My niece, Ruth's Bat Mitzvah last week was such a blast. Her mother used Ruth's favorite movie "Grease" for the theme.

The invitations Lily sent had a still from the movie "Grease" on the cover. Inside were the party details and instructions for the kids to dress as their favorite character from the movie "Grease".

Forty kids arrived by bus at the hotel. All of them were dressed like high schoolers out of the 1950's. The boys looked great with their hair slicked back wearing jeans, white t-shirts and black leather jackets. Some of the adults even dressed up. The banquet hall was nearly full; there were almost one hundred adults there.

The decorations were fabulous! A jukebox in the corner played fifties music and the soundtrack from "Grease". The hall looked like a 50's style diner. Each high round, aluminum-edged white table was surounded by fountain chairs upholstered in hot pink vinyl. Pink and white checked curtains flanked a painted backdrop of a 1950's car hop. Pink and white balloons and streamers were everywhere. A 50's swing band was setting up on stage. Snacks and punch were set up on a table at the back of the banquet hall so everyone could eat and visit. Lilly had hired a photographer to take pictures of all the fun and everyone in 1950's costumes.

Lily played a video starring Ruth and her friends. It was a remake of the song "Sandra Dee" from the movie. The had recreated everything including the wigs. Ruth played Rizzo and sang every word herself. It was really good. Everyone loved the video; it was so cute!

After Ruth entered the hall, grandma performed the Hamotze. While soup was served, the kids played games. The first was "Grease Charades". The object was guessing a person, place, or thing from the movie. The girls were better at the game than the boys, but I don't think the boys minded so much. Then, with the band's help the kids played "Name That Tune" using only songs from the fifties. Some of the adults joined the game and Lily won after managing to guess "Do the Hop" in two notes.

Ruth gave her thank-you speech during the main courseShe did a very good job. Her father stood and made a toast to his beautiful daughter when she was done.

Ruth selected thirteen people and gave them a puzzle piece. As each person placed their piece they said something nice about Ruth. She was very touched by their kind words. The puzzle was a lovely portrait of Ruth.

After the ceremony, the band began playing again and everyone started dancing. The kids loved it, especially Ruth, who got a chance to dance with her new crush, Jason. They looked so cute together, trying out swing dance moves. I even danced with Uncle Lester--who knew he was so good at swing dancing?

Lily and her husband, Jacob, thanked everyone for coming and offered chocolate malts for dessert. I probably should have said "no", but I felt I deserved it. It was very good and brought back memories. It wasn't long after the malts were finished that everyone started going home.

I don't remember the last time I had such a great time.