The Party - Continued

As I said last Wednesday, for the past month my husband and I have been planning a 60th birthday party for my mother in law. And this past Saturday was the big night. It went really well. There was a ton of great food and good music and lovely toasts given in honour of the birthday girl (although my favourite was definitely my husband's, he really knocked it out of the park). The best part was seeing the birthday girl have fun, dancing and visiting with all of her friends and family who came out to help her celebrate.

As you may recall, I was in charge of the decorating, among other things, so I thought I'd post a few pictures so you can see how it all came together.

 

This was the guest table. I want to note that the creepy teddy bear was the property of the hall, as part of their Christmas decorations. The bear aside, their Christmas decorations were lovely and complimented my own decorations nicely.

 

I did up a board of pictures of my mother in law over the years, all in black and white that spelled out 60.

 

This was the hall. You might notice the disco light bulb I found on Amazon, which I love and worked great.

 

I hung Christmas tree decorations from the ceiling, along with paper lanterns and stars.

 

These were the table centerpieces. I spray painted wine bottles white, filled them with glittery silver florals and surrounded the base with a white boa, silver beads and fake diamonds.

 

This is a close up with a different filter, neither one really does it justice. In my opinion it was pretty lovely.

 

I alternated the wine bottles with these centerpieces to break it up.

And there you have it. I spent the rest of the evening dancing, eating and visiting. 

The Party

I'm exhausted. It's been quite a month. I haven't done anywhere near as much editing as I planned on, but I do have a pretty good excuse. This Saturday is my mother in law's 60th birthday party, and she enlisted my help with both the decorations and the food, so I've had my hands full with all of the preparations.

I should note that by "enlisted my help" I really mean I forcefully volunteered my services. One, because it's her birthday party, so she shouldn't have to worry about anything, she should just show up and have fun. But also, I love party planning. I really do. Both my sister and I jump on any opportunity to throw a shower or a party. I can't explain why I love it so much, especially since I'm usually not much of a people person, but I do. And my favourite part is always the decorating and the food.

So, I spent the past month shopping, crafting, scouring pinterest for ideas, baking and planning. Hopefully this Saturday my efforts pay off and there's a fabulous party to show for it. Unfortunately, my writing efforts have thoroughly suffered, so starting December 1st, it'll be operation get back on track. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll try to post some pictures of the party next week so you can judge my success for yourself.

Birthday Week

This week is my birthday week. Yes, you read that correctly, I said birthday week. I'm not yet one of the mature adults that goes to work on their birthday, mentions it to no one and tries to forget that they've grown a year older. I will admit that getting older sucks, if I could I'd be young and limber forever, but there's a lot of fun to be had in celebrating yourself.

Every year on my birthday, I take the day off work. (This year I'm taking two days and making it a four day weekend). I book a massage, a facial, whatever I want. Maybe I take myself out to lunch, or my husband and I go out for a fancy supper. I spend it with family, friends, anyone that makes me smile. And most importantly, I make it a birthday week and not just a birth 'day'. Because a birthday is just too short and when it's over it's depressing.

So, all this week I'm treating myself to whatever makes me happy. Yesterday I had cookies for supper, (there's no rule that says you have to get more mature on your birthday) and tonight, I'm going to a panel discussion celebrating Saskatchewan authors (and possibly eating more cookies). It doesn't have to be big, expensive things. I'm just trying to give myself the freedom to indulge.

At the end of the week, it doesn't feel so bad to have grown a year older (aside from the tummy ache from too many cookies) and I have the next year's celebration to look forward to. What about you? What do you do to make your own birthday special? Or do you go the opposite way and try to hide it from everyone?