THEME PARTY! Golden Girls Baby Shower...

As I mentioned in my review of Legoland, I'm a sucker for anything with a "theme." I love theme restaurants; seafood places with plastic lobster-choked fishnets hanging across the ceiling and "Buoys" and "Gulls" signs on the restrooms. I LOVE theme hotels-I get giddy the moment I step onto the Vegas strip!  I especially adore theme parties!

My hubby & I spent our honeymoon at The Madonna Inn-QUEEN of theme! photo via Wikipedia

So I thought it might be fun to share few theme party ideas here from time to time-hope you don't mind!

One of my favorite theme parties I ever threw was a baby shower for my sister, who is the HUGEST Golden Girls fan I've ever met. Even though she was under 13 when the show originally aired, she nevertheless caught every single episode and knows most of them by heart. When my husband and I were first dating, he was totally baffled by her love for this show. I remember him having this conversation with my then-15-year-old sister:

HIM: Why do you love that show so much, anyway? What's the deal?
SIS: I'd just like to be like them when I'm their age! Sharing cheesecake and telling stories to each other in the middle of the night...
HIM: Um, so....you'd like to be widowed?
SIS: (dreamily) Yeah....or divorced!

Don't worry, she grew up to marry perfectly lovely man! And when we found out she was expecting, I immediately knew what the theme of her shower would be. :)

Got a Golden Girls fan in your life? Here's how to throw a shindig that'd make Blanche Deveraux beg for an invite!

DADE COUNTY DECOR

FIRST: The invitations! I went to faceinhole.com and found a Golden Girls template. Popped my sister's face in Rue Mclanahan's place and voila! The perfect invite.

SECOND: I hit my local fabric store and picked up a few yards of "Miami-Nice" fabric (see above). I can't sew a stitch, but my mom was kind enough to whip up  table cloth for my buffet and a runner for my coffee table. Thanks Mom!

THIRD: I filled my home with vases of Birds of Paradise and palm fronds. Now I live in Southern California where these things are literally right outside my door, but if you live somewhere where tropical flora is scarce you can easily find some fabulous fakes at your local craft store.

FOURTH: Never forget that, as the hostess, YOU are the most important decorative element of your party! I served my guests and moderated the games in my FABULOUS Shady Pines apron, which I found at cafepress.com.

MIAMI MENU

(All the food and drinks had printed placards letting the guests know what they were in for!)

FOOD:

-Miami Mixed Salad

-Rose's nutty Scandinavian Meatballs (served in the crockpot)

-Dorothy's Brooklyn Sausage and Peppers

-Sofia's Dinner Rolls (Just like they served at Shady Pines, Ma!)

And for DESSERT~

-Blanche's Georgia Peach Pie a la Mode

and, of course, 

CHEESECAKE!!

(my favorite is the New York-Style Cheesecake from Trader Joe's, in the blue box)

DRINKI-POOS:

-Rue McLemonade

-Iced Tea Arthur

-Betty White Sangria*

-Estelle Wetty (Ice Water)

*I realize some consider it poor taste to serve alcohol at a baby shower, but this was a party for 35 and I think you simply can't expect that many women to get along without wine (especially if they're related to me) but that's just a personal quirk!

GOLDEN GAMES

-We played the standard baby shower games (cut the string to what you think is the preggo's circumference, find the safety pins in a dish of rice, etc.)
-We also played Golden Girls TRIVIA! This was the hit of the party. I was shocked at how well those ladies knew their Golden Girls!

The prizes all had an 80s theme: A bottle of Reunite (to be served "on ice"), a Rubik's Cube, Calgon, etc.

SOUNDTRACK SUGGESTIONS

-"Conga" by Miami Sound Machine
-The theme to Miami Vice
-"Cheesecake" by Louis Armstrong
-"Bosom Buddies" from the movie Mame-sung by Bea Arthur and Lucille Ball
-For that matter, the theme from Bosom Buddies
-The theme from The Golden Girls
and so on.

Getting some ideas for your own theme party? Got a brother who can't live without MacGyver? Was your mom despondent when they canceled The Love Boat? Got a cousin who knows all the words to the theme from The Facts of Life?  Make their YEAR with a party based on their TV-land faves!

Wishing you love with extra CHEESECAKE!
Nacho Mama

PS-here's my favorites Golden Girls moment EVER! If this doesn't make you laugh, I'm not sure we can be friends. (OK we can-but no theme party for you.) Enjoy!