Friday, January 28, 2011

Book Club: Matched (special guest Ally Condie)

For book club this month we did Ally Condie's latest book MATCHED so of course we had to do a lot of bright green. My book club is infamous for going all out. It's in the details people. Sure we've had our fair share of meet ups where we dont decorate but it really packs a punch when we do!


Jenni and I planned the evening and I was so thrilled with how it all turned out (when everyone's things came together) --how similar it was to what I saw in my head. The tin plates, the dessert buffet, the pills, the posters (100 poems, 100 music), the balloons. It was great. We tried to pull a lot of things from the book so if you've read it you'll hopefully see/understand where we were going.

The wonderful gals in my writing group.

Again, from the book we tried to replicate the scene with Cassia's grandpa.

I want you all to appreciate the lovely colors of our 'pills'. I made my mom go to a specific store to get just the right color jelly bellys (but I forget to tell her to go bright and not dark) so then I had to go to two other stores to find just the right ones. But aren't they lovely? Everyone was sent home with their own capsule of pills and a poem and a compass (courtesy of Shauna).


Our very own Fancy Nancy got us all one of these beautys. It was like Christmas morning all wrapped up and beautiful and we all had to wait and open it together. Now we can all have our own compact just like Cassia.

We asked everyone to bring a momento to share and went around the room telling why we chose the item we brought. It was interesting to see the items and hear everyone's stories.

My book group lovelies! We've been meeting together now for over 3 years!

Did you see the beautiful miss Ally Condie in there?

She was so sweet to come play with us and let us ask her all sorts of questions. I seriously adore this woman. And every time I learn more about her I like her more!


You can see our other party with Ally when we had her come out for Freshman for President about 2 years ago.

(Thanks Rachel and Jenni for the pictures. I brought my tripod but forgot my camera, cause I' cool like that. *insert eye roll here*)

23 comments:

Becca said...

I want to live by you so I can come to your book group! That is a beautiful thing. I'm glad you got to have Ally come.

Me (aka Danielle) said...

My book club read Matched last month! I absolutely loved the book.

What a great party!

Barbaloot said...

That's so cool! I had no idea your book club parties were that intense:)

I just finished the book. I definitely liked it-but it was horrifying, almost along the lines of Hunger Games. To see a government with that much control of EVERYTHING is such a frightening thought. Really makes you think about the world today.

Cranberryfries said...

Becca we'll have to get you to come to one our parties! We'd love it.

Danielle I saw your book club did it too. Isn't it a fun one? So many good topics to discuss for sure.

Barbaloot :)Yah we try to have a lot of fun.

It's crazy to think how much power and freedom can be taken away.

Anonymous said...

Oh, you're friends with Olivia! I didn't realize this. I plan to read this trilogy soon. I keep hearing great things.

Heather Justesen said...

Your book group is so awesome! We don't have anything like that around here, which makes me totally jealous. Looks like a fun party.

Jenni Elyse said...

The party was so much fun! I enjoyed it and I'm so glad our plans came together as well as they did! Wonderful recap of the party!

Unknown said...

You & Jenni did such a great job. Thanks for all your hard work. I had a blast (as usual). I love you guys!

Smithy said...

what a fun event!! looks like it was spectacular!

Kayla said...

Oh Debbie! My jealousy knows no bounds! I miss you guys so much that it sometimes is painful! I'm going to have to work hard to come up with a teleportation device soon!

I'm so glad you guys had an amazing time!

Olivia Carter said...

Oh man, it was SO MUCH FUN! Thank you so much for inviting me- it meant a lot to me since I know it was exclusive.

The decorations were MIND BLOWING and SUCH great conversation.

Basically, you rock.

Rummanah Aasi said...

Debbi, your attention to details always amazes me. The party looks like a blast and I'm glad that you and the others had a terrific time!

RubyAlison said...

I'm so jealous! That looks like a seriously amazing group.

I love Matched and you did a brilliant job of highlighting cool things about the book.

So awesome!!

Living the Scream said...

How fun! What an amazing party I will have to check out that book!

Becky said...

Wow! What an amazing get together! :) I love it. Thanks for sharing pics of your book club.

Victoria said...

I haven't read it, but NOW I want to!!!

Dewey said...

HI! I just came across your blog. We are reading the book "Matched" this month for book club. I LOVE the theme you have done with this. I read that you had a poem that went along with the "pills" you gave out. Is there any way you could share that? Also where did you find capsules?? :) Thanks for your help!! :)

Cranberryfries said...

Dewey and Lacey for our capsules the gal just got some empty film canisters (the white ones) and filled them each with the 3 'pills', the poem from the book and a little compass.

The poem is in the book on page 96 ('Do not go gentle...' by Dylan Thomas).

Hope that helps. I tried to email you but there wasn't an email attached to your profile so hopefully you see this! :) Let me know if you have other questions.

Lacey said...

I did see it!! Thank you so much. Sorry, I still can't quite figure out how blogger works. Thank you so much for your ideas. It looks like you guys had so much fun at your book club.

Christy said...

How fun Debbie! And I bet it was so much fun to have Ally there! I know you love food themes, and so do I. Come over to my blog and see the fun recipe I just posted to go with Matched (Trapped in a Bubble Bobo Drink).
http://www.dearestdreams.com/2012/01/matched-by-ally-condie.html

Unknown said...

can i ask where did you get those compacts? and the brand? if it isn´t to much to ask :)

Cranberryfries said...

Hey Melissa I'm sorry I dont know. My friend in my bookclub got them so I'm not sure. I can check with her and get back to you.

Unknown said...

thank you debbie! i´ll wait! :)