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Archive for April, 2009

The Ice Cream Cone Turns 105!

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 30, 2009 in General

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A lot of great things came out of the St. Louis World Fair in 1904. Dr. Pepper soda was introduced during the Fair, as well as puffed wheat cereal, and possibly iced tea.

But the most famous food that came from the international exposition was the ice cream cone.

According to legend, a Syrian immigrant named Ernest Hamwi decided to help out a young ice cream vendor he was working next to at the fair.

Hamwi was a pastry vendor who sold a dessert called a Zalabia, which was a crisp, sugar-coated waffle. He rolled one of the waffles while it was still soft and let it cool in a cone shape.

The new World’s Fair Cornucopia was an immediate hit, and the idea traveled home with attendees of the Fair to all parts of the globe.

So for your upcoming birthdays, consider having ice-cream cones instead of birthday cake in celebration of the cone’s 105th birthday!

Theme Thursday: The Awesome 80's!

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 30, 2009 in General | Theme Thursday

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Here at The Official Birthday Blog, we love a good theme party. So we were thrilled to hear that when Jessica Alba, the star of movies like Sin City and The Fantastic Four, turned 28 earlier this week, she threw an 80’s themed birthday bash for her fifty nearest and dearest.

Guests played games like Connect Four and Chinese Checkers, while listening to the best of Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince.

Alba and her husband Cash Warren even made appropriate costumes an entry requirement, which meant guests like Rosario Dawson and Sarah Silverman showed up in their best dated ensembles.

To throw your own 80’s themed birthday party, think about the following ideas:

  • Decorations: Think bad 80’s prom. Twisted streamers, neon balloons, and glitter everywhere will help create the right mood.
  • Food: You can’t go wrong with the best of retro candy. Have pop rocks, Fun dip, and fruit roll-ups to feed your guests’ nostalgia. For a healthier option, try fruit slices cut into fun shapes like stars and hearts or ants on a log (peanut butter spread on celery sticks with raisins on top).
  • Costumes: Leggings, oversized neon tops, and high top sneakers create a great 80’s look for women. For men, try acid washed denim paired with shiny shirts or outrageous ties. And don’t forget your hair!

Jerry Seinfeld Turns 54

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 29, 2009 in General

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When comedian Jerry Seinfeld made an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last year, he made it clear that his tolerance for birthday parties was nonexistent:

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Birthday Tip Tuesday: Pizza Party

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 28, 2009 in General | Tip Tuesday

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Planning a birthday party for kids is a lot of work. On top of invitations and the guest list, you need to think about what’s going to happen once the party starts—what are the kids going to do for a couple of hours? What will they eat?

Consider combining the last two questions for a fun birthday party idea. Instead of hiring an entertainer or planning activities to keep your young guests occupied, plan to have then help prepare the meal or snack you’re serving.

While a make-your-own-sundae bar or cupcake decorating is always fun, think about serving miniature pizzas for a main course. The kids can decorate with the toppings of their choosing. You might even get them to use bright colored veggies!

In addition to giving your guests something fun to do during the party, allowing them to participate in the food prep might allay the concerns of picky eaters.

DisneyFamily.com has a great guide to getting started, with fun topping ideas.

Get decorating, and good luck!

Happy Birthday, Coretta Scott King

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 27, 2009 in General

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Coretta Scott King is most often remembered as the long-time spouse of the great civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr., but she was more than that. King was a singer, organizer, and an activist in her own right. She would have turned 82 today.

After her husband’s death, Coretta Scott King took a leadership role in the movement for change. Just four days after his tragic assassination, she led sanitation workers on a march in Memphis. She went on to found the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and became an activist for women’s and gay rights.

For always believing in – and working towards – what America could be one day, happy birthday, Coretta Scott King. You’ll be missed.

Hubble turns nineteen!

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 27, 2009 in General

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The Hubble Space Telescope turned 19 over the weekend, and it’s done a lot in those 19 years. MSNBC has some fun facts about what the Hubble has done in those years:

Since the telescope’s launch aboard the shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, Hubble has traveled 2.8 billion miles in space during more than 100,000 orbits around the earth. More than 570,000 pictures have been taken of about 29,000 celestial objects. The data transmissions sent back from Hubble add up to almost 39 trillion bytes – twice as much as all the data contained in all the books in the Library of Congress.

Wow.

When most of us turn nineteen, we’re generally just happy to have finished our midterm papers on time.

So Happy Birthday, Hubble! Here’s to another super-productive 19 years!

Best of the Best: "A surprise"

Posted by Birthday Cate on April 27, 2009 in Best of the Best | General

Every Monday, we’ll promote the best of the submitted stories from readers to the main section of the blog. This first story, from Tom, is a great story about a family reunion on his special day:

It was going to be a pretty basic birthday: finish up with work, grab some drinks with friends, open up a fedex’d package from the parents. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, so there was nothing wrong with a standard birthday with friends.

But I had a surprise in store. Six months earlier, I made the trip up to Vermont to visit my brother for his birthday. He wanted to come down for mine, but was (supposedly) just too busy with work.

An hour into my get-together, who walks in but my brother Andy. Great surprise, and it was nice to have him in town for the weekend.

A surprise

Posted by tom on April 27, 2009 in Celebration Stories

It was going to be a pretty basic birthday: finish up with work, grab some drinks with friends, open up a fedex’d package from the parents.  I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, so there was nothing wrong with a standard birthday with friends.

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Joint birthday

Posted by Ellie on April 27, 2009 in Celebration Stories

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Five of my closest friends and I all have our birthdays within days of one another, and we had a great joint party a few years back.

Operating under the assumption that the more candles, the bigger the party, we decided to combine all of our twentieth birthday celebrations into one joint 100th birthday party.

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