Movie Night

Sometimes, when I start planning parties, I get so excited that there's no way I won't end up disappointed. Did not happen at backyard movie night. It was absolutely more fun that I anticipated. A perfect summer evening, great friends--old & new, lots of kids running around and terrible, terrible food (in the best way possible).

[I'm going to go into a wee bit of detail about the how-tos of movie night, because when we started planning we had a really hard time figuring out how to pull it off. Hopefully people thinking about planning their own backyard movie night will find some of this stuff useful.]

We covered the lawn in quilts and pillows, but designated a couple of chairs for the preggos in the audience because when I was pregnant, if someone had proposed that I sprawl my ass on a picnic blanket I would have killed them with my mind.

I made signs because apparently I don't have enough to do with my time.

I put up the tent and stocked it with art supplies & flashlights. I didn't know how the kids would do with the movie (Princess Bride), so I wanted them to have options. Those people are the lovely Kinkaid family. Steve is my oldest friend in the world. We can go five years without seeing each other, but pick up right where we left off. We last saw them at their wedding. Now they have TWO KIDS! It just blows my mind that we're all becoming grown-ups with kids and mortgages and blood pressure medication. Blows. My. Mind.

Isn't that nice? Toddler drive-by.

Uncle Bobby as wax figure.

My friends are gorgeous. And smart. And funny. Don't you wish they were your friends, too?

All babies hate me, except for this one. That's why he's my favorite.

Here's the food set-up. I hung the pirate flag in homage to the Dread Pirate Roberts.

I got these food containers from a restaurant supply store. I thought they'd be easier to manage than regular plates since we'd be eating on picnic blankets.

The menu was Dodger Dogs (did you know you could buy these to make at home? we normally eat nitrate-free, uncured turkey dogs, but sometimes you just need to eat the grossest, most delicious dog ever, and a Dodger Dog fits the bill), popcorn (cutest bags in the universe from here) with seasoning mixes I made up with Martha's guidance...

...tortilla chips with pickled jalapenos & that disgusting, delicious, crack-like nacho cheese in a can. I kept it warm in a fondue pot because I am klassy. Plus assorted candy in the form of Red Vines, Skittles, fun-sized chocolates...

...and cupcakes. Always cupcakes.

I designed Princess Bride-related cupcake picks. Because I don't know when enough is enough. This one is my favorite.

Although this one is pretty cute.

I feel pretty clever about this one.

This one was a hit with the kids. Because cleverness is wasted on them.

(If you want to throw a Princess Bride-themed movie night your own self, you can download the cupcake pick images here. Just print onto an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock, cut out & tape onto toothpicks.)

We were planning on renting a projector, but it would've ended up costing us about $175 plus shipping. So we scoured Ebay & found a used school projector for $200. In addition to a projector, you'll need a dvd player (we had an extra one in the garage) and a pair of speakers (again, sometimes it pays to marry someone who refuses to Freecycle old electronic equipment).

The screen was two vinyl shower curtain liners that Josh tacked up on nails. In this pic it's just halfway up so people can still get in & out that door. Once the movie started we corraled people through another entrance to the house.

We were all having too much fun to take any pictures during the eating & movie parts. But here's the warning we got from the cops when they came at 9:30 pm. On a Saturday. You could tell that they were embarrassed by the whole thing.