The first party was actually for Michael's birthday which is the very beginning of August. It just so happened to also fall in the same week as Shauna's partner Matt's birthday, and also Shauna's good friend Lyndsay. Lyndsay, along with 3 other close friends of Shauna were visiting from Scotland for Lyndsay's birthday. So Shauna and I decided to throw a Triple Birthday Treat for them.
It all started out wonderfully, with Shauna and I preparing food and decorations. We met in the English Garden an hour before the party. It was a beautiful sunny Munich afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, with a beautiful warm breeze. We were both in lovely summer attire and we made a mad dash to set up a wonderful party.
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| The boys managed to get one game in... |
The keg was already underway....
About 15 minutes before everyone was due to arrive, we couldn't help but notice the sudden darkening of the sky, followed by the rolling grey clouds, followed by the loud thunder.... but we tried our best to ignore it. Before we knew it, two of the three birthday kids and majority of the guests arrived and we all settled down with a drink in our hands to enjoy the birthday picnic spread. As the last birthday boy and guests arrived, the heavens did indeed decide to open and crash our party.
So everyone grabbed something, a tray of food, the beer keg, the decorations etc and we all made a hectic run back from the gardens to Shauna and Matt's house. Now, at this time, Shauna's 4 friends were all sleeping in Shauna's lounge room. So a quick change of decoration was in order. The two large air mattresses got hastily thrown on top of Shauna and Matt's bed, the couch moved to the side, the balloons and bunting quickly attached to the ceiling with blu tac, and the food re-arranged on the kitchen table. After all that, everyone was happy to settle down with a drink in hand and enjoy the spread while listening to the rain over the pumping party music!
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| The not too damaged cake |
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| Michael in his present - a Deutschland jersey |
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| The birthday kids! |
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| my sushi plater |
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| Bacon and eggs for dessert! |
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| A pot of Hugo! |
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| making a wish! |
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| new Scottish friends |
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| old (but best) Scottish friend! |
All in all, it turned out to be a really fun afternoon regardless of the last minute change of scenery. Even the cake was saved! And it did mean that we were able to make a large pot of Hugo instead of making individual glasses each time! And we all made some great new friends. I now know four more crazy cool Scottish girls who love a good dance, and Michael brought his new friend Nils along for the evening, and Matt's German pals were also quite a hoot!
The party went on to the wee hours of the morning, including dinner at a local pub when the keg finally ran dry!
So that was party number 1.
Party number two came at the end of August when it was Shauna's turn. For those who know me well, this will come as no surprise, but part of the reason Shauna and I became such firm friends so quickly after meeting was our mutual love of Harry Potter. I know, I am a grown woman and should not still be so fascinated by something so silly and childish, but I LOVE it! So much in fact that I cannot wait until December when I get to visit Scotland and will get to see some of the places that HP was filmed.
But I am getting away from the point of this blog. Harry Potter and Shauna - the perfect reason to throw a Harry Potter Birthday Party for my bestie. I went all out for this, partially because I wanted Shauna to have a good birthday, but mostly because I was so excited that I had an excuse to do every Harry Potter decoration and food possible!
I recreated the great hall with hanging candles and Hogwarts House banners, I turned the toilet into the entrance for the Ministry of Magic, my bedroom was protected by the Fat Lady (mostly so no one could see the mess inside!) and the bookshelf was full of magical spell and potions books. An owl had delivered all of Shauna's birthday presents (even from her family) to us and they were all waiting addressed with the same sinister green ink to Ms S Thomson, cupboard under the stairs, 4 private dr. Little Whinging, Surrey.
On the kitchen bench was a full stock of potion making equipment along with a potion book, some tasty treats from the kitchen elves including cockroach clusters, snitch rochers and pumpkin pasties. Shauna's birthday cake was a potted Mandrake and to top it all off, I made 'Wizardopoly' for her.
Now Wizardopoly deserves a quick break down. Yes, it is monopoly but related to HP, but this board game took me over a month to make and I think it is the true portrayal of a) how much I love HP, and b) how much I have come to appreciate having Shauna as a fellow English Teacher here in Germany. I lovingly crafted the four playing pieces, the board itself, the money and even the boxes for the game. It took a while but was totally worth while in the end.
On the day of the party, Shauna, her mum and her sister turned up to my front door, which had magically transformed itself into Platform 9 3/4. Once they had climbed through the secret entrance, they entered the great hall, joined me in a potion or two, played some Wizardopoly and enjoyed all the yummy magical food.
Strangely enough, after they left, Michael and I were so enjoying our mini Great Hall, that we didn't have the heart to take down the candles and banners for a whole week after the party!
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