Today, Cyn and I are hosting a murder mystery party for Miss Mary Mac's Sweet Sixteen.
Seriously, that's the theme she wanted.
Using the movie and game "Clue" as inspiration, Cyn has spent the last several weeks developing characters, scripting plots, creating clues and collecting weapons.
As the ever dutiful best friend, always supportive, I've given feedback, shared ideas and agreed to help run things behind the scenes.
I was assigned the character of the cook. (Yeah, that's what I thought too). She said that the adults were the staff because they weren't central to the story and would move about behind the scenes and make sure things were set up properly. She was going to be the estate manager, and her hubby, Super Dave, will be the butler. So that leaves me, as the cook.
Making the best of it, I offered a few insights on my character. Since everyone else had a clever name, I thought I should be named Mrs. Potts. I started trying to think what I might have in my wardrobe that a cook would wear. Nothing was coming to mind for a cheap, easy, identifiable cook's"uniform", except scrubs, like the lunch ladies at the kid's school wear. No offense to those who work in that thankless profession, but I wasn't going to dress like a lunch lady.
Tigger was assigned a Professor Plum role, but had nothing that looked remotely acedemic (unless you count the tee-shirt that says "1 me+ 2 sisters+1 bathroom = 4 ever late") so I knew I needed to make a trip to the thrift store.
Just up the road from my office is a sweet thrift store that benefits a local mission. On Fridays, they have "Discount Day" and everything is marked down even more than the bargain prices on the tag. I knew I wanted Tigger to wear at least a sweater vest and maybe a tweed jacket. Nothing screams "professor" to me like a sweater vest and tweed jacket. Stereotyping, I know, but seriously, that's the first thing I think when I see a fella in a sweater vest and tweed jacket.
Plum is not a popular color in men's clothing, so the best I could do was a burgandy sweater vest. That worked out really well, as two aisles over, I found the beige, tweed jacket with a burgandy and black pattern, that I had envisioned. Up by the check out, I found a smart, felt snap-front cap and thus "Professor Plum" was officially outfitted for the party.
But that was not the BEST find of the day.
In my wandering, trying to find the hats/caps, I decided to see if I could find a scrub outfit for my "uniform," so I went down the aisle marked "uniforms," which turned out was a long rack of scrubs. I could see a few white pieces, so I went to them first.
That is when I saw it...a chef's smock!! $3.99! I was beside myself! I sqealed so loud all the women, digging through the racks around me, turned to look. It was obviously never worn because it still had the manufacturer's zip tag on it. It looked as if it had been purchased and thrown into someone's trunk, who eventually scooped it up into a donation bag. My gain!! Not only is it an offical chef's smock, it bears the Culinard crest. Culinard is a professional culinary arts school based in Birmingham. Graduates head kitchens all over the country.
I was really excited about my find, and black scrub pants complete the look.
Until...Madame Estate Manager showed me what she was wearing. Needless to say, my place on the staff is clear =/
Seriously, that's the theme she wanted.
Using the movie and game "Clue" as inspiration, Cyn has spent the last several weeks developing characters, scripting plots, creating clues and collecting weapons.
As the ever dutiful best friend, always supportive, I've given feedback, shared ideas and agreed to help run things behind the scenes.
I was assigned the character of the cook. (Yeah, that's what I thought too). She said that the adults were the staff because they weren't central to the story and would move about behind the scenes and make sure things were set up properly. She was going to be the estate manager, and her hubby, Super Dave, will be the butler. So that leaves me, as the cook.
Making the best of it, I offered a few insights on my character. Since everyone else had a clever name, I thought I should be named Mrs. Potts. I started trying to think what I might have in my wardrobe that a cook would wear. Nothing was coming to mind for a cheap, easy, identifiable cook's"uniform", except scrubs, like the lunch ladies at the kid's school wear. No offense to those who work in that thankless profession, but I wasn't going to dress like a lunch lady.
Tigger was assigned a Professor Plum role, but had nothing that looked remotely acedemic (unless you count the tee-shirt that says "1 me+ 2 sisters+1 bathroom = 4 ever late") so I knew I needed to make a trip to the thrift store.
Just up the road from my office is a sweet thrift store that benefits a local mission. On Fridays, they have "Discount Day" and everything is marked down even more than the bargain prices on the tag. I knew I wanted Tigger to wear at least a sweater vest and maybe a tweed jacket. Nothing screams "professor" to me like a sweater vest and tweed jacket. Stereotyping, I know, but seriously, that's the first thing I think when I see a fella in a sweater vest and tweed jacket.
Plum is not a popular color in men's clothing, so the best I could do was a burgandy sweater vest. That worked out really well, as two aisles over, I found the beige, tweed jacket with a burgandy and black pattern, that I had envisioned. Up by the check out, I found a smart, felt snap-front cap and thus "Professor Plum" was officially outfitted for the party.
But that was not the BEST find of the day.
In my wandering, trying to find the hats/caps, I decided to see if I could find a scrub outfit for my "uniform," so I went down the aisle marked "uniforms," which turned out was a long rack of scrubs. I could see a few white pieces, so I went to them first.
That is when I saw it...a chef's smock!! $3.99! I was beside myself! I sqealed so loud all the women, digging through the racks around me, turned to look. It was obviously never worn because it still had the manufacturer's zip tag on it. It looked as if it had been purchased and thrown into someone's trunk, who eventually scooped it up into a donation bag. My gain!! Not only is it an offical chef's smock, it bears the Culinard crest. Culinard is a professional culinary arts school based in Birmingham. Graduates head kitchens all over the country.
I was really excited about my find, and black scrub pants complete the look.
Until...Madame Estate Manager showed me what she was wearing. Needless to say, my place on the staff is clear =/
Her dad agreed to play "Mr. Body" and also lent us the teaching skeleton from his office.
The two Mr. Bodys.
Needless to say, everyone had a good time with the deceased"Mr. Body."
Pictures to follow.
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