Ok. I give up.

I can NOT find my camera cable.

And I have pictures! To share! Stuck in the camera!

But they will have to wait. To be added later, maybe.

Because my poor blog has suffered enough neglect lately. The blogging must go on.

And what is more blog-worthy than a surprise party!?

Around here, it doesn't take much to count as a party in our book.

And we like to celebrate. What's the cause for celebration? My sister just moved into her first apartment! Never mind the whole 'getting-of-the-college-degree'..... lasting 3 years in a dorm is quite an accomplishment! :)

So anyway, Kristin just moved in last week and wants to start cooking. We in the fam can certainly understand. We like the Cooking and the Eating a lot, ourselves. So we decided to Hook. Her. Up. with some kitchen gear.

And hey, since we were giving presents, why not make it a party? And while we were at it, why not make it a surprise party?

We love diversions.

So some kitchen necessities and pantry staples were bought, cookies and soda gathered, and sneaky plans were made.

In attendance: me, Dale, Alan, Nana, Gramps, Mimi, & of course, Kristin.
Add in presents galore (each little item plopped into its own individual gift bag), cookies, watermelon, a fantastic party game.... and my friends... You have a party!

(This is where I would post a pic of all those fancy second-hand gift bags and store-bought cookies. If I had a camera cable.)

Don't tell the honoree a thing until she walks in the door and it's a surprise party!

(And here would be a fun little picture of Kristin walking in the door, surprised. But ... you know... missing cable.)
(Edited to add: Yay! Thanks Mom, for emailing some pics!)
Food, presents.... looks like a party to me!
Helpful hint: when planning a surprise party, go ahead and let your 4 year old be surprised too. It helps in keeping the whole thing under wraps, ya know what I mean? Doesn't Dale look like he's having fun? (And he's still putting 'presents' in a leftover gift bag this morning!)

And now, because I know you caught that reference to 'a fantastic party game' and the curiosity is really getting to you so you can play it for the next Surprise-Happy-New-Apartment Shower/Party you throw.... here is my genius creation:

I listed 20 random food items (tortillas, rice, chicken, beef, bell peppers, onions, potatoes, spaghetti noodles, tuna, carrots, frozen peas, etc) and cut them into individual strips of paper. Each party guest drew three items, and then had to create a menu using those three ingredients. They could add in more, and it didn't have to all be in the same dish, but they had to incorporate all three into the meal.

I then did the same thing with 20 dessert-type items (marshmallows, cool whip, bananas, crescent roll dough, cinnamon, peanut butter, oats, apples, etc). Each of the three items drawn in this category had to be used in a single dessert dish.

After everyone had drawn their ingredients and planned their menu, we each shared our menus and then voted on the best one! Fun!

(and genius, if I do say so myself!) :)

Oh! And the best gift given? CLICK HERE TO SEE! (after you leave a comment here, of course) ;)