this situation!
