Ok, so you know about Gumtree right? The
site that lets you buy and sell all manner of goods. I regularly trawl Gumtree
to snare second hand bargains for Jabba.
But this is not about buying or selling.
This is about organising the one social event that is talked about all year at
our place.
Jack’s Birthday Party!
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| Disco Birthday Jack circa 2012 |
Because there is so much hype and
expectation, it causes me no amount of annual stress.
Back in my day, we had a birthday party
every second year. We were allowed to invite ten mates and choose a cake from
the Woman’s Weekly Birthday Cake cookbook. Chuck in a game of pass the parcel
and that was the end of that.
But times have changed my friends!
I love throwing Jack a solid party because
it brings him so much joy. The anticipation, the suspense, the gratitude. Well,
it is all just worth it to me. Plus the fact that we started at a new school
this year, well it makes sense to explode onto the Year 2 social scene with a
BANG!
Gumtree has issued me a challenge to
organise Jack’s Birthday Party by completely organising it through their site.
Hey! If it is going to make my life a little easier, I am all for that.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
But to be honest, it turned out a pretty
easy challenge. It took about an hour, some Gumtree cruising, 6 emails, 4
follow up phone calls then DISCO.
Of course, it has to be DISCO.
I got on the site and went to their
services section. Before this challenge, I didn’t know there was even such a
thing.
I found the Party and Catering section.
One email, and the invites were designed
and the file emailed to me, which I forwarded onto our local printer (also
found on Gumtree) and I picked those babies up that very afternoon! $25. THANK
YOU!
EFFICIENCY, a word I do not use too often….
In the meantime, I found a very cute cake,
a person to create a party atmosphere, someone to take care of all the food, a Disco Instructor and a massive jumping castle.
The Business Services section can assist
you in finding a cleaner, a beautician, a removalist, a handyman, a marriage
celebrant, anything you need. You just bung in what you want, enter your
postcode and it will present you with all available options in your area.
You then directly email the business for a
quote, compare what comes back and book it. Just like that.
Did I mention, I tend to go a little
overboard when it comes to my kid’s parties?
Well I do. It brings not only Jack’s new
classmates together, but also our entire extended family! This year is a busy
time for family birthdays, so we kill about 4 birds with one stone.
So I am in control of this whole process,
all done with the convenience of not having to leave my desk, using nothing but
the net, a phone, a pen and a notebook.
And I am so smug about the whole situation,
I am 100% sure that it is going to piss down this weekend.
I am grateful that everything has been outsourced as we are at a wedding on Saturday afternoon, up at a sparrows fart Sunday morning for rugby (GO THE ELKS) and will arrive home about an hour before all the disco kids arrive. Adrenaline junkie, moi?
Come back soon
for the post party wrap up. There will be no paparazzi but there will be one very happy diva!
I will save you a lolly bag and a glass of champers.
Am I the only person who didn’t know all this could be
done through Gumtree?
Where the hell have I been?
