Hmm, birthday parties.

My birthday is coming up in two weeks and I’m trying to complete the painstaking task of organising a party. Newsflash: I am not a party person. Granted, you could put me in a party scene and make me go to one and I would fit in perfectly well, and sing and dance and do whatever people normally do. But organising one is a pain in the backside. (It’s also new to me.)

The last time I had a birthday party was when I was seven years old, and my mum organised that one. There were lots of people, a lot of my family, friends, and everything in between. I had invited so many of my classmates. We hired some play equipment from the local toy library — a castle, a rocket, an ordinary play set with a slide. Teamed with our swing set, it worked pretty well and was a success.

Since then, I’ve only had small gatherings of few friends, like lunches or dinners, and just generally hanging out.

My house is too small and far out into suburbia to have a party that everyone can make it to. Seb suggested asking a friend, but I know of no one who can help me out there. He also suggested a picnic, which is a lovely idea, but I was going more for something at night. And just having a dinner isn’t enough excitement for me!

People have dress-up parties, and apparently you can never be too old for those. I don’t have any ideas, though, and most things have been done. Even then, I don’t have anything to dress up in. People have onesie parties and I don’t have one; I thought of a pyjama party but a lot of my friends just wear regular shirts and shorts for pyjamas; not all my friends are into the same fandom so I can’t do anything like Doctor Who. Last time I dressed up for anything, I just did Wednesday Addams because I had black hair dye and 75% of my wardrobe is black.

I suppose just having everyone wear my favourite colour (red) would be nice.

And then there’s the issue of food. With a house party, I suppose you can order or buy or make anything, or get people to bring their own food (and drinks). But if I were to have dinner, everyone has different preferences. Some don’t like regional cuisine or cuisine from certain countries, some have dietary requirements, and so on. I know that ultimately it’s my celebration, so I should be the last person to kick up a fuss, but I also have at least some responsibility of pleasing my guests.

Then there’s the whole who-to-invite thing. I don’t have Facebook, so I won’t be inviting everyone who is my Facebook friend. Then again, Facebook is apparently good for events, and people can RSVP as necessary… but overall, I have more control over inviting people.

James said the issue is that wherever I have my party, or dinner, or whatever, I will have to consider the amount of people coming, which means who am I going to invite? Is that everyone, even people I may not be that close to, is that everyone I just “know”?

He also had the lovely idea of a board games party but I have no idea where to have it. There’s also karaoke, but not everyone likes karaoke. There is also ice skating, but not everyone is an almost-pro figure skater like Tristan. There is also just going to a gig afterwards because I would love that, but not everyone else would.

There’s also a Mad Hatter’s tea party, but that is also a tiny bit out of the question… maybe… possibly? I mean I like tea, and I am a bit mad? :D

Clearly I should not have left this with so little time to plan…