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The Party Goddess helps make life’sup and downs a little more bearable
By Joanna Beresford 04/02/2009
The following are some synonyms for the word “party” provided by my trusty online thesaurus: celebrate, gather, have fun, revel, whoop it up, paint the town red, get down, work it, let your hair down, hang loose, groove. And, here are some suggestions about how to enhance any or all of those activities from The Party Goddess, otherwise known as Marley Majcher (pronounced Major, as in “let’s have a major merrymaking, mind-melding adventure together!”).
First of all, keep it simple, advises Majcher. Also, provide plenty of matching glasses and napkins, offer a great cocktail and make smart beer and wine choices. Include bottled water and maybe some soda. Then add ice, people, perhaps a soundtrack and a few strippers and let the festivities begin.
I’m just joking about the last part. Party Goddess doesn’t mention strippers anywhere in her Web site or literature, nor did the subjects of nudity or lap dancing come up in our recent conversation. She did, however, live up to her title. The Party Goddess’ infectious personality, her fab stories and finely honed sensitivity to the magic of the moment actually turned our phone call into kind of a party. In fact, The Party Goddess convinced me (or maybe reminded is a better word) that there’s almost never a reason not to party.
Take, for example, her very own new stimulus package: the Pink Slip Party. PG’s fun tips for the PSP include: use pink invitations (natch), make it a potluck, decorate funeral-style, devise a networking opportunity and/or a press-worthy event and, most importantly, celebrate the exciting new possibilities — even the uncertainties — of your life right now.
“Certain events can be horrible, devastating,” admits The Party Goddess, “but there’s always something on the other side. Something new and good.”
Majcher, a Pasadena native, graduated from Georgetown University, went to cooking school in France, then worked in the restaurant and entertainment business and traveled the world. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, and on FOX, CBS, NBC, HGTV, MTV and E! (this last appearance focused on a party she organized for Snoop Dogg, no less). She’s planned events for Britney Spears, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katherine Heigl and lots of other people whose names we wouldn’t recognize, along with major corporations and institutions. Her deliciously razzle-dazzle Web sites feature photographs of these exotic, eclectic, creative parties.
But, really, the whole party thing, pardon my cliché, is about people. And The Party Goddess knows this. I could be wrong, but I think that concept forms the foundation of her tremendous success.
“People desperately want to be together with their friends right now,” says Majcher. “Not necessarily at a giant ‘rager,’ but we’re craving interaction … The economy sucks, we know it sucks, but we don’t need any more stories about it. We can only wallow so long and then I think people say, ‘Let’s do something good and positive.’”
Losing your home to foreclosure? Hold a wake. Celebrate the life you lived there. Thank the mailbox for holding all those important letters from loved ones and obnoxious notices from the bank. Stand around the dining room table and remember the beautiful meals you served there. Share the moment of loss, the memories of rich life and the hopes and opportunities for the future that’s five minutes and five years away.
For me, the keep-it-simple approach is easy, and I experienced it poignantly on Sunday morning, just an hour before I talked to Majcher on the phone. My 9-year-old daughter served me breakfast in bed: fried eggs (slightly cold and crispy), fresh sliced strawberries drizzled with sugar, and cinnamon toast crunch cereal (not an item often found on The Party Goddess menu). All served on a cookie tray.
Majcher says we need food and shelter — and we also need each other. That is such a celebratory remark. And it’s a universal one too, because, by the way, Majcher’s not the only goddess in the stratosphere. If you’re interested in finding your own inner Party Goddess, for personal or professional gain, visit her Web site howtobeapartygoddess.com.
Cheers!
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