Walk the Airborne

Walk the Airborne

The Airborne March is the annual Dutch commemorative event in remembrance of the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. It began in 1947 and always takes place on the first Saturday in September at Oosterbeek near Arnhem in The Netherlands.

From the beginning the net revenues of the Airborne March are used to enable veterans and next of kin with poor means, to come over to The Netherlands and attend the annual Airborne-commemorations in and around Arnhem.

The Airborne March has 4 distances: 10, 15, 25 and 40 km. The longest distance is for individuals only. The routes lead you through the woods of the Veluwezoom and the municipality of Renkum and the great views over the river Rhine.

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How to do this?

1) This is a paid event in Netherlands, and it happens every year on the first Saturday in September.
So you need to be able to
* buy the ticket
* get to Netherlands and stay there for as long as it takes
* walk 10, 15, 25 or 40 km

2) Timeline is there already.
This happens on the first Saturday in September, come rain, come shine, come flu and your cousin's third child's wedding. It is totally safe to book tickets already now and tell everyone you will be in Arnhem the first week of September. Sorry.
You also know how much time you have to save the money and get fit.

3) Getting the ticket is also easy.
You just need to find out how much it costs, when is the last day to purchase it and how it is purchased. All that information is clearly on the site.
Getting the money for the ticket might not be that easy, but - I have spoken about saving tips earlier, the same principles go for this.

4) Getting to Arnhem.
This depends totally on where you are right now. The longer the road is, the more you need to think about this.
If you are in North-Western Europe, this will not be a problem. You could even fly to Netherlands in the morning, do the walk and get back home to sleep in your own bed. I wouldn't recommend that, though, because there will be a lot of interesting people there, all the WWII veterans (blessed be they, dead as well as alive) and their friends and relatives. Think about all the stories!
If you come all the way from any other continent, it might be worth it to make this PART of a total Netherlands experience, and put all the interesting things one can do in Netherlands on your list and plan accordingly. Now, not all events happen during the first week of September, and the tulips will have bloomed, but there's plenty of things to do and see in Netherlands.
Nevertheless, plan accordingly.

5) Having fun when walking
Firstly, you need to be in the physical condition to do that. It's not difficult to walk some 5 km every day. It takes less than an hour when you are used to do it, and it will have all kinds of benefits, not only to your physical health but your mental health as well.

This will also make you aware of the equipment needed. You will need good walking shoes. You will need clothes that allow certain movement and keep you warm/cool and dry, but you don't need exercise clothing. If you walk 5 km every day for a longer period of time, you won't even get sweaty.

The shoes are the most important part here.
NEVER EVER PLAN OF PARTICIPATING IN WALKING IN SHOES THAT ARE NOT COMFORTABLE.
If you get a blister the first 15 minutes of the walk, you will not enjoy that walk! So you MUST have walked in the shoes enough times to know you won't get blisters in them! You also need to wear socks. Nylon socks under the ordinary socks help, too, they say. But have blister patches/band-aid with you just in case.

If you don't know anyone, bring some music. But don't count on listening to music while you walk The Airborne March. Remember that there is a reason you are there, and that is most likely the same reason everyone else is there too! Go talk with people! You might get lucky and have some very personal memories about the area where you are walking!

Bring with you some water and some snacks, like nuts and dried fruits, just in case.

Be prepared to rest if need be. You can carry a backpack with a foldable chair, or a small picnic blanket, so that you can sit on the ground.

Remember to have a hat and sunglasses, perhaps even sunblock, as the weather can still be quite warm this early in September

Bring the camera. See that the battery is full loaded and that there is room in the memory card (or bring a couple of rolls of film.)

Bring some calling cards... you might make new friends :-)

Look around you. Look up and down, right and left, front and back, near and far. Try to capture every sight, scene, smell, sound and sensation. Be aware of what is and what happens around you.

Read up before you go. 

How to create a travel itinerary

Whether you plan to travel the world around or to a neighboring city, whether you plan on taking planes or walking, it is a good thing to have a travel itinerary.
Back at good old times there were travel agencies one could count on to do all this for you. Nowadays, not so many.
(Frankly, I have NEVER even SEEN one in Sweden. I used to use one in Finland all the time. It was so convenient and lovely and the people working there were great. I am sad to see this occupation vanish. Any way, I went to a Swedish "travel agency", and it turned out they sell ONLY tickets to ONE buss line. If we asked any questions of ANY OTHER OPTION they told us to go somewhere else to find that information. Really! We left and never returned. There was no indication outside the local of that they ONLY represented THAT company. In fact, they had images of all kinds of travels, from Paris to Hawaii on their window :-D How they would take a person to Hawaii on a buss is a very interesting question, but I'm sure they would not have understood the satire.)

This is a very nice little information list about how to plan your travels, but creating an itinerary is a bit different thing. (It is a part of the above list, but here I'll talk a bit more about it.)

1) Write down the route
- from where to where, which places you wish to visit, which sights you wish to see.

Put this information on a map to see how these spots are located to each other, to be able to design a logical route from one place to another.

Gather all information you can of the places you plan to visit. You might find out that some places were not what you thought they'd be, and can skip them, and you might find out some places you'd hate to miss.

2) Plan the time
How long time do you have?
When do you have this time?
When are the events?
When are the museums and attractions etc. open? Some are closed on Mondays, for example, or open only during the summer etc.

How much time does transport take?
How much time do you plan on using in site? (Take a practice round at a similar place near you, for example an art museum or an amusement park. You will also notice what you need to consider. For example, in some amusement parks the food is awful and expensive, but in some amusement parks you may not take in your own food. In some museums there are restrictions on what you may bring in the show rooms. For example, purses are not allowed in the jewel room at British Museum. For some reason they allowed me to go in wearing my trench... and my purse was UNDER it... They never even asked. :-D You might need to prepare for some extra money for such purposes.)

3) Find out the travel options.
Can you fly or do you have to take a boat? How about trains and buses? Would you need to have a car, can you take your own or do you have to rent one?
Some places don't have any such access, you have to go there on your own legs, or perhaps hire a mule or some other animal whose legs you can use. :-D
Find out this information. This is available on the internet when it comes to most of the places.

Choose the travel options of your preference (but have a backup plan, because accidents happen and things change, and people usually are not aware of that you have made plans a couple of months ago so they don't know to inform you of that the buss company you planned on using has changed routes or owner...)

4) Plan your accommodation. 
Find out all the available options from hotels to couch-surfing. Don't forget bed-and-breakfast and agritourism options. Choose according to your expectations and finances.

* Now you have your initial itinerary ready.
5) You need to go through it and REALLY SERIOUSLY THINK IT THROUGH.

Does it really sound realistic and functional?
Have you planned in plenty of time to move from one place to another, all the time it takes to wait on the airport, check-ins etc.? Have you planned in what you need to do if there is for example a strike or a major accident and you won't be able to use the public transport to get you to the airport?
How have you planned around your fitness and mental demands? You might think it's easy to run through several museums and galleries a day, but it really isn't. Don't plan in more than ONE attraction every day, and give yourself a time to rest about every 3-4 days at least.
Have you considered the possible national holidays and events that might interrupt with your plans? In some countries NOTHING is "open" on Good Friday, for example.
Adjust your plans to fit your reality, your nature, your style, your preferences, not the ideal fantasy or someone else's resources.

Now you need to write this revised, final plan down. (I actually think they at Rose and Gully have a wonderful idea! You can try to copy it by your best ability.

6) Get the money
Collect all this information and how much money it costs. Divide the time between now and when you must pay (not necessarily the travel date!) and the amount of money to know how much money you MUST save each week. Save that amount and have a backup plan for those weeks you fall short of the goal. If you do that, you either need to find more sources/less drains for money or move your trip forward.

7) Get the tickets, reservations etc.
Do this in good time. A week can make 100s of Euros' difference!

First you need to check that your passport is valid, and what kind of travel restrictions they have.
You might need a visa, some vaccinations etc.
You are not welcome to some countries if you have AIDS.
Some countries don't allow you in if you have been in some other countries.
Also find out about the restrictions when it comes to what you may bring with you. Australia is infamous about the "no plant/animal material that might have seeds/pollen/other alien lifeforms attached".
There are also restrictions about certain medicins and cosmetics, etc.
Also, remember that you may not take anything you like with you in a plane, like knitting needles and nail scissors.
FIND OUT ALL THIS INFORMATION BEFORE YOU GET THE TICKETS!!!

Book the "biggest things" first. The hotel where you will stay the longest, the longest travels from place to place, the most important "must not miss" events and happenings, then the "small" ones.

Collect all the necessary information in one place and have an electric backup somewhere online where you can reach it even if you loose all the papers. You can also leave copies to a trusted friend whom you can call if need be to get that information.

I would really recommend getting a travel folder, of leather or other sturdier material, small like the one pictured, with pockets for all the papers.
And I suggest you print out the information on A4 and fold it in three (that would be DL envelope size). (Frankly, if you learn to use that format of paper (DL envelope size) in stead of A4, your life will be much easier. Most of the information fits on paper that way too, takes less space and is easier to eye through. But as it is now, most printers are designed to use A4 size paper. So much so that in USA it's called "printer size" :-D)

Include:
the names - hotel, airline, buss company, train company etc.
numbers - flight number, buss route number etc.
reservation/confirmation numbers
telephone numbers and names of people you need to reach if something happens
times

directions, maps, photos of your hotel, the air port, station etc. You need to know how to get from the airport to the hotel and how to get to the airport yourself. Now-a-days it is easy with google maps etc.

information about the local public transport, fees, hours of operation, how to use them, if you need a pass etc. and taxi companies numbers etc.

information about eating out and grocery shopping in the area of your hotel (how much does food cost, what extra costs you need to expect, tipping, manners etc.

how to ship home larger objects if you happen to find anything you just must have

address list of friends and relatives you wish to send a postcard

Also include
- medical information
- emergency contact numbers
- your nation's embassy/consulate number and address

Autumn Bucket List

My autumn... well... datewise it's from Lammas to Samhain. But August doesn't feel like autumn :-D And I am divided because I do feel Mother knows best, better than our calculations, traditions, and calendars. Basically... one could think that autumn is when most trees have changed colors. But... that seems to be happening later and later every decade, and I am not going to wait for October to celebrate Autumn. I would miss Mabon! So - from Lammas to Samhain it is, and I am going to explain August as "the first days of autumn that feel like summer still", just as the first days of spring feel like winter etc.

Different definitions of autumn:
- astronomical - begins at Autumn Equinox, ends at Winter Solstice
- meteorological - here it's "Summer is when the median temperature of days is over 10°C five or more subsequent days", so when the median temperature sinks below 10°C. In the USA it's "June, July, August"

- write an autumn bucket list

- write a list of 92 things you love/like about autumn

36 reasons why Fall is the best season!

24 Things About Fall That Will Put A Smile On Your Face

The Best Things About Fall

Why I love this season

If you don't get 92 things on your list, don't worry. Write as many as you can think of.

- commit to taking a photo on each day of Autumn according to this list of your personal favorites. This is why the number is 92. If you didn't get 92 things, don't worry about it, just take more photos of some of your favorites.

- get better at photographing.

31+ Days To Better Photography

31 Day To A Better Photo

30 day photography challenge project

- Search "[name of the month] photo/photography challenge". There are dozens of suggestions online. Pick your favorites, print the list and cut it into strips, and put the strips in a bowl. Every day of Autumn, pick a strip and take a photo.

Yes, it's a lot of photos. But it doesn't take more than a couple of minutes top most to snap a photo of a thing. It doesn't need to be the greatest photo in the history of photography. It doesn't even need to be a good photo. Or a photo you are proud of. Or a photo you like. It just needs to be a photo of something.

- Start an Autumn journal

• a bit like "December Daily", though this is "August/September/October Daily"
• illustrate it with your photos-a-day.
• make the pages like an art journal, "Project Life" page, or a scrapbook page.
• make a page every day
• there are different journal prompts around, "project life" prompts, etc. Use them.
• write down the best part of each day. This doesn't need to be perfect, amazing, inspiring or even good. "best" means "the least bad".
• start a gratitude journal - write this, too, in your autumn journal
• start writing morning pages. Write these to separate pages and add them to your journal.
• keep a nature journal or notebook. Write down the weather and nature phenomenon you observed. For this you need to take a nature walk every day with your camera... so we'll get both practice with the camera and exercise in the list just like that :-D
• Pick a beautiful tree and take a photo of it once a week from the same spot, to see how the seasons change. Pick a tree with beautiful autumn colors, like maple or aspen. Rowens are nice too, with their berries.
• "Sharpen your Observational Skills through Drawing" - again, it doesn't need to be good. The point is to sharpen your observational skills, not to make art... and that you will get better with drawing is just a bonus. ;-)
• "Think about the “seasons” of life, and write a letter to yourself about what you will savor about this season"

- clean your home for winter. There are several "fall cleaning" checklists and suggestions online.

- decorate your home

- prepare your wardrobe for the transition.
Create a fall capsule wardrobe fit for your lifestyle, activities, and purposes.
On my list is "tweed promenade suit, 40's felt hat, plenty of patterned tights, brogue oxfords with a heel, leather gloves"
Check the sweaters and cardigans, let them air in the crisp autumn air, and start wearing them.
Get a pair of good, comfortable, classic fall boots you will be wearing for the rest of your life, and a pair of boot socks.

- Knit something. Learn to knit. On my list is a white, soft Aran sweater and a fair-isle set of a vest and a cardigan. And a tam.

- Take the "week of dressing dangerously" challenge.
Look at all the clothing styles people have, all the costumes, all the tv-series and everything where people wear clothes. Pick five favorites. Pick five of the costumes or outfits you wish you had or could wear or would wear "if..." If you were skinny or curvy. If you were tall or short. If you were a man. If you were in your favorite fantasy world. If you were your favorite superhero. If you were a rock star.
Get yourself these outfits/costumes.
Wear them a whole day, as if it was your normal attire.

On my list

1. tree
2. Victorian femme Doctor Who
3. goth
4. gypsy

Change your life in 30 areas to reduce your carbon footprint

I do have the Japanese "oil from plastic" machine on my shopping list... and then I will be making oil. But until I get one - or build one - there are other things to do.

• have a “earth day” every day – 1 hour of no electricity
• use water as if it was a rarity
• use electricity as if it was a rarity
• get a bike
• start walking at least one hour every day
• get a monthly bus pass and get to know your town.
• get good curtains for every window – black curtains and thick side curtains
• turn off lights
• unplug items not in use
• get more houseplants
• plant more trees
• keep the electric appliances clean
• learn to use no fire cookers
• minimize your belongings – take the 100 things challenge. Only keep things you love and that make you feel good
• eat more veggies and fruits. Have at least one vegetarian day every week.
• eat more locally produced and organic food
• write a food plan and keep it
• stop throwing food away
• cook from scratch
• eat less
• shorter showers
• take the stairs. Elevators and escalators use electricity.
• get compost and start composting everything that can be composted
• recycle all your garbage
• start cleaning your environment. “roska päivässä” movement
• change electric appliances to man-powered, crank, or treadle powered
• use fewer dishes and wash them by hand, air dry
• use fewer clothes and use them wisely. Get work clothes and use clothes-protecting items like aprons and sleeve covers. Air your clothes often, and wash them less.
• buy minimally packaged goods, and make things of the packaging
• eliminate disposable products - make reusable pads, reusable produce bags, reusable handkerchiefs, reusable shopping bags, sandwich bags, reusable bowl covers for the fridge etc.
• check how to use cloth instead of toilet paper (this is VERY EXTREME)

- One of the most important "things" in my life, one "thing" I'm grateful for every day, is my husband, and I want to do things for our relationship.
There was a list of some 25 things you could do this fall with your husband, but I can't find it :-( There were really nice ideas.
There are also "fall dating ideas" lists. Go through some and pick things that sound reasonable to do with your spouse.

Go on a date every week in the Autumn

• spend a whole morning in bed
• write a fall bucket list together
• go reading together in a park with sammies and wine
• go tossing a frisbee
• make a kite together and go flying it
• build a fort in the living room and have a movie night
• have a ghostbusters movie night
• have a scary movie marathon
• have a Harry Potter movie marathon
• read ghost stories to each other in candlelight
• make a quilt together for snuggling
• have a game night
• go to a market, buy things and come home to cook something with those things
• cook a romantic dinner together
• bake together
• go to a flea market, secondhand, etc. buy a piece of furniture and fix it together
• go on a bookstore date
• go on a sunrise or sunset date
• go shopping for some fall decor and things
• go picking some natural elements that can be used to make fall decorations with, and make fall decorations together
• make an autumnal gingerbread house
• go to a picnic in a romantic place and play in the leaves
• get bicycles for both of us and go on a biking tour with a picnic basket
• go bowling
• go play pool
• go hiking and camping, spend a night in the wilderness and watch stars together, by a fire, in a blanket, and make s'mores
• get a new hobby together (I chose cabinetmaking:-D)
• learn a foreign language together (I chose French)
• learn to dance with my spouse and go dancing
• learn to give massage and give each other massage
• paint each other's portrait
• go tour your home town; either take a guided tour or find out information to share with each other
• learn to play an instrument together (I chose guitar)
• learn to play a new card game
• practice yoga daily together
• go on a "day trip" (I chose a zoo nearby, which is going to take the whole day.)
• take a CPR/first aid course together
• learn to make candles
• make candy together

For this I added three things to my own autumn bucket list:

* build a home theater (within our resources, naturally. It might not be much more than rearranging the living room so that the television and comfy chairs are "strategically" placed with the coffee table - but that alone would improve the movie and tv watching time together.)

* build a fake fireplace (to be able to cuddle in front of the fireplace and to decorate the mantel)

* make a "cuddle kit"

Compile a collection of spooky stories
 
Host or attend a fall festival with fun games, crafts, and prizes!
 
Invites friends over for chili night
 
Have a sock knitting bee
 
Learn orienteering
 
Learn the Thriller dance
 
Make 30 autumn cards and send them to people
 
Make a pinecone weather station
 
Have a board-game night
 
Play hide and seek outside
 
Play pumpkin bowling
 
Prepare the balcony for winter
 
Find five scents that feel like autumn

Learn to solve puzzle cubes
 
Surprise someone you love with a fall-colored mum
 
Take a walk in the rain, without an umbrella. Don’t resist the urge to jump in puddles
 
Visit a craft show with friends
 
Visit a haunted house
 
Visit Skogskyrkogård
 
Celebrate National Potato Day, 19/8 
Celebrate the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival 15/9

Stay up late and watch the harvest moon 16/9

Celebrate Oktoberfest 17/9-3/10 
Celebrate Mabon 22/9 
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah 3-4/10

Celebrate Yom Kippur 12/10

Celebrate Sukkot 17-23/10

Have a teddy bears' picnic 27/10 (The International Teddy Bear Day)
  
Have a Halloween bonfire with hot apple cider

Have a Halloween masquerade party with apple bobbing

Build a Dia de los Muertos altar

Collect autumn leaves
 
Plant Lily-of-the-valleys for Independence Day
 
Create an autumn nature table
 
Enjoy autumn
 
Go apple picking in an apple orchard

Go indoor apple picking
 
Go for an early morning walk and watch the sun rise on a cool, crisp day
 
Go to a leaf hunt
 
jump in leaf piles
 
Make a fall leaf maze
 
Make a nature shadow box

Make land art with leaves
 
Play conkers
 
Play with a fall sensory bucket
 
Look for signs of fall
 
Play fall "I Spy"

decorate an autumn cake

Get 8 Sabbath boxes and start filling them. (I want 8 big boxes with all the Sabbath associated stuff in, and nothing more.)
Do some Autumn crafts
 
The following is from my personal bucket list, so not autumn related

Write - I have a couple of books I need to write on my list

Paint china

Improve my French

Improve my German

Learn the basics of all Celtic languages

Learn Latin

Learn hula-hooping

learn whip cracking

learn baton twirling

learn herping

learn juggling

learn to brew cider, mead, ale, wine

illustrate

translate

reconnect with high school friends

build a baker's cabinet

make 3 baskets in different ways

make 3 beaded works

learn leather work

learn flower work

learn bone carving

create a cactus tray

create a terrarium

create a bonsai tree

make 30 books in 30 days

make 10 different kinds of candy

Have a perfect milkshake

Here's one suggestion on how to make a $5 milkshake

Banana? Yogurt? I don't think so.

How to make a perfect milkshake

Now, one scoop of ice cream is about 1/4 cup or 2 ounces, so the ratio is 3:1 3 ice cream to 1 milk.
You can use the ice cream scoop as a measuring cup for the milk

Here's Paula Deen's milkshake, which is one of the most popular milkshake recipes at Food Network.
I would skip the sugar altogether, I think there's too much sugar in most ice creams already.

MY perfect milkshake uses good, creamy vanilla ice cream (the kind of ice cream you would eat straight out of the package with pleasure) and full fat milk. Not cream.
There is no sugar added, nor yogurt, nor fruits.
I like it really cold, but smooth, so the ice cream should be soft (not melty), and THEN you can add a little crushed ice to make it colder.

There's no decoration on my perfect milkshake.

I can think of trying the yogurt-shake, and experimenting with infused milk... vanilla milk, ice cold, might produce a really, really delicious milkshake.

100 species challenge

What is it?

You are to learn to recognize 100 new species in your neighborhood. It is mostly plants, but you are the master of this challenge, you decide if you want to add insects or mushroom (no, they are not plants) or other things on this list.

It is a S.M.A.R.T. plan.

It is specific: plants
It is measurable: 100 new species
It is attainable, achievable and assignable :-): I am going to do it by myself and I don't need any more help than a flora, and that I have.
It is realistic
It is timable

And it is really easy. All you need to do is to do it.

Go out and find 10 plants you don't recognize. It is best to do this in some at least semi-wild area or a forest. Parks might have all planted plants.
Identify these plants from your flora.
You can take photos, notes, draw them, even pick them for pressing, if you are 100% certain of that the plant is not endangered, it's native and it's legal for you to pick it. The laws differ from country to country.

Do 10 species every day and this is done in 10 days. You can take weekends off and get this done in two weeks.

Have the best ---- party ever!

1) Follow the general guidelines about how to arrange a party. You need a solid ground and steady backbone your party is going to be build on. There's plenty of sites about this, so I am not going to talk more about that.

2) Add the awesome sauce

* what or who is the reason for the party? 

What do you associate with that? What are that person's favorites? Find out things like this, so that you can customize the party

There should always be a theme, and not just a general "something like" theme, like "Christmas". (Yes, sorry about that).
Is it "childhood Christmas"? "White Christmas"? "Winter wonderland"? Believe me, if your ordinary holiday party has a theme, people are going to think it's better.

You choose the theme according to the reason.

Parts of a theme:
- color
- emotion, mood
- symbols

Yes, you need to see the party as a movie you are staging. You choose the actors by inviting people. You choose the soundtrack to manipulate the emotions. You choose the settings for the same reason. Everything in a movie is chose to make a certain impact. People might not be as aware of the symbolism of things as they were earlier in the history of mankind (from cave paintings and saint attributes to language of flowers and memento mori), but I believe subconsciously we all are influenced by them.
Think about this staging when you prepare the festive venue for the party.

So, if it's Mothers' Day, the reason is your mother. Don't just arrange a "mothers' day party", but arrange the party as if it was your mother's birthday. Choose her favorite color as the theme color, and the "message" of the event is appreciating all your mother did for you (even if right now all you can think of is that she beared you.) You also need to know her favorite flower. So for my mother I would arrange a "tiger lily mother's day". She also loves hats, so it would be like a queen's reception, all the guests in hats and formal wear. My mother would love that. :-D

Make the main person the focal point of everything that happens.

On mother's day, give your mother a comfy chair in the middle of the room where she can sit comfortably and watch what is going on without needing to move, and where she can just wait to be waited on :-D Give her a crown and a throne. Guests should automatically drift to her, even if they weren't actively looking for that.

(Frankly, the only other spot no-one should need to look for, is the toilet.)

* please all the senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.

No, you don't need to care about such senses as balance, time and pressure, but... if you can, go for it. The more sensations you can pack into your party, the better. BUT KEEP IT BALANCED! Cacophony, chaos and sensory overload are not desirable qualities of a party. 

So, let's assume it's Daisy's birthday.

sight: Daisy's favorite color is yellow. Her favorite shape is the heart. He favorite pattern is polka dots. He favorite flowers are the daisies, of course.

sound: What ever is Daisy's favorite music style. Create a play list by taking her top 10 favorites and adding similar songs.

taste: Daisy's favorite food and spices are lemons and ginger.

touch: this is one of the most difficult things to mind, which is why most people don't even try. But ask Daisy to relax, and then think about her favorite spot in the whole world. What is she wearing? When she reaches out her hand, what does she touch? Let's assume her favorite spot is a meadow she used to play in when she was little. She is wearing a summer dress made of light cotton. She touches soft, green uncut grass, wild summer flowers and butterflies. So - soft, worn, thin cotton. You can have the tablecloth and napkins made of this. Silk ribbons feel a bit like grass, so you could make a fuzzy pillow of silk ribbons.

* social interaction is the most important part of a party. 

People think they have a great time, when
- they are relaxed and trusting, so see that nothing anyone can find scary, unpleasant or uncomfortable is a "must join" activity. People must be able to refuse without needing to fear any kind of social punishment (like people laughing and mocking one, or getting isolated etc.). If you plan some program someone might find unpleasant, plan also a couple of alternatives for those people.
- they are comfortable. Now, you can't do anything about their clothes, but see that the temperature is tolerable and that there are things like blankies and slippers if need be, and they know where the toilet is, and the toilet is impeccably clean and well equipped with towels and toilet paper etc.
- they laugh
- their needs are satisfied 
- they are included and engaged 

For a host to be successful, you need to
- be attentive, treat every guest as if they were the honor guest
- learn some jokes and funny stories and learn to tell them well. You can learn from stand-up comedians and funny people how to do that. It's OK to practice on video. No-one else needs to see that but you.
- learn good conversation skills. It is not difficult.
- learn to listen actively
- learn to dance and dance with other people. Learn to teach simple dances to people who don't know how to dance, because dancing is easy and it makes people happy, so you should be able to drag people to dance floor, first by example, then actively
- not be afraid of jumping in to entertain people with a show if need be 

Have some conversation pieces around, maybe a pack of conversation starters. Make this party specific! For example, a collection of vintage Halloween decoration. Some horror movie props. A coffee table picture book of mystical events.

Now, believe or not, but this started with me pinning things for fathers' day... and just like mothers may not be interested of anything else but *their kids, *beauty and spa. *housekeeping and *romance, fathers may not be interested of anything but *fishing, *sports, *tools and *beer
We too often forget that mothers and fathers are human beings with their own unique interests and hobbies and preferences. When kids are small, they aren't expected to think about this, but I think it's the responsibility of the spouse or parent's siblings and friends to coach the kids to give the parents something they actually appreciate and not just because it came from their kid.

So get a list from every one you are arranging a party for with those questions: favorite color, favorite music (at least 10 songs/pieces), favorite smell, taste, touch, hobbies, preferences, interests.

¨My epic 24 hour birthday celebration

I have two birthday related goals on my list.

Have the biggest, baddest and best 50th birthday ever!

and

Celebrate my birthday for 24 hours

THE MAIN THING WITH BIRTHDAYS IS THAT IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THE BIRTHDAY CHILD APPRECIATES. So don't just go on planning an "epic" birthday to someone else, unless you know this person VERY well and are ready to ignore your own personal preferences, opinions and values.

Which means that you cannot just copy this page and do all the things *I* want to do on my birthday! Use this as inspiration.

The theme of my party is "what Halloween would be like if in stead of scary things it's lovely things." Fun, joyous, delightful, enjoyable things. Stars and clouds and unicorns and rainbows. Kittens with pink bows and balloons. Fireworks.
MY favorite things. 
Things that make me happy.
Things that make me smile.
I want people to have fun, good, decent, clean, fun fun, where no-one gets hurt and everyone gets to enjoy things.

24 things to do in 24 hours on my 24th birthday

Now, her list is not something that I could copy straight out, but it's a great idea, and there are a couple of ideas on the list I find appealing.

Breakfast in bed with favorite cartoons

And I want champagne and flowers.

I am not Christian, so meditating Bible quotes is not my thing, and "yoga at sunrise"... I always do that anyway, but to celebrate the rising of the sun on my birthday, yes!

Start the day with a sunrise party! Yes!

Now, sunrise party is not when you party the all night until sunrise, it's to greet the beginning of the special day. Celebrate the fact that sun rises today and creates a "free" and ecologically sound "firework show". I mean, are there better, bigger and more beautiful light shows on sky than sunrise and sundown?

Now, I want some kind of "juice sunrise dance party" thing

"I arrive at ---  to bubbles floating out the front door and a blonde chick wearing a lei around her crown hugging everyone on their way in."

Yes! Bubbles! And leis! Get everyone leid!

Sun rises about 5:15 on my birthday here where I live...but will I be where I live on my 50th birthday? Perhaps I'm on Tahiti. Or Scotland. We'll see. ;-)

All the guests should be in that place at the time of the sunrise, so I suppose I need to arrange it so that they sleep over at my house as if they were holiday guests... and I don't have a house, so I suppose I have to rent a house.

Now, on my "50 before 50 list" there's this:
Rent a vacation house for a week and have friends stay over

Yes, I want to do this! (Maybe not for a week but at least for a weekend. I want to celebrate my 50th birthday the whole weekend!!! (Not really, but as you read this list, you'll notice there is the "birthday eve" and "birthday day", which ends in the early morning hours, so I suppose it takes about 3 days. Friday for people to arrive to the destination, Saturday to celebrate and Sunday to recover :-D
(Suitably enough, my 50th birthday is on Friday :-D Even better, it's the Good Friday... My 50th birthday is on Easter :-D The WHOLE WORLD CELEBRATES MY BIRTHDAY! :-D)
Yeah. It's my birthday so I may be megalomaniac. 

Other "epic" "morning parties" are Christmas morning. So, let's "borrow" some traditions from that day.

Present opening.
Birthdays mean gifts, don't they? And Christmas, too. So why not combine these two, and make the present opening event a personal Christmas! :-D

Now, I would feel bad to gather the whole family together to just sit and watch me open my presents, so I am going to combine this with Tolkien's idea :-D That is, on hobbit birthdays the birthday child gives gifts to the guests. :-D

Maybe we could all gather to my bedroom to enjoy gift opening, breakfast and my favorite cartoons?
Or those who want to.
Nah. I think it's better that everyone can do what ever they like, have a sleep-in or play tourist or what ever. It's not fun to force people to do things they really don't feel like doing just because it's my birthday.

Ok, I'm egocentric and greedy. But I want A LOT OF PRESENTS!!!

I love presents!

I love gift wrapping!

I love good surprises!

I love the feeling that someone has been thinking about you and bothered to get you a gift.

WHAT it is is less important than seeing a pile of gifts in pretty packages. 

It's like surprise eggs. 

It doesn't matter if the thing inside isn't "amazing". 

It doesn't matter if I already have one of them, or it's used or anything. 

I just love gifts.

Birthday gift idea: through the decades

I LOVE this idea! One gift for each decade, something memorable, something that was "so me", then, something specific... and I love those gift tags :-)

I also love the idea of writing to every one who has ever done anything with me (like teachers and coworkers etc.) and ask them for their favorite memory of me, or a thing they liked about me.

I would LOVE that.

50 Things (Not 50 Shades...) Gift Idea

Birthday postcard poster idea

this one is amazing, too!

And this!
Husband Turns 40, Wife Gets Award

"I contacted 40 individuals - friends and family -
and asked them to send  THEIR FAVORITE book to give to Vic for his 40th"

Also, I love gift baskets...

Another USonian Christmas tradition is to give the family a new pajamas so that they all have something new and nice to wear at the gift opening event.

They even have these "Christmas Eve Boxes"!

 So, I am going to give everyone a Birthday Eve Box

Another thing I like about that 24 things on my 24th birthday list is all the RAKs.
I would love to do 50 RAKs to celebrate my 50th birthday.

Now... if I will be renting a vacation home for a weekend at some country place, this might not be the easiest thing to do... So I need to think about this a bit. Perhaps I could arrange something in a city?
I could also support some things that don't require my presence, like buy goats and chickens to people in developing countries, or donate to other good causes. I could make a book of me doing these 50 RAKs and make a book of it and have that book as one of the program points of the party. Or have a picture show :-D

I am going to wear a tiara the whole day

On this list there are a couple of other things I want to do.

Some pampering.
Massage. A healing therapy session, like Rosen therapy or something.  

A Day of Presents
I want 50 presents, and I want to get them delivered every full our of my birthday, a bit like this:

And there will be two gifts in all packages :-D
Wondering about the math? Ok, there's 24 hours in a day. 24 times 2 is 48. How do I get that to 50? You see, the day starts and ends with a gift... that makes it 25 packages.

The exact time of my birth is 17.50, so there will be presents 4.50, 5.50, 6.50, 7.50, 8.50, 9.50, 10.50, 11.50, 12.50, 13.50, 14.50, 15.50, 16.50, 17.50, 18.50, 19.50, 20.50, 21.50, 22.50, 23.50, 0.50, 1.50, 2.50, 3.50 and 4.50
And then I can go and sleep.

No, it doesn't need to be anything amazing and expensive. I don't want diamond rings and Hermés bags and such. If it's all something handmade, or used books, or things from thrift stores etc.

forty gifts in a box

I really love presents :-D

Birthday brunch 

* I want some background music
* I want so "program" - like board games

Birthday scavenger hunt
in style of a hen party - all dressed up, especially me :-D something silly and a tiara and a featherboa. Of course.

30th birthday scavenger hunt

"I also tried to have a number of clues that related to Jeremy’s background and interests. So for example, I got challenges related to D&D, Magic the Gathering, ducks, penguins, Batman, and generally being awesomely goofy. And of course, I created a list of 30 challenges."

Treasure hunt

Epic cake

I just don't know WHEN to serve this... it would be fun at brunch, though, and then available during the rest of the day.

Afternoon Tea

I love tea parties!

Birthday banquet

And I want it to be a 12 course dinner.
And it may take hours, and everything will be things that I love.
And it should be dressed up, like from an Agatha Christie novel.

Ok, so I like food :-D
The thing is that it's only 5 meals, and you don't have to stuff your face. Nothing stops the champagne breakfast in bed to be a light breakfast, like just melon, ham and champagne.
One doesn't need to eat as much as one can at brunch, even when it's princely.
One doesn't need to eat too much at Afternoon Tea. Just a cup or two of tea, a dainty sandwich and a baked delicacy.
And even when there's 12 courses at the meal, they are not "all that can be stuffed on your plate" courses.
Just because there IS food, doesn't mean you must eat it all!
(Or, frankly, ANY of it, because it's MY birthday! :-D)

And after that it's dancing and party games and mingling and lounging and eating more :-D

And drinking, of course. I do want to try some cocktails.
So why not throw in a cocktail party to finish off the day :-D

I mean, there's always some kind of snacks available at a dance/mingling like this. Why not make it a cocktail party? :-D

Besides, we are going to be up all night - it's a 24 hour party! So why not emulate New Year's Eve as well?

I want it to be a masquerade party- so that too is like the early 20th century New Year's Parties.

I also want to do something supernatural, paranormal, new age spiritual, witchy stuff, like having a medium at the party or someone to read hands or cards or so. Shamanic drum journey. Past life regression.

I am a bit... well... uncomfortable, I guess. I know that a lot of my family think these kind of things are stupid, and wouldn't want to participate, and that is kind of planning things for my birthday party I KNOW some of the guests think is not fun. But - it's MY birthday party and *I* think they are VERY interesting, I don't necessarily believe in things like that, but it's interesting.

I want a photobooth, too

It would be lovely to ask the guests to decide what to do, too...
Right now on my list is 24 people - me included - so I think it would be fun to do something each of them think I'd love. Maybe I get lucky and someone picks bungeejumping or skydiving! Now, this might be a bit cumbersome to arrange in a foreign country weekend trip, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Other ideas

* Have a 50 course dinner. Now, you could have it service à la russe, and let it take some 8 hours, but you could do service à la française, and bring it all in at the same time, like a big buffet table.

Or do it like this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/15/style/tmagazine/endofcuisine.html

* Start the day at midnight like a New Year's Eve party, with fireworks and everything

* use weddings as inspiration - have a wedding for yourself, with amazing dress, flowers, gifts and party

* have a movie night with your favorite movies, appropriate snacks and have the guests dress up accordingly.

* 50th anniversary party ideas - it's your Golden Birthday :-D

* piñata that symbolizes my past life and that is filled with things presenting what I wish for the next 50 years


* sweet 16 or quinceañeras

* have the guests fill a jar with
- things why they love me
- things they think I should have on my bucket list


* have a baby shower but a senior citizen shower - the guests can bring you things that you are going to need or find useful when you are a senior citizen. These gifts could be gag gifts, or real, useful things. At this party, the guests could fill a jar or book with advice for life 50+

* party like it's {birth year}

* http://www.party-ideas-by-a-pro.com/50th-birthday-party-ideas.html

Here's the "24 things I wanted to do on my 24th birthday list" if it happens to get deleted

On January 22, 2013, I made a list of 24 things I wanted to do on my 24th birthday. And I wanted to see if I can do them all in 24 hours.
The entire day was documented with my iphone and my progress was updated live on instagram and facebook.
#1. Meditate on Psalms 24:7
#2. Text message my parents.
#3. Practice yoga at sunrise.
#4. Enjoy breakfast in bed. Pancakes! With Spongebob Squarepants.
#5. Send a special gift to friends who share the same birthday
#6. Clean my room.
#7. Hang out with my favorite designers, Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh.
#8. Bake 24 vegan cookies and give them out to people.
#9. Donate a trash bag's worth of clothes to Goodwill.
#10. Hug 24 People.
#11. Drop 24 cents worth of pennies on the street throughout the day so that someone can pick it up and receive much luck.
#12. Cross the border and get a burrito. (New Jersey)
#13. Play Happy Birthday on my Harmonica
#14. Play with the dogs at the Madison Square Dog Park.
#15. Finish a painting.
#16. Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sit. Sketch.
#17. Make someone laugh.
#18. Go to the children's section at Barnes and Noble and read my favorite childhood stories.
#19. Experience NYC like a tourist.
#20. Give a compliment to a stranger.
#21. Perform a magic trick and blow someone's mind.
#22. Do something spontaneous.
#23. Throw a 'Smores party at school. Invite good people. Stuff my face. Laugh lots.
#24. Make my own birthday cake and blow out the candles. 

Billionaire Birthday Parties are Bonkers