Apparel: Casual-jeans and a top

Beverage: Grab a couple bud lights @ the 99 and watch the Celtics

Company: 2

Décor: Lets be honest-guys don’t notice decorations! Take the night off from decorating

Entrée: Burgers

Favors: Grab a 6 pack of beer on the way home

Games: Watch the Bruins on the couch

Apparel: Pilgrim and Indian Costumes

Beverage: Pumpkin Pie

• 1 part kahlua
• 1 part spiced pumpkin pie filling
• 2 parts coconut rum
• 4 parts cold milk
• 6 ice cubes
• Garnish with cinnamon

Company: 15-20 friends

Décor: Decorate with cornucopias, pumpkins, flowers, and candles

Entrée: Turkey..(obviously!)

Favors: caramel apples

Games: Apple Pass - Instruct guests to line up in two lines standing single file. The object is to pass an apple down the line using anything but hands (chin, legs, or elbows all work!). The first team that gets their apple down the line wins!

Apparel: Team Edward and Team Jacob T-shirts

Beverage: Grab a coffee @ Starbucks before you buy your ticket

Company: 4-6 friends

Décor: Since you will  be at a theater, you do not need to worry about decorating!

Entrée: Grab Dinner @ Not Your Average Joe’s

Favors: You can’t go to a movie without buying popcorn and candy!

Games: Enjoy New Moon!

As Thanksgiving approaches, I can’t help but start planning fun activities to do over the break. Obviously, Thanksgiving day will be fun getting together with family, but what about my friends? Every year, to show thanks for my friends, I plan a Thanksgiving Brunch early Thanksgiving morning so we can all get together before running to visit families in all different directions! This year will be unique as my sister is inviting her friends as well, since this is her first college Thanksgiving.

Apparel: Since its brunch as most likely half the party was out pretty late the night before, pajamas seem to be a necessary outfit choice!

Beverage: Grab a Box-O-Joe from Dunkins, plenty of Orange and Cranberry Juice, and if you’re feeling spontaneous: Mimosas (for the guests who are of age!)

Company: up to 10 (Don’t wanna push it as Mom as enough on her hands planning a Thanksgiving Dinner is just a couple hours)

For me, this number may be exceeded this year as my sister is joining in the fun..lucky for me I only keep in touch with 5 friends from high school!)

Decor: Since this is an event which is centered around food, chances are you will be spending most of your time in the kitchen. Get a festive tablecloth to cover the table, and place tiny pumpkins and candles around the table for decoration. Remember that orange, green, and black are good colors to decorate with.

Entree: Mom’s Famous Egg Soufflee, blueberry cake,  bagels, muffins, and donuts.

My mom does not usually give this recipe out to people outside of the family, but I will let you guys in on our secret…

1. 12 slices of white bread
2. 4 oz shredded cheddar
3. 2 cups diced ham
4. 2 tsp fine chopped onion
5. 6 eggs slightly beaten
6. 3 1/2 cups milk
7. 1/2 tsp salt
8. 1/4-1/2 tsp dry mustard

Grease 13X9 glass pyrex dish/cut each slice of bread into triangles/place leftover bread in back of dish/layer cheese and ham over bread/sprinkle onion and remaining ingredients/combine eggs and milk and pour over bread/cover/refrigerate 6 hours or overnight/Bake at 325 degrees uncovered for 1 hour/stand 10 minutes/serve.

Favors: Turkey shaped cookies to bring home to their own family. (recipe)

Games: Highs and Lows- make up for lost time with your friends and share with the party your high point of the past 3 months and your low point. Remembered Thanks-  tell someone had the party one thing you are thankful for, from them, in the past year. If with a close group, do it for every friend!

For all you women who feel the winter weather coming closer, take a night off and take care of yourself. At least for me, I know that if my mindset is not in the right place, I won’t be able to handle the upcoming cold!

Apparel: Have guests wear white for the dinner. But bring bathrobes as they do not want to dirty any clothing with the spa treatments.

Beverage: sparkling water and herbal tea

Company: up to 8 people

Decor: make your house as tranquil as possible. Incorporate tea candles, white sheets, large candles, and snowflakes. Do not forget to play relaxing music such as Enya or Josh Groban

Entree: Keep it light with a nice Chicken Picatta (recipe)

Favors: Bath and Body Works Stress Relief cream gift basket

Games: 

1. Honey Foot Bath (check it out)
2. Sugar Baby Hand Exfoliant (Check it out)
3. Homemade Facial Masks, check out the honey mask!

Apparel: Casual

Beverage: Grab a couple beers at Sports Grill before the game start (check it out)

Company: can be a single date or double date

Decor: Bruins jersey or paraphernalia

Entree: Grab an early dinner at Ray Borque’s resturant Tresca at the North End

Favors: grab an overpriced hot dog and beer!

Games: For post game fun, grab a couple drinks and get your groove on at Hurrican O’Reilly’s! (check it out)

Apparel: Men(T-Birds) wear jeans and leather jackets and women (Pink Ladies) wear pink jackets

Beverage: Greek Lightning (recipe)

Company: 10 ( 5 men and 5 women)

Decor: Decorate the party area with posters from the movie and retro 50′s items. Put up streamers and balloons to replicate their dance

Entree: Mimic the diner and serve Hamburgers, fries, milkshakes. For dessert,  Drive-in Cake:  Sheet cake with small cars parked next to speakers (toothpicks or candles).  Use graham crackers for the screen, cut out a small picture of the movie and attach it to the crackers.

Favors: Men- small black comb & Women-red nail polish and curlers

Games: Triathalon

1. Hand Jive
2. The Twist
3. Lip Sync

Let’s just say I have had a hectic week. My boyfriend and I spent the weekend in Cape Cod visiting friends. After a fun Saturday night, he spent the majority of Sunday keeled over in the fetal position. Thinking it was just a hangover, he refused to admit there was a problem until I forced him to go to the Lawrence General ER at 10pm! A CT scan showed that it was appendicitis and he had hours until they expected it to burst. At about 12:30 am we took an ambulance to Lahey Clinic in Burlington. Arriving at around 1:30am, we sat in the ER until his procedure 7:30am procedure. After seeing him in the recovery room, I was driven back to Lawrence General to get my car which I had left overnight. Returning to Lahey after a quick shower at home, I stayed with him for the rest of the day and stayed the night with him. He was sent home the next day, and since then I have been taking care of him and let me just tell you one thing…men are the worst patients!

Apparel: loose, comfortable clothing. (The surgery leaves your stomach sore to the touch so the less pressure on the abdomen the better!)A long robe would also work (Emphasis on the long as we do not want to see any surprises!)

Beverage: water or cranberry juice It is important to keep up a steady flow of liquids because after surgery your body goes into a shock. The procedure involves blowing up your stomach so the surgeon can get a precise angle on the appendix.Cranberry juice is a good source of pushing out the gases that are filled up in your stomach. It is important to remember that post surgery narcotics have a side effect on constipation, which is another reason why liquids are so important!

Company: Just you and your patient If  your boyfriend is anything like mine, the last thing he wants is company while he is moaning and groaning!

Decor: get your couch ready with blankets and plenty of pillows!

Entree: Chicken soup (the warmth feels good in your belly!), Cheerios (the more bland the better as your patient does not want to have any excess stomach pressure), brand muffin (the fiber helps fight the constipation!) [While these foods do not seem appetizing to the average reader, this is exactly what a post-appendectomy patient desires since he/she is still getting back his appetite]

Favors: New pair of XXL pajama bottoms, a couple dvds, a new book to read, and any other things that you know make your little patient smile!

Games: Nothing too exciting! Remember that your patient has the attention span and energy span of a dog at the moment. Instead of eat, sleep, and play, your patient wants to EAT, SLEEP, and WATCH TV. A couple suggestions:

The Taking of Pelham 123 [a thriller, good to take your mind off of pain]

The Ugly Truth [a comedy, good for winding down]

Apparel: dress as a specific friend

• Monica: proper
• Rachel:trendy
• Phoebe: wacky
• Ross:geeky
• Joey: sloppy
• Chandler: business attire

Beverage:Bailey’s & Coffee (top with whipped cream)

Company: 6

Décor: Simply stay in your apt ( The hostess must be Monica) and have everything tidy and in the correct place.

Entrée: roast turkey (as long as nobody tries to wear it home!)(remember?)

Favors: coffee bag from Andover’s Ultimate Perk (for all those coffee shop scenes at their coffee shop, Ultimate Perk!)

Games: FRIENDS Trivia game-after that, make up a game of YOUR friends trivia!

Apparel: jeans and a sweater/shirt

Beverage: start the night off with drinks at The Loft

Company: one couple-4 couples

Décor: no decorating-that’s the beauty of going out!

Entrée: Check out the Haddock Florentine at Joe Fish

Favors: Get a purple cow ice cream at Mad Maggie’s

Games: End the night off with drinks and karaoke at Beijing!