A couple of Saturday's ago my sister, Laurie, and I threw a personal bridal shower for our younger sister, Michelle. Michelle LOVES the TV show "Friends." That may be an understatement. She has seen every episode in the 10 season run dozens of times. Before she was even engaged, I knew that I wanted to throw her a "Friends" themed personal shower with her girlfriends. Here are the details! I sent out the invatations a few weeks before the party. The front had a picture of a lobster and said, "Michelle has found her lobster! And she needs her FRIENDS to help her celebrate!" The inside had details about the shower and bachelorette party. Then on the back there was a picture of the cast of Friends that appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone" in their second season. Michelle knew there was a theme, but we kept it a secret. When she got there, she was excited to find out it was all about her favorite TV show! The menu was all based on food that was featured on the show. I made labels for all the food (except I forgot the sign for the trifle!) Monica's Amuse Bouche (cucumber stuffed with crab salad) Phoebe's veggie plate with hummus ("Hummus! I got the hummus!") Monica's tartlets ("Tartlets? Tartlets? Tartlets? The word has lost all meaning." These were small pie crusts with a cream cheese almond flavored frosting, with fruit on top. Laurie piped the frosting on there in a really cute way!) Joey's hot ham and cheese sandwiches (sandwiches...Joey's favorite food) Phoebe's Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies (It's her family's secret recipe) Laurie made these yummy cookies! Ross's salt water taffy (a gift from his girlfriend, Mona) Rachel and Chandler's cheesecake (good enough to eat off the floor!) This turtle cheesecake was graciously made by Jamie Rachel's trifle (beef sauteed with peas and onions not included) Strawberry trifle made by Laurie Lemon water and Central Perk's mocha punch (the punch was basically coffee flavored melted ice cream with extra sugar added) The decor was also "Friends" themed. Laurie drew this great sign for the food table. She drew the frame that hung on Rachel and Monica's apartment door. Every name of each "Friends" episode started with "The one..." Coffee beans with candles. Coffee was just SLIGHTLY a part of "Friends." :) A candle in coffee beans, stacked on seasons of "Friends" on DVD. And of course, no "Friends" party would be complete without some reference to "Pivot!" We paid tribute by framing a couch with Ross's famous instruction. The food table. We used tissue poms and balloons. The centerpiece was the "Friends" poster above the table. Guitar standing next to the beverage cart. The lyrics to that great American classic "Smelly Cat" were taped to the top of the guitar. There was an episode of "Friends" where Monica and Rachel bet Joey and Chandler the apartment and they played a trivia game where Ross asked questions about them. The categories were; Fears & Pet Peeves, It's All Relative, Ancient History, and Literature. I asked the shower guests questions about Michelle in all of these categories and we had some good laughs. In the course of 10 years, all of the "Friends" dated a lot of people. I gave the guests of 40 names and they had to write in the name of the "Friend" who dated them. Bonus points for identifying who made it down the aisle, bonus points for naming both "Friends" if more than one dated that person. Some of the names on the list were: Fun Bobby, Julio, Larry, Kristen, Janice, Mike, Joshua, Danny, and Ginger. The prizes for the games were a coffee mug, salt water taffy, a Toblerone bar, and a pound of coffee. Final touches were that we had episodes of "Friends" going on the TV (with the sound down) and we had the soundtrack on as background music. Laurie and I are so grateful that we could gather Michelle's closest friends and honor her!