Last Friday, I ushered in my 30th birthday with a little cocktail/dinner party at our house. My husband took care of most of the details, including the invites, the food and the drinks. I simply offered to handle the decor and find myself a cocktail dress (a task in and of itself).
Not only was it a treat to have a party at my house that I didn’t have to plan, but it was so special to celebrate my birthday with some of our newest friends here in Colorado.
The entire evening was a reminder of how blessed we are as a family; blessed to have a home to gather in, friends who care for us after having only known us seven short months, and blessed to have had 30 great years so far. I think everyone should make it a habit of having fancy cocktail parties; it turns out it’s pretty good for the soul!
To set up our table, I searched for ideas on Pinterest. I already had just about everything that I needed, but I did pick up some green water glasses at the Dollar Tree (I actually really love them, too), some new cloth napkins at Target and some vases and candles from the Dollar Tree. The black and white table runner is made from 4 plastic placemats from Ikea that I already owned. I may have needed to reference this chart to remind me how to set a formal table… but that’s neither here nor there.
It wouldn’t be a cocktail party without 3 different kinds of salsa, 3 different kinds of guacamole and margaritas from scratch, naturally. We also feasted on bison empanadas, chicken enchiladas and rice and beans. I was certainly sad that I couldn’t partake in the margaritas (I’m counting down these last two months of pregnancy for several reasons…), but the food was amazing.
I figured finding a maternity cocktail dress would be a hassle, but I headed straight to asos.com (knowing that would be my best bet) and was lucky enough to find this on clearance for $20. I was quite disappointed when it arrived, however, because the top was way too big and the ribbon that goes across my chest had torn away from the lace on one side, making it uneven. I didn’t have time to return the dress and get another, so I had to modify this one to make it work. You should see it close up… yikes! Seams and hidden excess fabric e’rywhere. But hey, from far away, not too bad.
The night was filled with good kid-free conversation, laughter, yummy food, and Duke Ellington for ambiance. And it ended with a giant piece of chocolate cheesecake – of which, I promptly devoured.
I’ve gotta say, so far, my 30th year is off to a pretty good start.
Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for “What I Wore Wednesday”