I wanted a birthday party.
Full stop. I’m honestly not sure what to write after that.
I wanted to be surrounded by people I love and who I know love me?
I wanted to celebrate life.
I wanted to be fancy and fun and have some joy?
And not do dishes.
I think I would love to reach a point where I can throw parties and just NOT worry about dishes. I love how my Mom always hires her gal to come after bigger parties and clean up.
Okay, backing away from that tangent!
I think part of it is also about memories. I love making memories, looking back at them later, and treasuring the photos. My “snapshots” in time make me remember those special moments that while silly, or weird, or random, makes me remember the moment. There are beautiful photos that I just can’t stand to look at and then there are one or two photos of a whole weekend that I just treasure.
Some of it is about being celebrated. Maybe? Being the center of attention is uncomfortable but also I secretly love it. I feel really uncomfortable saying I love it because it’s overwhelming but there is some aspect of appreciating it. Feeling seen by my loves ones and cared for, maybe?
The last few years have been hard and I wanted to celebrate that too. It’s definitely been a journey.
Nicole did amazing with the decorations. She kept asking my opinion on what to get but honestly whatever she was picking out was amazing!
It turned out so well. Black napkins on white tablecloths, the balloons with the black bows on them.
The FLOWERS! Nicole picked out amazing flowers and my Mom purchased them and they just made the tables. I would post a close up but I have so many pictures in here already.
Here is some of the scenery from the evening!
I had my babies there. And my babies friends. (Matthew!)
Okay, the back of my dress was super cool!
My big baby. I love how she does funny poses and it’s usually, okay laugh like I said something funny.
Sure, okay.
My amazing besties.
Me wearing red while everyone else wore black and white felt ridiculous, hysterical, and fun. I embraced it. I mean, I made sure to highlight the fact that it was ALL NICOLE’S IDEA but still.
Wow, my old besties. Paige and Stacey, I met in 3rd grade. Nicole wasn’t super close to them but I still dragged her in the picture. I wish Krysta came, that would have been fun. I have a great photo from 6th grade of all of us.
All my COUSINS came! Except for Stevie who was in Mexico. And the boys decided to mostly stay home, which was fine. I get it. But it was so nice to see them all.
My Mom friends from school were there. I’ve known them for 14 years, which seems crazy. I feel like I’ve just been starting to get close to them the last two years.
Nicole was so proud of this cake. It was gorgeous. I’m sad no one ate it. Probably because I tried to blow out ridiculously sparkeling candles?? But I’ll just ignore that part and admire the cake!
She got it for $20 from Walmart and then decorated it with bows and stars. And Daniel was so sweet to get all these close up shots! It’s so artistic!
I do like this picture of me. I feel slightly uncomfortable looking at it knowing that everyone was staring at me but the cake was hilarious, I was next to Nicole and I was having fun.
My sweet Grandma Evie Lou. I was happy she came.
Oh man, this is still so hard to watch. Nicole gave a speech and said such nice things about me. I’ve watched it twice and I get teary-eyed and it’s overwhelming to hear.
Here is another super hard one. My MAMA giving a speech, and then I got up and said a few words. Big sighs. So uncomfortable. So nice.
On to more fun things, my babies doing karaoke!!!
G and Matthew brought down the HOUSE! They started with Piano Man and then kept singing all through the night entertaining themselves (and us!).
Ainsley lived her dream of singing Pink Pony Club with everyone. I was sitting down with Eileen and Amber and we were rocking out and singing so loud too. It was adorable! And Sam’s roommates H and A are working as Party Princesses as their summer jobs and are SO sweet with Ainsely.
A few other fun videos but I’ll go back to pictures!
They sang a few more songs and it was everything. I think this was Shake it Off.
I did have a dream of doing a Britney karaoke song with the besties to bring back our Vegas Britney memories but alas, I didn’t bring it up. Plus the karaoke speaker was terrible so it was more entertaining to watch the kids.
The sunset and evening sky was magical to watch. We hung outside on the patio with groups of people, also getting fun pictures.
My girls!
The night went by so fast.
The last hour was wonderful. We had a french fry station with tater tots, two different fries, and sliders. I think the official invitation said the party was over at 10 so all the “elders” left but it really ended at 11. Whoops!
But we sat with about 10 of us just gabbing until 10:45. Then we packed up and the four of us went to the hotel Nicole got.
I treasure my late nights of giggles, exhaustion, and randomness. And the early mornings of whispers and sharing TikToks.
My actual birthday was lovely. I was having huge indecision issues and Nicole just ARRANGED everything with my Mom. Massages? Done. Dinner? Done. Get everyone there? No problem.
We did have anxiety with John going on but Mom still made it.
The lunch/dinner was lovely. The sun was out, the fireplace was cool, and it was just.. nice.
Justin actually came too – Mom invited him – but here is a picture of my girls. Love them so.
It’s really hard to read but I loved this.
“She’s thoughtful. Authentic. Reliable. The kind of person you call when you need advice, help, inspiration, or jsut someone who truly listens. And somehow despite all she does, she remains incredibly humble. She’s the quiet strength behind so many successes, always lifting others up without needing the credit herself. May this be your best year yet. <3”
From my Mama. All the lovely words that I strive to be.
This will be 45.
May I cultivate more moments like these.
