Party Ideas Your Friends Will Love

Mashed potatoes

Wine and cheese get-togethers? Been there. Sleepovers? Done That. But how about mix-your-own sundaes and epicurean mashed potatoes, custom-made perfume, and euphoria-inducing massages?

Good clean fun (the kind you have fully clothed with a bunch of friends) is the sort of breakout we need regularly. That's why parties were invented—to give us zero stress, maximum laughter zones. Sometimes a bottle of red and a silly mood are enough to make a gathering work. But group chemistry is an elusive and volatile thing, not always to be relied upon. To avert boredom and bring our everybody's lust for pleasure and/or sugar, you might want to make what sounds like a plan.

Activites are to a party what jumper cables are to a stalled car—they make it zoom. The mission: Locate your inner child and take her on a play date. The strategy: Hire a pro and serve up an evening or an afternoon of organized indulgence—like on-the-spot-manicures, pedicures, and massages; a mix-your-own fragrance counter; or sessions with a psychic.

A smorgasbord of indulgent ideas to get your next party party started

Recommended Specialists
  • Thai massage therapist Peter Kristensen
  • Reflexologist Diane Kull (212-531-4556)
  • Beverage consultant Jerri Banks of Ladies Who Launch (Drinkmuse@aol.com)
  • Fragrance expert Laurice Rahme, Creed (877-CREEDNY)
  • Manicurist-pedicurist Deborah Lippmann at www.LippmannCollection.com
  • Psychic Judi Hoffman at www.JudiHoffman.com
  • Belly dancers Veena and Neena at www.BellyTwins.com

From the November 2002 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine