2 . Party themes are a popular way to add something special to birthdays, anniversaries or any type of gathering. There are many options for putting together a French-themed party.     1    

Including French phrases in your invitation is an easy way to set the mood for a French-themed party. Conveniently enough, a number of standard invitation and party phrases are already French. “Hors d’ oeuvre” can be substituted for “appetizer (开胃小菜)”, for instance. The commonly-used “R. S. V. P.” stands for the French “repondez sil vous plait”, meaning please respond.    2    

You can use the French spellings for other words, too, particularly if you are throwing a French-themed party for an anniversary or other occasions. For instance, “Coeur” is French for “heart”, “enchante” means “enchanted”, and as many are already aware, “l’ amour” means “love”.     3    

    4     French music can be downloaded online if you don’t have access to a collection. French food can also be researched online. Crème Brulee, Eclairs and madeleines are all popular French desserts.

Decoration can be an important part of carrying off any theme. For a French-themed party, one way to improve your decoration is to use well-known French icons. The Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are both recognizable architectural structures, for instance.    5     Another option is to decorate your dining area like an outdoor cafe in Paris.

3 . Adults generally dislike getting older.     1     It’s no surprise, then, that many kids look forward to their birthdays, especially the 16th birthday. For girls in America, a “Sweet 16” birthday is an important rite (仪式) of passage that celebrates approaching adulthood.

In the United States, the 16th birthday is a mark that a girl has come of age. She is not a legal adult yet, but at 16, many girls can begin to learn to drive.     2     For many youths, the 16th birthday is a celebration of womanhood and marks the end of the girl’s childhood.

Society and media often put great importance on a girl’s 16th birthday.     3     Both of them have great personal importance. They think of their 16th birthdays like women think of their weddings.

    4     The event can be held in a garden, a park or somewhere else. Often, a girl has been planning her 16th birthday party for long and has a very specific idea about what she wants and who she wants to invite. As long as she doesn’t waste money, letting a girl plan her 16^th birthday is a great way to let her creativity and personality shine.

There are many theories about how the sweet 16th birthday came into being. Most connect the birthday celebration with the Mexican Quinceanera, which takes place on a girl’s 15th birthday, or European ancient coming-of-age celebrations.     5    

4 . Festivals are a part of our culture. We have grown up around them and have embraced them as a part of our lives.     1     Festivals to them mean decorations, sweets, gifts, games and lots of other celebrations. However, there are a lot of things that children can learn from celebrating festivals.

Festivals are celebrated with people.     2     This teaches children the importance of community and the joys of working together. When kids take part in preparations for a festival, they make a place for themselves in this community of people.

Festivals also mean that the entire family can be together and celebrate something they believe in. Kids and parents find time to help each other to decorate their house, prepare delicacies, make gifts, etc.     3     Kids are also able to spend time and bond with their grandparents, cousins, and other relatives.

Festivals also mean gift-giving and sharing. The exchange of gifts teaches children to share joys during festivals     4     Children learn to share and care for others who may not be able to celebrate festivals without their help. This teaches them the importance of generosity and humbleness. They also learn to be thankful for what they have and receive.

    5     A child can be taught more about their culture and their country during festival s and celebrations. This teaches them about their roots in the world and makes them proud of their country and culture. It is during festivals when stories of the past come forward to teach children about the past and help them understand the importance of celebration through generations.

5 . There are plenty of ways to have a lot of fun, relax, and do some good when you have time off and you can pay attention to things in and around your home. Having a little extra time can help you to make things better — not just for the immediate term but for the long term, too.     1    

Assess and review your home and garden. Having a vacation from work can be a good time to take a good look at where you live and assess   what about the situation works well for you. Reviewing and properly looking at your home and garden can help you relax and appreciate what you already have.     2     Gaining some clarity on your situation can actually give you some peace of mind.

Get to know your neighbors and neighborhood.     3     A little leisure time at home can give us the breathing space to look more closely and perhaps build new connections with either humans or other creatures — as in wildlife with whom we live together.     4     For example, kick off planning for a community garden, or organize a garden harvest exchange.

    5     You can have much fun learning new things about gardening or food production, cooking and preservation. You might also consider improving your skills in plant identification, wildlife recognition, etc. These ideas may inspire you to stay at home and use the time to set yourself up for a more sustainable future. You might be surprised by how refreshing it can be.

7 . Celebrations, after the pattern of Thomas Alva Edison’s famous quote, often appear to be one percent inspiration and 99 percent preparation. People around the world take celebrating seriously.     1    

Exactly when and where human beings began coming together in public to celebrate as a group is unknown and unknowable. Logic suggests that the first public celebrations were related to the patterns of existence.     2     The earliest parades may have been processions of successful hunters returning to a joyful welcome by their thankful families. As civilizations developed, such celebrations became more regular and formal and served a broader social purpose.

    3     In some places, the commercial aspect has made us forget the original reason for the celebration. Carnival celebrations in Venice, Italy, was a festival on the day before the solemn six-week religious period known as Lent. In the current version of Carnival, hundreds of thousands of visitors attend the celebrations in Venice.     4     But their purchases of meals, accommodations, and Carnival masks bring great sums of money into the economy of the city. One cannot blame the tourists. They are attracted by Venice’s unique and undeniable magic.

Throughout history, across countries and cultures, the experience of a heartfelt celebration is always worth the often significant amount of time and money spent planning, preparing, organizing, and carrying out an event.     5    

8 . How to plan a graduation party step by step

Is someone in your life about to graduate from school?     1     . So It is very important to get started by studying this party planning list.

Determine your budget

    2     . Determine how much you’d like to spend on food and drinks per person, plus the cost of the decorations, entertainment, and location rental. You can use an online party budget calculator to help you easily estimate your costs. If possible, co-host a party and share expenses with two or three families, all of whom have a graduate from a similar school or situation.

    3    

Determine if you or the guest-of-honor want to invite the entire graduating class to attend, a large bash of your closest friends and family, or whether it will be a more intimate family party. It’s perfectly acceptable to invite a few special guests to a graduation party, such as beloved teachers, coaches, or other faculty members. It’s also up to the host whether or not children of guests can attend.

Choose a location

Throwing a party at home may save you money, it’s easy to personalize, and it can be a welcoming and comforting place for others to gather. On the other hand, having a party at home is the labor and time that goes into cleaning your house before and after the party. The advantage of having a party at a restaurant or other venue is the ease of relying on an on-site manager or planner to handle the details, including the clean-up, which lets you have plenty of time to socialize.     4     .

Pick a party time

Timing can be tricky when it comes to graduation parties. May and June are often the busiest months for most families of graduates.     5       . One solution can be to combine a summer holiday with a graduation party when your family might be traveling to get together, such as on Memorial Day weekend, Father’s Day, or July 4th.

9 . After a busy school year, there’s nothing wrong with sleeping late and watching TV or playing video games all day—at least for the first week or two of your summer vacation. But summer is also the best time to have loads of fun and prepare yourself for the next school year or the world beyond the classroom.     1    

Start by learning a new hobby. Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn, but didn’t think you could?     2     For example, you can try a new art form like photography or knitting (编织).

And signing up to volunteer would make a difference to your summer vacation.     3     If you’re an animal lover, you might volunteer at a local animal rescue center. If you enjoy spending time with senior citizens, you might volunteer at a local nursing home. Contacting nonprofits in your district is a great way to get started volunteering over the summer.    4     You can use your experiences as inspiration for a college admissions paper or other writing task in high school.

    5     The outlook of college is very exciting, especially if you’re a rising junior or senior. Every college has a website, so start by visiting college websites that have majors that interest you. You can also read college review websites to get a sense of things like how much colleges cost and what students think about their schools.

10 . When I was a kid, I really looked forward to all holidays.     1     A lot of delicious food, a lot of toys and the whole family in one place. I look forward to them even now, of course, as things have stayed pretty much the same, except that I don’t get toys anymore.

    2     We get filled with warmth knowing that everyone always has a place to go back to, no matter what part of the world their lives take them to. A lot of people prefer to chase their ambitions (追求他们的抱负), which is tiring and filled with stress.     3     It feels so good seeing someone after a long time and catching up on each other’s lives.

    4     It’s always been associated (联系) with a feeling of connection. Taking part in the preparation of a meal together with your family is such a worthy experience.     5     Also, you’ll enjoy it more knowing that everyone helps bring the food to the table. It brings smiles to our faces when we have that meal together. It’s also fun to help clean up the dishes when everyone’s full.