Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! Part 2

2020 has been a weird year, but that hasn't stopped us from trying to make the best of it and being creative with our plans. Every year we throw a big Harry Potter birthday party on the Saturday closest to July 31, and we were on track to do the same this year; but in April, I made the choice to switch up the theme and also move it online. It turned out to be a great idea.

If you missed my first post, go check it out now for decor photos. The theme this year was Dragon Pox Quarantine. We had a smaller group this year, but I wasn't sure if I should expect way more or way less than usual, since I was opening it up to my friends from all over, not just locals. It turns out that around 15 is a great number for an online party. We used Zoom as a platform, because we have a business account, and I could share my screen in order to play one of my games, but first, let's look at foods:

There's never been a party at my house without food. Even though we only had the two of us in actual attendance, I decided we should still have a feast. I brought out my bar cart and added some of my official Harry Potter licenses candy boxes, then some of my homemade Chocolate Frogs. I made a small batch of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Fizz.

Butterbeer recipe:

• 1 liter of cream soda
• 1/2 cup of butterscotch syrup
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Pumpkin Fizz recipe:

• 1 cup of canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves/jam
• 1 bottle of sparkling apple cider

On the top tier of my server:

• Pumpkin Pasties
• Recipe (makes approximately 10):
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup canned butternut squash <---I get both of these at Trader Joe's
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1/4- 1/2 cup brown sugar (I taste this to make sure it's to my liking)
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• refrigerated pie dough
• Cut out 4" rounds, add 2 tsp of filling to the middle, wet the outside edge, fold over, press closed. Bake for 12-15 mins at 350 degrees.
• Cauldron Cakes
• I looked for a recipe that didn't involve chocolate, because there are so many chocolate goodies in the Harry Potterverse. I use this recipe and just sub already made pie dough to save time.

Middle tier:

• Toad-in-a-hole - these are traditionally sausage in Yorkshire pudding. I shortcut this by using Lil Smokies and a can of crescent rolls. 
• Turmeric custard raspberry tart
• I liked the Gryffindor colors of this dessert, and I'm a lover of turmeric. 

Bottom tier:

• Chicken and leek hand pies
• I shortcut this and it was fail, but I've used this recipe in the past and they are delicious. I also highly recommend this recipe for winter squash and onion pies, especially for vegetarians.
• Licorice wands
• I make a ton of these each year. I generally find some weird flavors of licorice sticks, but this year I just used Red Vines, since they are my favorite. I dip them in Wilton Melts and add sprinkles. Super easy.

I wanted to stay on theme for myself, so I scoured Etsy for this lime green cape. It's vintage. I was also able to find a St. Mungo's patch, purchased a nurse headband, and here I am as a Healer from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.  

Our newsfeeds are full of so much right now, and I ran with that for Eric's costume. He is a protester, hoping for equality in the Wizarding World. Here he is trying to get equal rights for Werewolves, better working conditions for House Elves (S.P.E.W. - Hermione's Society for the Promotion of Elfish Wellfare), the release of the Knight Bus conductor, Stan Shunpike, who was arrested and held by the Ministry, and a button to tell people to vote for Kingsley Shacklebolt for Minister.

We had several people go all out with their cosplay, even at home. Here's my friend Stephanie as a Dragon Pox victim. She also had a great face mask, a St. Mungo's water bottle, and played with a green lamp pointed at her face, so she had that gross green hue that Dragon Pox gives you. She was also the winner of our costume contest.

This is my friend Kara and her daughter Ellie. Kara is Gunhilda Gorsemoor, the inventor of the Dragon Pox vaccine, and Ellie is the actual potion. So creative! 

My co-worker, Cathi, made a beautiful Bellatrix LeStrange, complete with Dark Mark tattoo. She even added a grey streak to her hair. Wow!

You saw my sorting board in Part 1, but here we are sorting people. I allowed people to pick a number and underneath was a House mascot to let them know what House they were sorted into. 

Normally, my party runs 3 hours, but I didn't want people to get Zoom burnout, so I shortened it to 2, kept our games to 2 instead of 3-4, and also made sure we had some short breaks. This gave people a chance to run to the restroom, get a drink or snack, and for me to tally points. Our first game was black-out Harry Potter Bingo. I uploaded a blank card for people to print out, included a long list of words that could be used to fill in their squares, and this allows everyone to have a unique card. 

We've done this game before 3 years ago, and used other versions of it elsewhere. The trick is to give people about 3 times as many words as squares. I'd say to up that to 4 times if you're also going to do blackout like this, or you will end up with multiple bingos all near the end. No big deal though. Here's how I play with points: 1st bingo gets 50 points, 2nd gets 45 points, 3rd gets 40 points, and 4th gets 35 points. Because we were playing online, I loosened the rules and everyone who got one at the same time got to declare the same points. We had 3 people who won 3rd place and 4 who won 4th. 

My big game every year is trivia. Usually, people get into their House groups and get 30 minutes to answer as many of my N.E.W.T.-level questions as possible. Because we couldn't do that this year, I cut down my questions to 25, used AhaSlides to create a quiz that everyone could do on their phone. I followed up each question, which I gave 20 seconds each to answer, with the answer on the next slide. People kept their own scores, and when we were finished, I took everyone's score. I added each House's points together, but in order to make it fair, I divided by the number of people in the House, and then multiplied it by 4, since some Houses had 3 players and some had 4. This gave an average number of points.

Congrats to Ravenclaw this year!

I reused my House Point board from last year. This is made from magnetic sheets in the shape of hourglasses, then I laminated "gems" in House colors, so I can use dry erase markers on them to add point totals from games to their hourglass. It took me 5 years to figure out that this was better than making a new board each year, and I'm really pleased with it.

As always, Snape oversees this party, even though he's still disapproving of fun of all kinds. He still wears a party hat, because Harry requests it :) He's there to make sure everyone stays in line, or else he'll take points or give detention.

We also had our resident House Elf making a stew of some sort, as this party took place in the Great Hall. 

As always, we finished up the party with a request to add a memory to the Pensieve. I ask that people include what they liked about the party itself or what they love about Harry Potter in general. And then we awarded the House Cup to the team who had the most House Points, as well as a prize for best costume. I had people add their pictures to our FB event page for people to vote. House Cup winners will be getting a prize pack in the mail via Owl Post. (Because you gotta have prizes.) We also made some money for the Harry Potter Alliance, as we usually do, because my friends are amazing. 

So, while this wasn't quite as fun as it usually is in person, not having to clean my whole house, or set up table and decor outside in the 90 degree heat, or make food for 30-40 people, or create goody bags for everyone (which I love putting together) was much less stress. I now know that we can totally create other online parties for the rest of this year, especially for my birthday that is in December when it's too cold to do an outside, socially-distanced lawn party. I hope I gave you some fun ideas for your own parties and you enjoyed this walk-through. It's nice to have options

How are you trying to create fun ways to enjoy quarantine and safely party with your friends?

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! Part 1

This year has been full of disappointments and a very small light at the end of a very long tunnel. We've found ways to enjoy what we have and what we can do safely, which is not traveling or going to movies (not that they're open anyway) or out to eat. Back in March, when I realized this was going to go on for much longer than most people expected, I started re-planning my annual Harry Potter party to work online. By the time you read this, the party will be in full swing.

In a normal year, we have 20-30 people (once we had more) packed into our backyard, wearing their wizard best. I make foods that have been mentioned in the book and focus around a theme. Last year we did Weasleys Wizard Wheezes and the year before that we did Triwizard Tournament. This is our 7th year, so we have done many other themes: Quidditch World Cup, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade...This year was supposed to be Hogwarts Goes Hawaiian, but with our change in plans, we loosened it up to make it easier for people to do at home and we're simply calling it Quarantine Edition and it will take place in the Great Hall (the only summer party we have had inside). 

There was no way we were going to postpone or even skip our party this year, because I love Harry and my other HP fan friends look forward to this all year (because I start planning and hyping it up as soon as our last party is done). I've cut down the party time from 3 to 2 hours - having to sit on your computer for 3 hours is terrible - and adjusted games for time and what can be played easily individually, but still play for House Points, so there will still be a sense of team. Our trivia will be via interactive slideshow designed for virtual pub quizzes. 

To make things more exciting, we'll still have prizes, including ones for a costume contest. I still want people to look forward to dressing up. I've also taken a lot of photos and videos inside my house - decorated like Hogwarts - so everyone can still enjoy decorations as well. It also gives my friends who don't live near me the ability to attend a party, too.

Since you can't have a party without a feast, I still made a menu. Eric and I will have have a mini feast to celebrate, with accompanying Butterbeer. 

Usually, I gather cool magical items all year and then we sell raffle tickets for things and all the proceeds go to the Harry Potter Alliance, but since that just doesn't make much sense this year, we are just doing a straight up fundraiser for them. 

House Cup winners will either get a prize bag via Owl Post or this little owl will drop them off on their doorstep after they are assembled. Basically, I'll just be waiting to see which house wins in order to make a House Cup memento for them to go with the other prizes I already have lined up.

Everyone gets sorted at my parties, so we have a sorting board this year.

I'll be spending the rest of today going through pics and video, so I can bring you actual party posts, including costumes, food, drinks, and games. The Harry Potter Alliance is doing lots of online celebrating for Harry's birthday: My local chapter, HPA Instagram, HPA YouTube.

Just because we're in a pandemic, doesn't mean everything is cancelled. We just have to find creative ways to make things happen. We can still have fun, safely.

Are you planning any non-traditional celebrations, Harry Potter or otherwise?

Portland Is Still Beautiful

With so much crazy in the world, a lot of the news is being focused on my city of Portland, Oregon, making it look like a war zone and and city on fire. Believe it or not, this simply isn't true. Our people are passionate and willing to fight injustice. While the evenings are focused on protests and police/unwanted feds waging war against them with military-grade weapons, this is a small part of a bigger story. 

The news only shows you two blocks of our entire downtown area. Portland is vast, and these two blocks are small percentage of the area. Not only that, we have volunteers going through picking up trash and police debris to keep our city beautiful. During the day, you will see a complete different view of the city than you will from night time (and even several blocks away at night, you will see a different view). 

The park directly across from the Federal building is home to a place called Riot Ribs. These people are in the park 24/7, running a donation-only, volunteer food operation. They feed the homeless and the protesters, and they also supply homeless with things they need, like medical supplies and clothing. The police and feds have damaged their supplies and grills many times since this started, yet they've returned. One of their volunteers was shot with a rubber bullet and suffered broken ribs, yet they returned. The police went through and took many of their supplies, yet they returned. This is the spirit of the people of Portland. They don't give up in the face of hopelessness over doing what they think is right. 

This is one block away from the photos above.

If you've been following my Instagram, you'll have seen some of these photos already. It's day 60-something now of continuous nightly protests, and Portland isn't letting up. We've grown to include moms, dads, vets, and even grandparents. There were riots the first night, because that is inevitable, so many downtown businesses have plywood covering their windows. If you saw the protests in other cities, you know this is common. The difference here is that local artists saw this as a different opportunity: to create amazing murals that showcased words of hope, awesome city landscapes, beautiful art celebrating Black lives and also those we've lost. 

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It's brunch day 🥞 Yesterday we had our first dine out experience since March. Tables were quite far apart and we wore masks while we weren't eating or drinking. It's important to support our businesses, even if it's just takeout/delivery. We had leftovers for today, too. . . . #brunchgoals #brunchsquad #pdxeats #portlanddining #butfirstcoffee #ilovetravel #tourist #tourism #tblogger #tbloggers #travelblog #travel #travelblogger #travelgirl #travelgram #instatravel #traveler #traveller #budgettravel #budgettraveler #ftblogger #ftb #responsibletravel #pancakes #etonmess #eatonmesspancakes

A post shared by Shereen Travels Cheap (@srayle) on Jul 26, 2020 at 2:31pm PDT

The city is back to business as usual, as much as possible with Covid, with people shopping and dining out, enjoying the sunshine, and exploring all these new pieces of art. Many restaurants are open for carry-on. Some have added outdoor dining. Our food trucks are open. 

We planned to walk around and grab brunch/early lunch at a food truck, but saw how far apart the tables at one of our favorite restaurants were spaced outside on the sidewalk, so we chose to support them. We kept our masks on when not eating or drinking. We sanitized our hands after touching the menu. The experience was awesome, especially with how nice the weather was. 

Many people who live here are complaining about how our city has been ruined. I have several things to say about that:

• Go downtown and see it for yourself before you make these claims.
• Realize that most of these places were shut down due to Covid and some still aren't allowed to reopen. 
• Restaurants aren't going to look the same if you can't eat inside (a lot of our restaurants are very small, so take-out is their only option). 
• Support those shops and restaurants that you love so much instead of complaining how they might have to close forever.
• Realize that not every business is going to make it out of Covid. This is not the fault of protesters, since they don't start protesting until most of these businesses have closed for the night. 
• Please stop trying to scare people away from the downtown area by repeating things you don't have proof of. Many of my friends have gone downtown (or work there) and have a very different experience than what the news is showing. Again, this is just two blocks of the entire area.
• Know that volunteers have asked to remove graffiti (from courthouse and surrounding buildings) and the city has repeatedly told them no. This graffiti you see is not happening night after night, as the news wants you to believe. It is the same graffiti that is being added to and will eventually be painted over.

Black lives still matter. Listening to the people still matters. Police who decide to teargas unarmed people instead of having a dialogue are not good (at the very least). You can watch live feeds from independent reporters on Woke.net. These are the same feeds the police watch. Equality and representation is important. The people have the right to protest. If you want to learn more about the protests and the government, check out this long, but informative article.

I'm sorry if you don't agree with this, but I hope that it gives others some perspective on what our city actually looks like and that it's not dangerous or in ruins or full of roving gangs of looters. We had a lovely day out admiring all this fabulous new artwork, since there are many things we still can't do and all festivals & gatherings have been cancelled until the foreseeable future. If nothing else, it was a very affordable way to see the city and gave us some much needed exercise. 

I hope you will still consider visiting Portland when this is all over and it's safe to travel again. What do you think people are seeing about your city that aren't true?