Last Friday night Mike and I were honored to be invited to a wonderful friend's 45th birthday party. She decided to celebrate it "double or nothing," so we were encouraged to come as 90-year-olds. We drank cocktails; played bingo, cribbage, and canasta (apparently very complicated); ate yummy finger food; whittled soap (apparently this is popular in the older set??); and danced to decidedly un-90ish music.
Most of the 80somethings and 90somethings we know are fairly hip and happening, but we went with the stereotypical look. We hit Goodwill and purchased polyester, tweed, ugly shoes, and a cane. Mike finally caved in and bought himself some reading glasses (which he needs to use now anyway, for the first time in his life!) and wore those. (It is very weird to see him in glasses after nearly 47 years of not wearing them!) Mike also took a second trip to Goodwill and scored a cane/walker thingy. My dad lent him one of his hats, and a friend lent me some old-looking jewelry. I took out my contacts and pulled out my old glasses, and we were set.
My parents took the kids overnight, and a bit of baby powder, drawn-on wrinkles, and Goodwill clothes, we were off to be 90-year-olds. A few of the men showed up in drag, in full beards!
I tried my hand at soap whittling, but my fish turned out pathetically compared to these masterpieces:
A little person standing on something--can't remember what it was supposed to be, but we all agreed that it looked either like a vagina or a toilet!
Take a look at that elephant! and a butterfly is now on the toilet...
Us as "geezers" (my funny geezer story is when Mike accompanied Nadine driving back from Wisconsin after she graduated from medical school, they stopped at Yellowstone National Park where hordes of retirees were visiting, and Mike loudly proclaimed "look at all those GEEZERS!" [in England, "geyser" is pronounced "geezer"]--this quickly became family lore!)
You can see one of the bearded ladies (dressed as "Endora" from "Bewitched") in the background!
The funny thing about my two-piece pantsuit is that it's Weekenders Wear, which I used to sell in the mid-90s! The line was known for being wash and wear, with elastic waists and prominent shoulder pads. I gave it up when Christopher was born...but I never did very well anyway, because I was doing it as a second job...and I just am not very good at direct sales. I felt awkward asking my friends and relatives to have parties, and when they did do so, they didn't buy much. I think most of the people I know are cheap like me! Anyway, I found it ironic that I ended up wearing a Weekenders outfit to be a 90-year-old. The company went bankrupt a few years ago, because home parties are going out of style I suppose. I do still own one piece of Weekender wear (besides this lovely pantsuit): it's a nifty navy travel raincoat that can fold up into a little bag.
All in all, a very fun night and a great theme party--especially because we LOVE the guest of honor! :)
Most of the 80somethings and 90somethings we know are fairly hip and happening, but we went with the stereotypical look. We hit Goodwill and purchased polyester, tweed, ugly shoes, and a cane. Mike finally caved in and bought himself some reading glasses (which he needs to use now anyway, for the first time in his life!) and wore those. (It is very weird to see him in glasses after nearly 47 years of not wearing them!) Mike also took a second trip to Goodwill and scored a cane/walker thingy. My dad lent him one of his hats, and a friend lent me some old-looking jewelry. I took out my contacts and pulled out my old glasses, and we were set.
My parents took the kids overnight, and a bit of baby powder, drawn-on wrinkles, and Goodwill clothes, we were off to be 90-year-olds. A few of the men showed up in drag, in full beards!
I tried my hand at soap whittling, but my fish turned out pathetically compared to these masterpieces:
A little person standing on something--can't remember what it was supposed to be, but we all agreed that it looked either like a vagina or a toilet!
Take a look at that elephant! and a butterfly is now on the toilet...
Us as "geezers" (my funny geezer story is when Mike accompanied Nadine driving back from Wisconsin after she graduated from medical school, they stopped at Yellowstone National Park where hordes of retirees were visiting, and Mike loudly proclaimed "look at all those GEEZERS!" [in England, "geyser" is pronounced "geezer"]--this quickly became family lore!)
You can see one of the bearded ladies (dressed as "Endora" from "Bewitched") in the background!
The funny thing about my two-piece pantsuit is that it's Weekenders Wear, which I used to sell in the mid-90s! The line was known for being wash and wear, with elastic waists and prominent shoulder pads. I gave it up when Christopher was born...but I never did very well anyway, because I was doing it as a second job...and I just am not very good at direct sales. I felt awkward asking my friends and relatives to have parties, and when they did do so, they didn't buy much. I think most of the people I know are cheap like me! Anyway, I found it ironic that I ended up wearing a Weekenders outfit to be a 90-year-old. The company went bankrupt a few years ago, because home parties are going out of style I suppose. I do still own one piece of Weekender wear (besides this lovely pantsuit): it's a nifty navy travel raincoat that can fold up into a little bag.
All in all, a very fun night and a great theme party--especially because we LOVE the guest of honor! :)
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