30 days of 29, day 30: Throwing a party.

The final project of 30 days of 29!

Due to happy circumstance (AKA clever and deliberate planning) my last project coincided with the day before my 30th birthday, which happened to be on a Saturday. This could only mean one thing:

Birthday party!

I love me a good party. Specifically, I love planning and throwing a good party. And this party was no exception. Thanks to the lovely Stepper and an extremely hardworking Nick, we celebrated my 30th birthday in 1930s style. We had a record player playing Duke Ellington, we had hairbands for the ladies, we had a little display of books from the 30's, we had people in costume, we had a 1930s trivia quiz and above all else, we had a mocktail bar.

(Sidenote: Nick and I don't drink, and neither do the vast majority of our friends. A mocktail is therefore a cocktail without any alcohol in it.)

Oh, did we ever have a mocktail bar. Sadly, tragically, and so far the only regret of my 30s is that we didn't get any photos. I hd a baby in my arms for one half of the party, and was having too much fun for the other half to even think about taking photos. Nick spent the first half of the party in the kitchen and the other half with a baby in his arms, so he didn't get any photos either.

Beloved Ari did save the day, however, by taking the only party photo of me and Espen and my Hindenburg mocktail as the party was just getting underway. Alone, with a baby and a drink in my hand. If the drink wasn't all juice, I'd say this didn't bode well for my 30s.

But let's get back to the party!

The mocktail bar was by far the most fun part, I think. Stepper and her lovely husband Bill manned the bar in their perfect 1930s garb (please tell me you took pictures before you left the house!) and all the little teetotaling Mormons had fun ordering their drinks in ways that don't often come about when your favourite tipple is lemonade.

"Bartender, I'll have a Bette Davis on the rocks!"

In keeping with the theme of the night, we gave all of the drinks 1930s names.



And of course there was food, don't you worry! Nick and I are already notorious for overshooting how much food people can actually eat, and Stepper has absolutely no breaks on her hospitality, so together we could probably have fed close to 50 people. Stepper baked my birthday cake, and then, because she was worried there wouldn't be enough, she baked another one. Yup, two birthday cakes, people! And then we had fruit and vegetables, bruschetta, mounds of strawberries, brownies, chips... we could keep going. In fact, we had so many leftovers that we had a leftover party with Stepper and family today just to make room in the fridge. Ai-ai-ai, we'll be celebrating my 30th for weeks to come.

It was very, very fun. Lots of good friends came, and I think (and hope!) that everyone enjoyed themselves. I certainly did!



I have finally gotten caught up on all of my posts for 30 days of 29! Day 28 is here, and day 22 is here. If you read anything, for the love of all that is good, pure and shiny, read about when I hiked the Y. Blood, sweat and tears people! OK, at least there was sweat.