{"id":7209,"date":"2017-04-11T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T10:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.elfster.com\/?p=7209"},"modified":"2023-05-09T10:38:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T14:38:40","slug":"friends-themed-party-coffee-lovers-gift-swap-brew-90s-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elfster.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/11\/friends-themed-party-coffee-lovers-gift-swap-brew-90s-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"A Friends-Themed Party and Coffee Lovers Gift Swap to Brew up Some 90s Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the small New England town where I grew up, \u201cgreat\u201d coffee came from the local convenience store or Dunkin\u2019 Donuts. I didn\u2019t taste my first latte until I was in college, although I definitely pretended I knew what the mysterious milky espresso beverage was in front of my new friends. Until then, I had been convinced that the freeze-dried instant coffee granules my Papa drank were the epitome of chic. The only thing that clued me into a world of coffee I might be missing out on? <\/span>Friends<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A warm cuppa | Image courtesy Unsplash user Joshua Ness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like all of the kids in our middle school, my sister and I were <\/span>Friends<\/span><\/i> obsessives, quoting our favorite funny lines from the show. The biggest revelation of the show, though, was that if you lived in The City, you got your coffee at a coffee house, and a fluorescent-lit temple of beige linoleum and packaged snack cakes where we were used to getting our (decaf) coffee fixes. <\/span><\/p>\n

When I actually did up and move to The City, I was shocked to see that places like Central Perk really do exist\u2014cozy coffee shops serving up lattes, single-origin brews, and the occasional muffin or scone, cozy couches and chairs for lingering over every last sip of your cappuccino or Americano strewn about the room. I fell in love with the coffee culture, buying a French press for my dorm room and begging my favorite cafe to grind the bags of artisanal beans I bought from them so I could have a great cup of joe while studying late into the night. <\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, a lot of my friends are caffeine junkies like me, and we usually sit at our favorite cafe mulling over the news of someone\u2019s romantic exploits at least once a week. We\u2019ve even got our own Gunther, a tattooed and pierced barista who is definitely more bark than bite (and probably has a crush on one of my friends, but<\/span> don\u2019t let him know that you know). As <\/span>Friends<\/span><\/i> portrayed, coffee and socializing just seem to naturally go together, so I decided to throw a themed party and coffee swap. <\/span>Friends, <\/span><\/i>friends, and coffee\u2014it was like the glamorous yet silly adult life shown on the show I idolized as a kid was finally mine!<\/span><\/p>\n

Which Friend Are You?<\/h4>\n

I felt a long chunk of my hair fall to the ground, the air filled with the snip, snip sound of a sure pair of shears. My stylist knew exactly what she was doing; she\u2019d given “The Rachel” to hundreds of people in the past year. But as a 13-year-old, getting a haircut inspired by the most fashionable character on <\/span>Friends<\/span><\/i> was a groundbreaking rite of passage for me. Goodbye, pigtails! Now, I was a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Besties for life | Image courtesy Etsy seller FranklyNoted<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, not quite. I still had a maturity level that combined the cluelessness of Joey with the whiny sarcasm of Chandler, but at least I felt like I looked good. While I wouldn’t suggest anyone actually get their hair cut to look like a 90s sitcom star in order to attend your party (though I’d say that would earn an extra bag of coffee during the gift swap at the end of the night if they did), it’s always fun to dress up in character. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a pricey costume, though. Here are some <\/span>Friends<\/span><\/i> costume ideas so simple even Joey (or, better yet, Marcel the monkey) could pull one together. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ross<\/b><\/p>\n