Why You’re Never Too Old for a Birthday Party
They called you a what? An adult? How dare they!
Sweet 16 and Thirsty Thursday Twenty-Firsty have both passed, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t celebrate your birthday now that you’re “over the hill.” Age is just a number, after all, and maybe you still want to go down the slide in your double digits.
Here are 11 ways you can celebrate no matter how old you are.
1. Korean BBQ and Karaoke in NYC
You can’t get more NYC than engorging on Korean BBQ and belting some blues karaoke-style at Insa — or whatever floats your boat. Rent a karaoke room for $60 an hour for a just-right gathering of 10 and grab about two of those scorpion bowls. Are their real scorpions in there? Dare you find out?
2. Hawaiian Luau Pool Party
If you can’t get away to Hawaii for the weekend, then bring the island to you with a Hawaiian Luau pool party. Stop by a dollar store for cheap decorations and don your best floral tourist t-shirt. Make it feel more real by decorating with tropical flowers and bright colors, and include a carved fruit bowl with your refreshments. Host a contest for the craziest tropical shirt and give a prize to the winner. This can be adult-only — or kids can come, too!
3. Bonfire Tales and S’mores
Gather friends around a bonfire to tell scary stories or their most embarrassing tales. Let them roast you, not literally on the fire, but let your friends get away with fitting in a few good-humored jokes and stories about you.
Where there’s a bonfire, there must also be s’mores. Provide extras for guests to customize their s’mores with a Master Chef Off. Stuff a buttermilk biscuit with s’mores ingredients and strawberries, or build s’mores in a banana. Replace the chocolate with a hazelnut spread. Indulge in the majestic mess of your bonfire dessert creation and never apologize for its glory.
4. DIY Pizza and Movies
You’re embracing the aging thing and want to hang out at home with friends. So, provide the crusts and pizza stone and have guests bring toppings to make DIY pizzas. Watch “Mystic Pizza” or another pizza-centric movie. Make pizza theme, or make your friends suffer through all your favorites. There’s always Netflix.
5. Daytrip It
Your birthday represents the perfect time to get out of dodge. Plan a day trip and go. Want to visit a historical site or go kayaking two hours away? Do it.
Adventure awaits you, and it doesn’t mean you have to plan a week’s worth of vacationing and boozing to make it “fun.”
6. Have a Seasonal Birthday Party
Winter calls for soup and an ugly sweater party. Fall means leaf jumping and coffee or hosting a pumpkin beer tasting. Summer means hitting the water park or getting active. Spring means hosting a garden party or a tea party in your fanciest attire, complete with mad hats.
Use your imagination and get inventive. Find something that suits you and your gang.
7. Picnic Potluck
Pack a few small plate items you each prepare, and don’t forget the plates, unless you’re making handheld foods. Bring a frisbee for frisbee golf or a few adult coloring books to relax, color and chat on a beautiful warm day. Pack games and a guitar for music.
8. Game Night
Release your competitive side for a night of board and card games. Bring a game from home — even if it’s ironically “The Game of Life.” Order in for Chinese food or wings and let the games begin.
9. Slumber Party
When was the last time you all got together and let loose like you were kids? Wear your dorkiest PJs, tell your darkest secrets and fear no bedtimes. You’re the adults! Or, are you? Just be careful around the Ouija board because that’s how slumber parties go bad, or someone’s uncle invents a shrink ray and tries to shrink a Tikki man.
10. Wine Tour Party
Vineyards near you? Most regions have at least one or two wineries to speak of these days, and when there’s a bouquet of them to go with your wine bouquet, that means wine trails, folks. Hit the wine trail!
Get your besties together. If there’s no trail, invent your own and ride in a party bus.
11. Brewery Tour
The twin brother to the wine tour is the brewery tour. Book your party bus or grab your best buddy’s truck and dog and hit the road for your personally-designed brewery tour.
From Korean BBQ and karaoke to wine and brewery tours, make the most out of your birthday this year as an old fart. Remember these words of wisdom, and let it be: You’re not over the hill until you’re under the hill.
