Dawn Bertuca

Dawn Williams Bertuca and Tina VanZant Bishop are two talented women who juggle marriage, motherhood, and jobs. In the spare time they have left, they are virtual party planners extraordinaire. In 2005, they created www.GirlfriendCelebrations.com to foster female friendships on the internet, and to provide women with party ideas for girls' nights in and girls' nights out to help women get the most out of their relationships "one party at a time."

I love to watch the Oscar program each year and the fun is multiplied exponentially when I have the chance to share it with friends. So what better people to ask to write a guest post (pasted below) about how to throw an unforgettable Oscar party? Whatever the occasion or excuse for a party, you can get more party ideas from Dawn and Tina on their website: www.GirlfriendCelebrations.com.

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Girlfriends, it's time to roll out the red carpet--for yourselves and your best pals! Pour some bubbly and toast to your friendship during the 82nd Academy Awards (Oscars) telecast on Sunday, March 7. Award shows and other TV events offer an easy, inexpensive way to have a girls' night in with "built-in" entertainment. You can catch up on all that's going on with your girlfriends while the glitz and glamour provide great fodder for giggles and conversations. Here are our best tips for having a great award-show bash that's simple to plan and execute--even at the last minute.

Set the scene

You don't have to do a lot of prep work for this party. Just make sure the viewing area is tidied up (dusted and vacuumed to say the least). A key point to remember during clean-up time: Dust your television screen. Your friends will thank you! If you're pouring something special to drink, take the time to get out your good glassware. You'll feel more "glamorous" drinking your bubbly out of a champagne flute than a plastic tumbler.

Consider rolling out a real red carpet for your special attendees to walk down. You can purchase one online at  listed under "red carpet sidewalk runner." A 24-inch x 15-foot durable red cloth with underside adhesive is sold for only $8.99. Have a photo person stationed to take a picture of everyone's grand entrance. Other fun items might include a VIP entrance door banner for $2.50 and a "Celebrity Limo Parking" sign $7.99, just perfect for the big event.

One other setup item: Give your guests the chance to vote along with the Academy! Find printable ballots online. Along with the ballot; make sure you have pens readily available.


Do the casting

When inviting your pals, keep in perspective the size of the room and the size of the television screen on which you'll be viewing the show. If you have a 12-inch television screen, don't invite the whole softball team over. Put a limit on the number of people by the number of inches. For every 10 inches, invite one or two people. For example, if you have a 36-inch screen, limit your invitees to three to six people.

If you have a little time before the star-studded event, you can find inexpensive black-and-gold "Hollywood Star Event" invitations online that would catch the eye of any starlet.

If you are a last-minute party thrower, don't hesitate to just call your friends on the telephone or use Evite them to let them know about the planned event. Don't forget, the most important part of an invitation is the gesture itself. Whether it's done with a gold glossy sheet of 4x6 paper or on the telephone, it makes no difference to your friends. As long as you let them know your intentions, it will warm their hearts to be included.

Set the table

The food for any awards party should be elegant yet simple. Try a cheese platter, grapes, and chocolate-covered strawberries to satisfy healthy cravings. If you need a little more, try adding a spinach quiche or veggie pate. Pair the food with a sparkling drink like the yummy Startini made with champagne, pomegranate juice and vodka, recipe here. For those with a non-alcoholic palate, you could serve sparkling juice with many flavors to choose from, available at your local Whole Foods or Target.

Prepare the script

In between host humor, commercials and acceptance speeches, you'll certainly be talking to your girlfriends to catch up on all the latest. But if you feel like there's a lull, try this activity to help you to learn more about your girlfriends and them to learn more about you. Before the party, create a list of awards-ceremony-inspired questions (see samples below). Write them on some pretty slips of paper and toss them in a fancy bowl. Keep the bowl within reach of all the guests during the awards show. Then at an opportune time, such as a commercial or acceptance speech, go clockwise around the room and have guests answer a question. Take your time answering the questions; they are designed to lead you into more discussions. There may not be time for each friend to answer each question during commercial breaks, but that's ok. Just start with the next person during the next break.

Sample Questions:

• Have you ever been told you look like a celebrity? Who?
• If someone were to make up a show about your life, what would it be called?
• If you were to make it big as a singer or actress, what would you want your stage name to be?
• If you were to present an award on the awards show, who would you most want to present with?
• Make up a stage name for the person on your right.
• If you were given two tickets to the awards show, whom would you ask to go with you?
• You are dressed and ready to go to the Oscars but your purse is so small you can only fit three items in it, what three items would you carry with you?
• Name one person you'd like to sit next to at the Oscars.
• Name one person you wouldn't like to sit next to at the Oscars.
• If you could have a gown designed for yourself for the awards ceremony, whose gown would it be like?
• If you were to design a gown for the person on your left, what color would you make the dress?
• You are the director of the awards ceremony and in this room is your only cast of presenters, who would you pair together and why?
• Which actor or actress would win the best-dressed category tonight?
• Which actor or actress would win the worst dressed category tonight?
• Which actor or actress do you most identify with?
• Party Favors
• For those who love to stay with the theme, you can get engravable awards online that look Oscar-like. An inexpensive alternative can also be to make up your own awards. At any local craft store, you can find lots of items to design your own award, either by printing or crafting. Or, browse the dollar store for party favor "awards" that speak to the particular friend that is receiving them: For the "most creative" friend, present her with a light bulb. For the "most social" friend, award a new mini-address book.
• After the party, don't forget to send each guest a list of movie want-to-sees along with a picture of herself on the red carpet.
• Finally, remember: Reconnecting with the important people in your life doesn't have to be a big production. It can be something as simple as watching a televised awards show with your friends. You can even throw something together at the last minute, and you'll still be glad you did. So don't delay, "award" yourself a night in with the girls!

Play a starring role as a humanitarian like Bono or Angela Jolie

As you gaze upon the designer fashions and celebrity excess on the red carpet, wouldn't it be nice to do something for those less fortunate? You could turn your Oscar gathering into a charitable event by collecting gently used career clothing for women in need of professional attire. The Women's Alliance, an organization whose tagline is "Someone's Future is Hanging in Your Closet," can direct you to local chapters that provide career clothing to low-income women.

If you spend as much time online as I do, you're bound to make new friends. And when you share common interests, the bond is almost immediate. Since writing my book Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend, I've been lucky to get to know a number of women who spend their days (and many nights) thinking about female friendships. Dawn Bertuca and Tina Bishop, the co-creators of Girlfriend Celebrations are two of my favorites. My relationship with them is synergistic: We share ideas, content, contacts, and warm fuzzies.

I really liked a recent post by Tina called Ten Tips to Help A Girlfriend Get Well that was posted on their site because whether it's a mild case of the flu or something more serious, good friends are there for each other. Here is Tina's guest post, reprinted with her permission.

Ten Tips to Help a Girlfriend Get Well
By Tina Bishop

With this season of colds, pneumonia and swine flu, someone in your circle of friends might be feeling under the weather right now. Recently the Girlfriends-in-Chief themselves were shut-in for one illness or another and personally understand "It's really pretty sucky!" So we're here to remind you to take a minute out of your busy schedule, arm yourselves with love and compassion and let a girlfriend know you are thinking of her. Taking some time to nurture a girlfriend can make a world of difference not only in her life but yours as well.

When a person is unable to take part in normal daily activities outside their home, their world shrinks dramatically. Keeping in touch and connected to the outside world can be a saving grace. By daily taking time to phone-a-friend you provide emotional support and mental stimulation. Yes, being her link to the outside world is an important role, so don't forget to ring and do so often.

All too often women offer to help each other by saying, "If there's anything I can do, please give me a call." Yet, the phone never rings. And why, you might ask? Because as women, we us feel uncomfortable asking others for help unless it's an emergency. Women are not taught to ask others for help but believe that they can do everything. Women in our society strive to be super mom, super wife...super everything. So do your girlfriend a favor and don't put her on the spot! Don't ask if you can help, just do it! Your unsolicited thoughtfulness and caring is like chicken soup for the heart. A healthy dose will do a girlfriend some good.

Here are 10 ways to show a girlfriend you care:

1. Mail her a card everyday she is unable to leave the house. Ask other girlfriends to do the same. A daily reminder that you and others are thinking of her will add a little color to a blue day.

2. Drop off a basket of magazines, books or movies. Keeping her mind occupied will help to keep her spirits up.

3. Leave a favorite treat on her doorstep. (white chocolate mocha, hot apple pie) A yummy treat will do wonders to warm her heart.

4. While you are out grocery shopping, pick up a few extra staples of fresh fruit vegetables, bread or milk. The perishables in her refrigerator will be the first to go bad and are packed with nutrients to help a sick one heal.

5. Send over a basket of homemade soup, crusty bread and cookies, along with the recipes. A bowl of steamy soup will help to warm a bluesy day.

6. Have the little ones you know create a special and bouquet of colorful tissue paper flowers for her. Brighten her room with cheerful color, a special touch to remind her you care.

7. Load up a disc of happy and inspiring music to step up her mood.
8. Give her a scrapbook kit to fill while she has the time on her hands. Getting the chore of putting her pictures away will be much appreciated.

9. Make a few freezer meals for her to store for use when she really needs some help.

10. Rent a few video games for her to t try. Adding some fun to her day with video games she's never played can be just the prescription she needed.

Helping a girlfriend during a time of need can be a truly rewarding gesture. How have you have helped the friends in your life? We'd love to hear about it. Click on GirlfriendCelebrations for more ways nurture your friendships.

As much as we would like them to, many friendships—even the best of them—don’t last forever. So when a close friendship falls apart, it’s natural to feel a sense of loss and pain, particularly if the friendship was a meaningful one.

But with some insight and understanding, we may be able to avoid the traps that commonly derail female friendships.I was delighted to be invited as a guest blogger on Girlfriend Celebrations where I outlined five common, but often avoidable, pitfalls of female friendships. Click here to read my entire post. 

A big shout-out to my friends, Girlfriends-in-Chief Dawn Bertuca and Tina VanZant Bishop (pictured above), for giving me this opportunity. Their web site, Girlfriend Celebrations, is one of the most inspiring and engaging sites on the web for women who, like us, believe in the extraordinary power of female friendships. Check out the blogs, contests, giveaways, and ideas for girlfriend get-togethers.