50th Birthday Party - Ideas, anyone?

[Ruth]

I will turn 50 in late November. I want to do something special to mark the occasion, but I am not flush with cash. I thought about renting a cottage to have a girl's weekend with my friends... something I really like but would need enough space for at least 8 of us. I also thought about just going somewhere private with my boyfriend. Then there is the fact that my kids (20, and twin 17 year olds) will want to do something for me as well. Does anyone have any cool ideas?

[Dressage23]

Hi Ruth
I too, am celebrating my 50th (in September). I understand your budget issues, but wanting to mark the occasion in a special way.

I propose the following suggestions:
[*] get together with your girlfriends and rent a hotel suite. Split the cost between all of you to make it more affordable. Go out to dinner, a show, a club or what ever. Have a sleepover with your friends to celebrate and talk, then have brunch and end the day.

instead of or as well as:

[*]gather family around. Have your children cook a special dinner for you. You purchase the birthday cake of your dreams. Toasts to you!

Happy 50th!

Kathi

[ex36332]

Hi Ruth,

Well I also will be celebrating my 50th in October. My plans are a nice dinner with the girlfriends (only!). And I am planning a south vacation in 2009 with 3 of my girlfriends. I must say we have been talking about this for some time now. I don't know when in 2009 but all 4 of us are saving up for it, and if it doesn't happen in 2009 we could always do it in 2010!

[Ruth]

Thanks for the suggestions! This month's new edition of More actually inspired me to mark the milestone by doing some writing. While the article talks about sending letters to 50 people who influenced or made a difference in the author's life, I think I will spin it slightly differently and write the stories related to people and places. At some point, maybe my children will read it and know a little bit more about their mother. For me, it will be a journey of remembering, celebrating and maybe in some cases forgiving.

As for a party - I have decided to do something small and intimate: pot luck dinner with 10 people who are part of my inner circle of dear friends and family. That way, no one has to spend a lot of money, and we all get the benefit of tasting the creations of some truly superb cooks in the group. These are the folks that enrich my life by their very presence. I was also inspired by the article on Jamie Lee Curtis (who totally rocks!) and I think I will make fortune cookies all with F-words in them to celebrate Fifty - words like Fabulous, Fetching, and Far-out!

Thanks More!

Ruth

[pchef]

Congrats! I have 2 more years to go. Last year I quit smoking and My best friend from high school quit several months later. We are saving smoking money to go on a luxury spa weekend for our 50th. Can't wait! She also wants a disco party -right out of Saturday Night Fever. I remember her trying to teach me the Hustle - glad that wasn't on tape!!
Have fun in whatever you do

[TerriT]

I threw myself a big party for my 50th. Girls only. I barbecued the ribs and had the girls bring appetizers and desserts.
The best part was I had a friend at work who had a band. They played just for fun. These five guys showed up at my house and the party went to town.
I went to the dollar store and bought dark sunglasses ( so we could all be Jack Nicholson cool even if our teens didn't think we really were) and I splurged on a beautiful centrepiece for the table - up against a wall to make room for the dancing. I bought disposable cameras and left them all over the place and the girls took pictures of each other, silly stuff which I turned into a scrapbook for myself.

A year later and the many girls in all parts of my life- church, work, theatre crafts night still talk about this party.
What ever you do - make it fun - make it informal and just let loose. And don't forget to take pictures for yourself to remember your special day.

[sewcrazylorri]

Ok, so my celebrating isn't about parties. The summer I turned 50, for a variety of reasons including a bet from my husband, I started working toward the World Masters Games in Sydney (Australia not Nova Scotia). In my 54th year - 2009 - I'm going to be competing in swimming, officiating at the biggest swim meet in the world, and spending three months travelling Australia and New Zealand.

Pretty life changing for the fiftieth. Along the way, I've had to remember how to swim, started doing weights so that I could swim better, lost weight, gained muscle, dropped sizes and am totally excited that in less than a year I'm going to be on the trip of a lifetime.

I'm not waiting for my 60th for the next party.

[LittleKate]

I also, will be turning 50 in November and wondering how to celebrate in style. My husband is not to keen on birthdays as it is, so he is no help what so ever. Here it is normally cool come Nov. so outdoor paries are a no go. Maybe it will be a quiet day at the spa for my cousin (she's 50 in Nov also) and I.
Turning 50 soon has been a motivation for me, to take my health more seriously and start getting into shape (goal is to trim off 75 more pounds)
No matter what our futures look bright from here. I'm so glad that there is a magazine like More.

[lilaccident]

Happy 50th Birthday!!! My sister celebrated her 50th birthday recently and we held a party that everyone is STILL talking about. We had a limited budget so a lot of the party decorating we made ourselves. We had everyone dress like the cast of Happy Day's...you know poodle skirts for the gals and leather jackets, t-shirts and jeans for the guys. We used old records dangling on fishing line all over the ceiling of her apartment's party room. Everything was from back in the 50's, even the music. We had hoola hoops and yo-yo's for everyone and we got great pictures from everyone trying to use these forgotten toys.
The best kind of party is one where you design it from beginning to end. Our party guests were 6 to 81 years of age and nobody was left out. We'll be laughing and remembering this party for a long time.

[jennijeans]

Take a dance class!!! Bellydance, Salsa or even pole dance!!!!!
I am not too sure where you live! I work for DG Entertainment in Montreal and they are extremely popular due to the party packages they offer (birthdays, bachelorette, divorce parties and more!!!) There is even dance classes, henna tattoo, tarot reading, and if you want to go on the sexy side a male dancer. They have complete packages for parties and you can bring your own food and alchohal to their studio!!