Murder Mystery Party: Chicago Caper

Back in the summertime, when we had Billy's coworkers over for a backyard party, we set up a murder mystery party for January. It was set in a speakeasy, so I decided to blackout our dining room!  In order to do that, I needed lots of black fabric.  

I found bits and pieces, but not enough to cover all five surfaces. So, in November I turned to the internet, where I ordered 18 black tablecloths from the Shein website.  They are not known for their quality, but I didn't mind uneven edges or thin panels.  I waited an entire month for my delivery, and when a month had passed, I finally contacted them to see if it were still on the way.  They immediately refunded my money. = (  I was glad to have my money back, but was left with the same problem as before: I needed black fabric!

So, I turned to yet another site known for their poor quality: Temu.  They shipped my tablecloths almost immediately, and they arrived the weekend before the party.  However, when I opened the box, I found out that they had sent me 18 white tablecloths.  Seriously.  I mean, how does that even happen? Even a colorblind person would be able to tell the difference between black and white!!!  I double checked my order, and it said "black" on my invoice.  so.annoying.  

With the same issue looming, and the party less than a week away, Billy drove me first to Fedex to return the wrong order, then to Walmart, where we walked around looking for possible solutions.  We finally encountered some contractor's plastic, which would be plenty large enough to cover the walls.  We bought four rolls!

At home we started covering the dining room with the fabric first, then added the plastic everywhere else.  Sunday evenings Billy plays an online game with his dad, so we ran out of time to set up the "hallway" in the basement, but did finish the dining room, and I was able to add some signs on the doors.

I had agreed to work 3 days in the week leading up to the party, which made for a very busy week, and I didn't get to go grocery shopping until Friday!  I did see these cool noodles, that I did buy, but ended up serving basic penne as the noodle side, since we were going for 1920s, long before Aldi finds! 

And, once I finished the food shopping, Kristy met me out in Charlotte where I found a pair of suspenders for my costume! (But still no stools)

Once I got home, I was assembling my costume, cleaning, adding finishing touches, pushing through the laundry, cooking, creating the basement hallway, and prepping the dinner for Saturday, so when I turned in at 9pm, I was exhausted!

While I was showering Saturday morning, I had an idea to put some signs up outside, since we notified the guests that they were to enter through the basement storm door.  Billy had sent out a secret knock and password for the guests to give earlier in the week.  On the day of the party, he sat down in the basement 'hallway' 

The drink counter was the only thing that I didn't completely finish setting up before our first guests arrived!

But everything else was ready to go!

It was quite dark, with all the black, so we did end up having to turn on the lights, in order to read our booklets.

Grace and Billy did a nice job setting up the tables!  I realized the morning of, that I hadn't gotten a second round of plates for hors d'oeuvres, so we broke out the antique china plates.  I was a little worried about breaking it, but really, and truly, why do we even have it if it's just going to live in a cabinet? Grace and Emily were so gentle with them, and Grace washed them several times throughout the night!

The main course was the recipe from the booklet: Scaloppine di Vitello al a Bathtub Gin, though, chicken was an easy substitute for the Veal.  Our other special dish was served in giant champagne goblets: lime sherbert with ginger ale.  I'm sad that I didn't take pictures of any of this, but I do enjoy living in the moment during the party!

There weren't really good angles for Emily to take a group shot, so she did a panorama, and then a length of the room shot.

At the end of the party, we celebrated Billy's birthday with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake!

Since the party started at noon, our guests were gone by six, leaving us so much time to clean up!  It felt like it had been night for the duration of the party, with the sunlight all blacked out.

It was a really fun night; we were the only murder mystery party veterans, so this was the first time all of our guests had attended a murder mystery party, and they all looked fabulous!

******

Spoilers to follow:  Billy was not the murderer!  It was actually 'Silky' played by Mel!

******

One last note: I had failed to find Capers at Aldi or Walmart, and while I thought I had some, I didn't realize that they were in a jar that needed refrigeration, so I found mine, two days after the party. = (  The dinner didn't taste off without them, so I guess it was fine.

Everyone enjoyed it enough that we are already coordinating another party, during warmer weather: Murder at the Manor!  I'm happy to have yet another group willing to participate in the fun of murder mysteries!

later days

edit 1-19-26: backdated for continuity.

Billy's 43rd Birthday!!

A few weeks before his birthday, I found a set of yard decorations at the thrift store* and so I had to put a reminder in my phone to set them up.  Of course, this year Billy's birthday was on a Saturday, so we put them up on Friday, so that he could be surprised by them! 

It was so cold when we went out to put them up, and predictably (though not obvious) the ground was frozen!  Thank goodness for recently fallen snow to pile and allow them to standup!

After the success for Alice's birthday, I also made a homemade ice cream cake for Billy's birthday!

Breakfast in bed for Billy, courtesy of the twins.  They even squeezed him fresh orange juice!

For lunch, Billy picked chick-fil-a, so we went, for the first time in forever, to eat in, on a very busy Saturday.  We crowded into a booth for 6, barely! = 0

I don't recall what this nugget is supposed to be shaped like, and Juliet isn't here for me to ask. I'll try to remember to ask her after school.  ::update:: she said it looked like a frog to her!

For his birthday, Billy wanted to go to high caliber!  Alice and Emily had been on a school trip, but it was a first visit for the rest of us.  As with so many things these days, registration was online, so while Billy waited in line, I hustled to get all of us registered on my phone**.

Height check!

Teenage mode initiated!

You'd never guess they had no play credits yet!

On our way to archery tag!

Archery tag was tiring!!!  Only Billy really had any skill, and there were tears just a few minutes into our session, so our host kindly let us swap out archery for gelly ball tag!

This was way more fun!  We did think that the balls would glow, when she offered the black lights, but they didn't, so it was actually really difficult to see whether or not you hit your target!

Action shot!

I don't remember the room being particularly cold, but Alice, Emily, Grace and Juliet all have on their outer coats.  I took a selfie that was too blurry to include, but I was not in my coat.

Even Alice participated, which means it must have been fun! <3

We didn't have much time in between our events, but I was able to get everyone some water cups, since we exerted some energy in the arena.

5 of us were tall enough for the faster go carts, and our time was 10 minutes earlier than the twins, so I only have a picture of the twins in their go carts, and none of the rest of us, since we were asked to leave all belongings off the track.

I'm really disappointed with my score, because they slow down your cart to get your attention, and I thought something was wrong with my cart, so I tried to pull over, but then Billy raced by me and I never regained the time. = (  Alice was practicing safe driving, not fun driving, so she was going slow.

Grace and Juliet were middle of their group!

After the go cart races, Billy offered to either buy the kids a game pass, give them a roblox gift card, or cash at home.  Juliet was the only one who wanted to stay and play in the arcade.  Grace followed her and watched her play (and played with her when multiplayer was available.)

Alice, Emily, William, and I went to explore the mall. I hadn't spent much time there, really only when Alice had her summer camp there, many years ago!

They had a mall triangle blocked off.  There was nothing above it, and the carpet didn't appear to be wet.  Possibly leftover from protecting a Christmas tree?  

We didn't get very far when we got called back, but Emily and Grace found a photo op!

Everyone had been anxious to get out the door, so we didn't have Billy's birthday cake for breakfast, but did enjoy it once we were back home!

Happiest of Birthdays to my favorite!

later days

 *I have wanted these for years, but wasn't willing to pay retail for them, just in case I didn't like them.  And the world doesn't need me buying plastic waste that they will make more of.  So when I saw them, even with the missing "I" i snatched them up!  The set also came with a valentine's set and graduation set.

**usually, I register at home on my PC, where I can easily see all the options and navigate much more efficiently.  We had discussed registering an actual party, complete with party room for him, but once we decided against that, the waiver didn't occur to me.  Also, I was able to register myself and the kids all under one account, but had to start a whole new process for Billy, which I hadn't quite finished by the time he made it to the front of the line.

edit 2-11-25: backdated for continuity. 

Billy's 42nd Birthday!!!

Thanks to Sarah's generosity in watching the kids, we celebrated Billy's birthday in two parts this year!  

First, the two of us went back to East Lansing, and stayed at the Wild Goose Inn again, in a different room.  We loved the room we had last time, and this one was just as good, if not better!

Our first stop was a Taco and Tequilla bar that Billy wanted to try the last time we were there, but couldn't fit in.  I didn't much care for my taco (no tomatoes, and I had to ask for the sour cream that I had marked on the checklist) but the marinated beef was really tasty.  Billy really liked his, and the queso was pretty good!  He liked the tequilas in the flight that he tried.  I'm not a huge tequila fan, so I didn't enjoy my drinks much, but I'm really glad that Billy was pleased.

Our next stop was at a Mexican restaurant, whose awnings we had once taken cover beneath, creating the background for one of my favorite family pictures during BATYOT!

I enjoyed this place more.  We sat at the bar (Billy's favorite thing to do) and once I found out that they had more than just Tequilla (what is the deal with East Lansing and Tequilla?) I enjoyed my drink much more! = )

The queso here was even better. That's the only food we ordered, since we had just eaten.  The chips were really good, and I found two that made me think of animals, so I took pictures for the kids. = )

The first looked like a bird head to me!

The next was an elephant foot. = )

From there, we went to the Tin Can, since the last time we were there, it was at occupancy, and we couldn't go.  It was definitely the least posh place we visited, but not nearly as busy since classes weren't back in session yet. 

Canes was our last stop.  We shared a meal with extra bread. = )  And since we're old, that was the end of our evening. 

The next morning, breakfast ran from 8-10.  Our room was out in the guest house, with one additional room.  We heard our neighbors go to breakfast at almost 8 on the dot, so were very surprised that we were the second ones to arrive almost 45 minutes later!  

Billy ate the oatmeal, and I had the eggs and toast. = )

They had a visitor, Yogi, who must have known that we would be easy touches when it came to table scraps.  We didn't want to get in trouble, so we didn't share, though we really wanted to. ; )

Since we'd had canes the night before, and No Thai wasn't yet open, we skipped out on lunch and just headed home to our dear ones.

Our second celebration of Billy was on his birthday, which fell on a Thursday this year.  Everyone got up 10 minutes early so that we could since and enjoy a cookies and cream ice cream cake for breakfast.  Despite having everything ready to roll, including setting the cake out to defrost, cutting the cake was really tricky, and I had to get out my biggest knife!

After dinner, he got to open his gifts, mostly gift cards, since that's what he requested, and lots of handmade cards from his children! = )

It was another fun year of celebrations, even with a looming snowstorm.

later days