Hey gals,
Welcome to the August edition of TBB Asks. You might remember that July is a big birthday for my family. Cadence on 07.28, Brennyn on 07.30 and Lauren on 07.31. With all those birthdays you might think we are a big party family…at least in July. But we aren’t. None of us likes to host parties or even attend parties, unless they are very small with just family.
You can check out previous TBB Asks here and here. Even though parties aren’t a big part of my life, the TBB Asks posts are fun to do. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started.
10 Questions about Parties
1. Favorite birthday party as a child? I don’t remember one particular favorite. In an album somewhere there are photos of my 10th birthday, I think, which is one I can at least remember. Several friends came for a dinner party. We all dressed up and my mom fixed her delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and homemade bread. Oh, and birthday cake, of course. I felt very grown up and special.
2. Do you like to entertain? Yes or no? Family, yes. Others, not so much. I get very nervous. Is my house clean enough? What if the food I prepare doesn’t turn out well? What if I say something stupid?
3. What kind of parties are your favorite? Family birthday parties.
4. Big or small parties? Small as in none. Ha! Or very, very small. Just PC and me.
5. Favorite thing to do at parties? Eat? Is that an option? Play with the kids. Take pictures. Help clean up. Anything that keeps me from having to interact and make small talk with the adults.
6. Party food favorites? Dips and chips, queso and tortilla chips, hamburgers, brats, hot dogs on the grill. For the one party we hosted for PC’s baseball team, I served hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, baked beans, this recipe for Rudy’s corn, and this recipe for Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole.
7. Favorite flavor of birthday cake? I love German chocolate but haven’t had it in a very long time. One year when we were in college, my sister made me broccoli and cheese sauce in the dorm for my birthday because I loved it so much.
8. Balloons? Yes or no? Yes, generally. They are an inexpensive way to decorate and add to the theme of the party. And if kids are going to be there, you have to have balloons. And around here, a piñata, too!
9. Best party song? It is Mexican culture to play a song called “Las Mañanitas”, which is sung first thing in the morning on a person’s birthday to honor their birth. My son-in-law played it for Lucia on her second birthday and it was the sweetest thing.
In another life time, years ago, the Rick James’s songs were popular at parties. I liked “Give it to Me, Baby” and “Super Freak”. I think songs like “Cupid Shuffle” and “The Chicken Song” allow people who aren’t big dancers to still have fun moving around on the dance floor.
10. Do you like to dance? Yes or no? Yes, but my PC doesn’t like to dance. So I rarely dance, either.
In some ways, I would like to get over my fear of parties and be able to have a few couples over for drinks or dinner. Love to play Pictionary. It seems like it would be fun to have a Pictionary night. We play that with the girls and their PCs whenever we are all together. Having an activity to do would make it easier to have people over.
Your Turn
So, are you a party-thrower and party goer? If so, have you always been comfortable entertaining or were you once like me? Would love for you to share your answers to all of the questions in a comment below. Here are the questions to make it a little easier for you to copy, paste and ANSWER!!
1. Favorite birthday party as a child?
2. Do you like to entertain? Yes or no?
3. What kind of parties are your favorite?
4. Big or small Parties?
5. Favorite thing to do at parties?
6. Party food favorites?
7. Favorite flavor of birthday cake?
8. Balloons? Yes or no?
9. Best party song?
10. Do you like to dance? Yes or no?
Can’t wait to read your answers. And hey, you and your PC wanna come over this weekend for burgers and Pictionary?
Hugs and kisses,
Andrea Nine
Love when they play the Chicken Song at weddings, seems like that is the only time I hear it, lol!! Thank goodness. Loved reading your answers!! Have a great day!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Isn’t the Chicken Song crazy fun. Makes a dancer out of everyone. Thank you so much for stopping by, beautiful. I truly appreciate it.
Laura
I would definitely say that your Mama planned a GREAT birthday party with fried chicken and all the fixings! Delish!!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Wasn’t fried chicken for my birthday dinner a perfect idea. Oh, if I could only have it again, one more time. I would freeze some of my mama’s chicken gravy and have just a taste of it every year on my birthday. It has been so long!
Dara
I do agree on your party food choices!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Since we don’t throw parties, I think I should plan a party night for my Prince and I, and we should indulge in all of the party food we miss by not being party animals!!
Debs
Earlier this year we were invited to friends for dinner along with another couple. Just before we were due to go I saw them and they finished the conversation by saying ‘practise your singing, we love karaoke so we’ll be doing that after dinner’. What? I do not ‘do’ karaoke, the thought of standing in front of others singing puts fear in my heart! I was dreading it, trying to think of ways to get out of it and all the ‘once you’ve had a glass of wine, you’ll relax and enjoy it’ in the world didn’t reassure me. Luckily dinner took up a large part of the evening and I managed to avoid any solo performances, and let the other person hold the microphone for the duets. So if there was a category for the ‘what’s the worst kind of party you could imagine?’ I would have to answer karaoke!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, my gosh. I am laughing at the karaoke dinner party. I would have been horrified. Oh, my. And the hosts would have been more horrified when I opened my mouth to sing. They wouldn’t have wanted to do karaoke with me for long. My dad used to ask me NOT to sing! Bless your heart. It would take more than a glass of wine to make me comfortable enough to do that. You, my dear, are a good sport.
ShootingStarsMag
I love my dance classes, but I don’t really dance anywhere else. LOL I like parties but nothing too big! And eating is always fun. 😉
-Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Do you dance at home? I dance at the gym, which mortifies my hubs. Oh, well!!
Danielle
I love hosting. I think because as a host you are super busy and it allows me to people watch and interact but also go be busy when I am overwhelmed. We totally will have just one set of friends over for dinner or drinks and play board games. It’s also nice. But I don’t mind a yard or house full of people either. I have thrown some pretty wild dinner themed parties.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Ha! I hadn’t thought of hosting allowing you to watch the party around you. When we had the baseball gang over, the wives were all super helpful but almost too much so. I just don’t do small talk well. So after I said hello to them, I was sunk. You are quite the hostess!! And yet you are shy? Maybe you just host friends that you are comfortable with. I am not sure who that would be for me, though, unless you and Brett are available!
Gail
I normally give the TBB posts a go, but I was a big fail on this one because I’m just not a party animal. As an adult I’ve only had 2 parties. When I was a kid, the tradition over here in the UK was to have a few friends round and it was all good simple fun – no goody bags or paid magicians or anything. We played a game called “pass the parcel” and the birthday food was sausages on sticks (which were stuck into half a grapefruit, to look like a hedgehog), and jelly with oranges in. Happy days!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
High five, sister. I am not a party animal either. AT ALL! Did you see what Debs wrote in her comment? She went to a dinner party where the guests had to sing karaoke after the meal. Shoot me! Can you imagine?
Your birthday parties sound simple and sweet. We have lost all sight of good sense with children’s parties these days. They have become extravaganzas. And here in El Paso, a young girl’s 15th birthday is a huge event. Parents sell their souls to afford all that is required of a ‘quinceanera’. They can’t afford to put food on the table but are expected to give their little girls this EVENT that amounts to a mini-wedding reception!