365 Ways to Live Happy (30 page)

Instead of having the usual dinner with the lover, spouse, or relatives, why not plan an exhilarating birthday bash that you'll never forget. Perhaps you are turning thirty and want to fly to London to shop at Harrods and then go to the theater district to see a play. What are you waiting for? Book the reservations. You're only thirty once. Or, perhaps you're turning forty and are thinking about doing a vision quest. Get in your jeep and head to the desert. Maybe this is your big five-o year and you've always wanted to skydive. Get on down to your local airport and find out what's involved. Whatever you do, do it your way and enjoy every minute of it.

You played that game of golf as if you were Tiger Woods. So why not milk that event for the greatest amount of happiness possible? Turn that exhilarating win into an excuse to celebrate with your golfing buddies, family members, and friends. Reserve the party room at the clubhouse. Bring in a cake decorated with a golfing theme. Ask someone to make your favorite punch. Relive every minute of that game as you explain the high and low moments of that day. It's your party and everyone there has come to honor you and your skill as a golfer. That game is surely destined for family storytelling for years to come, so don't hesitate to invite questions. Include all the details in your answers and feel the joy again.

How often do you get to dress up in formal attire? If you love wearing silk or satin, getting your hair and nails done, and feeling the excitement of a big day, host a formal holiday gathering for your wine club members. Make the event a blind tasting of champagne and sparkling wines from French and American vineyards. Ask members to bring appetizers that pair nicely with the beverages and to also bring a wrapped gift for either a boy or a girl. The day after your party, take the donated gifts to a charity or a local fire department to distribute to low-income families with children.

Get in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, held May 5th each year. The day marks the triumph of the Mexican militia over the French army in the 1862 Battle of Puebla in the Mexican state of Puebla. The holiday is celebrated in areas of the United States where there are large Hispanic populations, such as the U.S. border with Mexico, California, and Texas. Throw some colorful Mexican cotton blankets on the table, set out some green cacti, red chili peppers, and miniature sombreros. Place a grouping of candles, each in a terra cotta pot in the center of your table. Then, make some traditional Mexican foods and serve with margaritas or just order in some beans, burritos, and beers. Invite your neighbors and friends over to celebrate.

If it's March and you are looking for an excuse to break the monotony of your winter doldrums, get into the party spirit with an Oscar bash. Find out what night the film industry will be hosting its annual Academy Award celebrations, and schedule a party on that night. Some film buffs say that Hollywood's film industry was in its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. Ask everyone to dress in attire that reflects that golden time in filmmaking. Offer appetizers and drinks and pass around cards asking your guests to pick the nominees for best actress and actor, screenplay, and picture. Enjoy the televised Academy Awards celebration and cheer on your picks for the winning actor, actress, picture, and script.

If you are looking for a special kind of cake to make for an engagement party, consider a medieval honey cake. The taste of honey, a natural sweetener, depends on the part of the world where it is produced. It takes its flavor from the flower nectar the bees gather. Mead or ale made with honey has been around for thousands of years and was especially loved by the Romans, Greeks, and Jews. In fact, those three cultures all have a version of the ancient honey cake. Many Jewish cooks prepare a honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It symbolizes a wish for all good things and sweetness in the coming year. That sort of wish is also appropriate for an engagement announcement. For a historical Roman honey cake recipe, go to
www.history.uk.com/recipes/index.php?archives=10
.

Laughter is good for your health and longevity, and comedy adds fun and frivolity to any gathering. So, the next time you're thinking of throwing a party, kick up your happiness quotient a notch or two and make sure that your guest list includes some people with a natural sense of humor. Give your comedic friends free reign to do a little standup work or try out some new material. Make sure they know ahead of time that you will have a receptive audience who enjoys a good laugh. Then join in the fun; laugh until your muscles hurt.

If you are looking for theme party ideas, consider the party at Woodstock. You remember Woodstock, that gathering of sixties-era rock 'n roll musicians and their fans who camped out for a weekend in Max Yasgur's 600-acre field in New York? The 1969 event has long been linked to the hedonism of hippies and the excesses of that decade. Plan a little counterculture bash of your own in a pasture. Don't have a pasture? Try the back yard. No problem getting the musicians either. Just put on CDs of the music of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, and others who performed that weekend. Tell your guests to wear their favorite tie-dye and plan to have a blast.

Icebreaker games are intended to help you and your guests quickly break down barriers to conversation, facilitate introductions, and get people animated and focused on having fun. In the Who Am I game, for example, each guest writes the name of a famous person onto a self-stick sheet of note paper and affixes it on someone's back. That person has to ask questions until he discovers the identity of the person whose name is on his back. There are many icebreaker games you can play, depending on the size of your party. Especially helpful in easing introductions of strangers to each other, icebreakers get the fun started and keep it going until the party is over.