Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with celebration

How can we keep our eye on the prize and still celebrate?

arniec — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:48:23 -0800

How can my wife and I celebrate good things and not undermine the things we are working for? (i.e. no dining out, no purchases, no travels?) Life can be so dreary and monotonous sometimes that when good things happen to my wife and I we would like to celebrate them. We used to celebrate by going out to eat or by purchasing an item that we've wanted for a while...but both of those have gotten us into trouble. We are working now to be more financially responsible, pay off credit card debt, etc. and we're also working on getting fit and losing weight.

As such, now we don't know how to celebrate. We're working so hard on getting fit we don't want to undo that for a meal eating out, and we don't really have the money to go buy expensive things in celebration.

So when good things happen (promotions, milestone weight loss, credit cards paid off) we say "We should celebrate" and then look at each other confused how to do it.

So far ruled out: dining out, purchasing things, trips (which are a combination of dining out AND spending money), and parties (lots of our desires to celebrate are private affairs, plus we're very busy as are our friends so it's really hard to get together often, especially spontaneously).

Ideas?

Some tips...we're fairly erudite, mid 30s, live in the midwest, not into hunting, boating, etc.

Turkey Day is A-Okay?

Ash3000 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:30:39 -0800

About eight years ago, I read this article on some radical-leaning progressive website, about how the author had come to love Thanksgiving, despite originally viewing it as a celebration of mass murder. This is what I remember about the article:

1. I'm pretty certain I found it on the Z Magazine website (though I haven't been able to find it now.)

2. The author originally took a Howard Zinn-like approach, and felt mixed at best about celebrating a day that had a historical association with genocide.

3. Eventually she started viewing it as an opportunity to reconnect with progressive values of community and true family, and assimilated it into her politics, including (I think) reading a poem or prayer about togetherness at the gathering.

I remember sharing it with several political friends, both conservative and progressive, and all of us finding it touching. Anyone have any idea what I'm thinking of? Wanted to send it to a friend. Thanks!

Help us forge new holiday traditions!

PhoBWanKenobi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:43 -0800

What are some traditions that we can incorporate into our first ~~Christmas~~ solstice together? Mr. WanKenobi and I just got hitched. Our families are in NJ--we're in Florida. To avoid conflict both between our respective families, and each other (he wants to travel to NJ for X-mas this year; I really want to try to get my family to come to me, after flying to colder climes every year for the past three), we've decided to celebrate the "real" holiday apart and to celebrate the solstice together, instead.

We're both agnostic half-Jews who loved Christmas as children. Both of our mothers celebrated only begrudgingly for most of our childhoods, but both my Christian dad and his Christian step-dad are gone now, so the past decade or so has seen serious degradation of any semblance of the holiday traditions that, honestly, once meant a lot to both of us. Nevertheless, there's still a lot of pressure to be with family, even though (especially in my case), this usually means little more than overwrought fighting about presents or what movie we're going to see. Yuck. Unfortunately, there's no way for either of us to get out of that without a lot of hurt feelings.

I'm hoping that celebrating in Florida on the 21st, instead, will give both the Mister and me a chance to inject some much need joy and fun into the holiday season. I'm looking forward to resurrecting some traditions from both of our childhoods, but I also realize that this is a chance to forge some new ones as well. Because we're not religious, they can be from any religious tradition, really, or they could even be wholly invented. So far, I'm thinking of a wassail bowl, a tree, and some Christmas movies burned to DVD, but I would love to hear suggestions for traditions or customs that make mefites feel warm and fuzzy about the holiday season!

New Years Eve, London, 1899?

gottabefunky — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:33:32 -0800

How can I find out what sort of New Year's Eve events and festivities were held on December 31, 1899? I'm specifically interested in London, but other places would help too. I know 12/31/1900 was technically the start of the 20th century, but I'm specifically interested in 12/31/1899 - I'm assuming there were celebrations then too, like in 1999.

Where to throw a party in San Francisco?

roxie110 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:03:30 -0800

Suggestions for birthday party locations to rent in San Francisco? I'm thinking about throwing a party for my 40th birthday in October and have been racking my brain for ideas for places to go or to rent. My best guess is about 30 people (could be less or more, probably depending on how cool the event is!), preferably an evening/night event, and those thousand-dollar-and-up uber-swanky places are definitely out. It's quite likely I'd want to have a couple bands I know play, and have some sort of music going (probably from an ipod playlist) the rest of the time. I could set up some sort of bar if the venue doesn't have one--quite a number of my friends are big drinkers, so availibility of booze would help grease the rails!

Every year on my birthday I just have friends show up at a bar (Zeitgeist, Casanova) so I don't have to bother with planning. This year I'm open to trying something a little more special--but ideally I'd like the venue to be cool enough that it will do some of the work of making the party successful. (I don't want a bunch of people standing around just *looking* at each other. Horror!)

Any suggestions would be gratefully welcomed. From looking at past Metafilter postings, it looks like art galleries are a possibility--does anyone know one or two in particular that might do the trick? I'm also open to suggestions for places or party ideas that are very cool but that are outside of what it seems I'm looking for.

What's the best theme party you've been to lately?

melodykramer — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:04:15 -0800

I try to throw thematic parties once a month (budget: cheap) and was wondering what the best thematic party you've been to was, or what thematic party idea would be one you'd love to go to. In the past I've thrown the following: a Titanic party (complete with lifesavers and donuts for each guest); a grilled cheese party (self-explanatory) and a root beer / birch beer tasting.

I have maybe 15-20 of my friends over and like thematic food events. So...what's the best party you've been to? What worked really well?

Thank you.

Celebrating the Red, White, and... grey in New England

zachxman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:55:56 -0800

Looking for alternative Independence Day activities in New England... So, it's a bit soggy for our original aspirations to go camping this weekend, and we're a bit wary of the crowds and congestion that accompany the large Fourth-of-July celebrations in Boston, Providence, etc. Where might one find small-ish community-oriented festivities within a couple hours' drive of Central Massachusetts?

Don't Stop Believin

mwhybark — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:21:06 -0800

How common has it been in US history for a Presidential election to prompt celebrations in the streets across the country? I was bemused and pleased by the spontaneous street parties that erupted Tuesday night, and am now curious: how often do we run out into the street to cry with joy, hug one another, wave the American flag, and sing the national anthem (or Journey) as a spontaneous collective reaction to the victory of a Presidential candidate? Please note, I am not asking how often Presidential campaign workers engage in said behavior. I was thinking back through the elections in my lifetime and beyond; the only thing that I can think of that remotely relates is the out-of-hand celebrations associated with the inauguration of Andrew Jackson. Hope me, historians of MeFi!

America, it's time for our desktops to CHANGE.

bookish — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:58:59 -0800

Please help me find a good desktop background image, with which to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as 44th president of the USA. Right now I've got this one up, but Barack's head is all down in the corner and it's hard to appreciate.

A place for liberals in Fort Worth?

ryanhealy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:19:36 -0800

Three Democrats from Seattle have found themselves in a hotel across from the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on election night. Where can we go in public to enjoy Obama's impending victory (or be consoled over his devastating loss) without fear of Red State hate?

Affordable dinner in NYC?

LittleLisi — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:09:03 -0800

Help me find a nice BYOB restaurant in NYC for a 12-person celebration. My sister's boyfriend is proposing to her on their vacation next week. (Exciting!) My job is to find a restaurant in Manhattan to celebrate when they get back next Sunday.

My dad is treating for 12 people... to save money for the future nuptials, we're trying to keep it affordable.

Requirements:
- Room for a party of 12 (private room a plus!)
- BYOB
- Preferably downtown

Suggestions? Advice?

You are invited to an alcohol-free affair.

Ruby Doomsday — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:37:54 -0800

How necessary is it to serve alcoholic beverages at an evening ribbon-cutting ceremony? I work for a nonprofit, and we are celebrating the opening of a new location next month. We have typically held lunchtime ribbon-cutting events, but this time we are restricted to either a breakfast or after-hours event.

In discussing the options with my committee, the consensus is that we would get the most traffic (we are on a major thoroughfare) by having it in the evening. However, my contact at the chamber is insisting that we serve alcohol (she says it's an "unspoken expectation")... and that's something my bosses absolutely will not allow.

So, my questions are: 1. Are we committing some unforgivable social faux pas if we have an evening event without alcohol? 2. Considering that alcohol is not an option, would we be better off doing a morning event? There will be food either way.

If it's important, we are in Houston, and this location is in an affluent part of town (Memorial, for those who are familiar) with a lot of new business development.

Advancing to candidacy gift/gesture?

booknerd — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:22:02 -0800

My boyfriend is advancing to PhD candidacy today, and will be giving a talk to his committee and all that jazz. He's been a stress case about this for weeks, understandably, and I'd like to do something nice for him to celebrate. Ideas? I'd send flowers, but I just gave him flowers a couple of weeks ago. His talk is at 1pm, and I'm at work until 5pm, but I'll be going to see him after work. I thought about maybe making him a cute cheesy card or something, but I'm not sure I'll have time. Yes, I probably should have planned this farther in advance. I'm not really looking for anything too involved though, just some sort of small gift or gesture that says, "Congratulations, and I'm really proud of you." Of course, I've also just told him that, but you know, actions speak louder than words or something.

He's also planning to have some sort of party to celebrate on Friday, so if anyone has ideas to throw out for that, I would appreciate it too. I'll probably be cooking some things. I'm not a PhD student, so this is all a little bit foreign to me, although I'm pretty familiar with academia in general.

Why is everyone so horny?

Ziggurat — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:15:26 -0800

LocalInterestFilter...for the last 20 minutes, there's been a lot of excited yelling and car-horn-honking in downtown Vancouver (Canada) What's everyone so excited about? The news tells me nothing...Are they Kosovans, psyched about independence? Did we just win something? Should I be yelling too?

What to do for new years in LA?

evanm — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:09:03 -0800

I want to go to someplace cool and exciting with my friends for New Years.. I live in the LA area (Santa Monica) and would like to stay within 15 miles of the city. I'm fairly new to the area--having just moved here this summer--but still know a bit. I'm 22 so I still have the energy.

NYC Location for Hip Young Woman's Celebration Needed!

citystalk — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:42:07 -0800

NYC Location for Hip Young Woman's Celebration Needed! Help me find the perfect place! A super exciting moment in my BFF's life is happening in the winter, revolving around her career taking a mega leap. I want to throw her a 50-60 person party at a location that represents her - a wacky, loveable, beautiful, brilliant, accomplished feminist in her late 20s. The people who come will be anywhere from 16-30, so not-so-adult, quirky locations wanted (except the ultra played out Dylan's Candy Bar, lol...but along those lines) that will look good on an invite and will be an enjoyable experience, too. Interactive experiences a plus but not a must - there will be lots of high heels, more than likely, but also a lot of sporty women! Doesn't have to be a restaurant, can be a shop, an arcade, a quirky store, a bar...wherever celebration, "girlie" and fun can be one!

Is this week a special time in Dominican-American culture?

sparrows — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:59:57 -0800

Is this week a religious holiday, or other special time, in Dominican-American culture? (I'm not finding anything by googling, but I might not know how to look.)

Winter holiday festivals in Alabama, Mississippi and Alabama - Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and others especially...

mdiskin — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:47:55 -0800

Help me find family-friendly winter holiday festivals and celebrations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to be held this year (2007-2008)-- especially non-Christian celebrations like those celebrating Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or just winter itself. Or specific cultural celebrations that would offer something beyond the usual Xmas/Santa stuff. It's especially hard for me to get good descriptions since many holiday sites and city calendars aren't yet updated for the coming winter's festivals. I'd like specific towns/destinations to point others to (this is for a magazine article).

Pre-emptive round buying, or another way of celebrating the death of an asshole.

Aidan Kehoe — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:50:50 -0800

I occasionally read about people buying rounds of drinks for a bar on the death of some hated public figure. I’m interested in doing something similar for a public figure in particular, but I may well be not flush with cash when it happens, so I'd like to do the legwork for it in advance. I suspect the most practical thing would probably be to acquire a regular bar, build a relationship with the owner, and propose paying for the round in advance. But I move country too often to be sure of that approach :-/ . And it doesn't have to be a round at a bar; anything celebratory would do. Any suggestions for other ways to go about it?

Celebrating One Year

tradeer33 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 23:16:52 -0800

Help us plan our one year anniversary celebration/dinner. My husband and I are celebrating one year of marriage in September. We are very happy and excited. When we got married went to the Justice of the peace with no family or friends. We didn’t elope, our family knew, but told friends later. We had originally planned to renew our vows so our family and friends could help celebrate. We are having a ceremony and a dinner. It’s going to be small, with about 100 people or less inside of a recreation building. We are trying to keep things to a small budget. The main thing is we want to celebrate the first wonderful year of our lives together with family and friends. How can we make this special for everyone and where it’s not really like a wedding? There will be no exchanging of rings, because we already have them. Unity candle is kind of silly because we are already united as a family. I will be wearing a wedding dress and him a tux- I definitely want to exchange some kind of vows. So do you have any wonderful ideas for our celebration? Also its going to be in September, so I don’t have long to plan! Thanks for any help.

NYC Italian restaurants?

Flakypastry — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:42:31 -0800

Italian restaurant for a celebratory dinner in NYC? My oldest daughter is turning 16 this summer, and wants to go to Manhattan to visit. She has requested an Italian restaurant for her birthday. Can anyone recommend a great Italian place for a celebration dinner? Upscale/dressy is okay, food quality is most important.

So my mom wants to do something batshitinsane for her birthday...

ztdavis — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:06:39 -0800

What should my mom do to celebrate her 50th birthday? (Please read the more inside.) My mom's 50th birthday is coming up and she wants to celebrate it defiantly, so to speak. She's had rheumatoid athritis for a decade but has pretty much kept it in remission and wants to celebrate her continuing fitness and health, despite the years and her disease.

To give you some context, for my dad's 50th birthday (seven years ago) we all hiked to the river and back at the Grand Canyon. So seventeen mile hikes in a day isn't a big deal.

She has done ten marathons, bikes over 50 miles a week, and could probably take me in a fight. She wants to do something challenging or at least thrilling. She thought about skydiving but didn't want to risk my losing her (I told her statistics were against that). Right now she is thinking about biking between Indianapolis (where she is) and Bloomington (where I am), but I want her to do something more exciting than that. Her birthday is April 4th and she wants to do it right around then.

She doesn't drink, gamble, or the like. Because of her RA things like mountain biking are out, as they rattle the hell out of joints.

--Warmer places / activities are better than cold
--Cheaper is better than expensive, but not necessarily the most relevant criteria
--Probably needs to be in the midwest

Over the onion dip, sick of the roses: What do do for Superbowl weekend & Valentine's Day

mdiskin — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:41:01 -0800

Anti-holiday ideas for Superbowl weekend and Valentine's Day? The V-day ideas can be for just-broken-up individuals, best friends, anything non-loverish or for people who simply want to forgo the dozen reds and box of chocolates (unless they're very, very different chocolates) for something less tradish. The closest thing I can come up with for Superbowl weekend for those who want to go as far away as possible is something like a tea party, but I'm open to just about anything -- including ways to get through it with a minimum of fuss if you have been somehow shanghaied into the celebration. If I need to ratchet this down a step, it could be a guide to how to throw a superbowl party when you hate football.

Rock the vote! With good music..

PissOnYourParade — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 20:20:46 -0800

Election celebration music? Let me rock the vote with your awesome music recommendations. Okay.. It's time. Inspired by the Freedom video posted on mefi a couple days ago I'm looking for music to celebrate the changing times. Any suggestions?

I need a birthday cake (in London)!

ascullion — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 06:47:59 -0800

I need a birthday cake for Friday (Sat morning at the latest). Doesn't have to be anything exciting, just something that can feed about 20 people, and says 'Happy Birthday' on it. I live in London - where on earth would I go to get such a thing? I guess I could try large supermarkets, but there aren't many in central London, and it would be nice to get something 'handmade', by a decent bakery. All suggestions gratefully recieved!