Hey guys. I need serious help. Just got a call from my dad. He wants to throw my mom a surprise 50th bday party. And he wants me to "handle" it.
Her bday is 4/18, so we're not talking tons of time to figure anything out. He's thinking 25-30 people. I don't think price is an issue. The problem will be figuring out who she would want there and convincing her to go there when it's time (she's notorious for opting out of things at the last minute).
The first thing he asked me is where could we have it.

Then he asked if we should have it catered.

Why is he asking me these things? HTH would I know?
This is SO not my thing. Any suggestions on where we can have it, what we could do, etc. etc. I think he was trying to stay in St. Bernard, he mentioned the Buccaneer Villa club and the Islenos museum - both of which I have no clue about. Any clues on what works and what doesn't work for this kind of thing? Cater? Sit down? Presents? Alcohol? Activity? Just mingle? Cake?
And oh, yeah. (He suddenly gave me a sketch pad and some charcoal and colored pencils about two weeks ago. Totally out of the blue. He said that now that I didn't have to deal with Tony, I have more time and could "get back into my art." ...He didn't care about "my art" when I was an art major!) He said "it would be nice if you could do something with 'your art' for her. A portrait or a picture of Chloe or something."

WTH?! Sure, it's just so simple to pick up a pencil and suddenly be at the top of my game again after 6 years. On top of working, planning this party for you and my general lack of interest in doing anything at all lately.
So that's my rant/desperate plea for help. Any ideas?