I'll make it like your birthday every day.

Birthdays are kind of a magical thing. There are presents, usually something sparkly in the room, cards are involved, and it usually gives you a reason to have a party. It’s also the time that you find out who really cares about you. I mean, it’s one day…You probably don’t ask for much the rest of the year, and it’s one time that you just kind of want a little bit of that attention. 

Yesterday was my mom's 50th birthday, and she had her first big party. In all the years that I've been around, we've never done a party for her. Usually we go out of town, go to a concert or it's just a small get together at our house or out to dinner. This time, our family friends wanted to throw a party for her, since she had never done one. I love the process of planning a party. As a daydream, sometimes I think it would be fun to be a party planner or event coordinator of sorts (at least it seems to be in all of those Lifetime or Hallmark movies). I like the little details of putting all of your favorite things together; the flowers, the food, the centerpieces. It's all just really exciting. I had a lot of fun really getting in touch with my artsy side. Over the past couple of months, we've been tossing around ideas, looking on Pinterest for inspiration, going to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few things, and finding some stuff from my mom's childhood in our garage. 

My mom went for the "vintage" feel. So, we had some old pieces that belonged to my grandmas, some new stuff that we bought, and other odds and ends that our family friends loaned to us. 

Waiting to get the day started :)

Friday, we finally started pulling everything together. We picked up the tables, chairs and tablecloths, the flowers, and gathered all of our things to bring to our family friends' house. We didn't realize we had SO much stuff, until we started piling it into our small truck with a giant box full of plates, napkins, my mom's old toys, mason jars, etc. We set up the tables, draped the tablecloths over them and worked on the centerpieces. We set up the candy table and filled the jars with m&m's, Good and Plenty, and several other kinds of my mom's favorites. That was my favorite part. It just looked so pretty! The flowers took the longest to put together, since there's a system to arranging them in the vases, and we aren't exactly florists. Mandy and I ran to the store to get a couple more bunches of baby's breath, since we thought it might break up some of the color, which gave us a chance to talk, too. My mom worked on them the most and I think they came out beautiful in the end. Very summery, bright and cheerful. They also looked amazing in the mason jars...Very southern, if you ask me. We ended up not having enough flowers for the head table, so we all ran to Vons to pick more up, but once we got there, we didn't see anything that was going to work like we hoped it would, but they had an arrangement of Hydrangea's that worked perfectly and was in a turquoise basket, so we got those instead. The florist at the counter was extremely helpful, telling us about some of the flowers and how long she had worked there. I've become very fascinated with all of the flowers and the process of arranging. Like anything else, it's like a puzzle and figuring out what the best combinations are. It's a lot like love, and now I see why so many people get flowers when they're in a relationship. The party setting came together so nicely; charming and pretty. After we were finished getting everything together, we met my dad at Chili's for dinner. Great conversation and good food = perfect Friday night. I also don't get out much, so it was nice to actually have something to do. It was so fun hanging out with Paul, Tammy and Mandy all night too; felt like old times of hanging out with their family. 

Saturday, I was able to sleep in until 11. I couldn't believe I slept that late, but it was SO nice. I've been so paranoid at night, so I'll stay up way later, until I just lose to my eyelids getting heavier. I took my time getting ready and watched The Notebook, since it was on TV and looked on Tumblr, because that's just how exciting I am. Then, we got ready and my mom and I picked up sandwiches for lunch, then brought it home. We ate with my dad, then my dad and I had to run a few errands, and came home so my mom could open her present from me. As soon as that was done, we hurried to get ready - I slipped into a dress, touched up my makeup and hair, then we were good to go. We still had a few errands to run; picked up the cakes, along with the tea from Chic-Fil-A, then off to our friends' house we went. 

Party outfit. 

We finished setting a few things up, but luckily there wasn't much to do. The guys went to pick up the food (and apparently they didn't have our order, but everything worked out in the end), and pretty soon everyone started arriving. It was SO fun to have most of our family and so many good friends there. We laughed, talked, ate dinner, played Bingo (I was the first winner--WOO!), I showed a video I had made for my mom and we ate cake. My mom also opened her presents. I was glad I was able to talk to a couple of our other good friends (and pastor's wife), Lydia, and Lori, about some of the struggles I've been dealing with at school. It's just so tough to work through the different world views and how to approach it. It's good to know that I wasn't alone in that feeling either. We also talked about country music, and how a lot of it is crap these days. I LOVE these big get togethers; having great discussions and just being able to catch up on life. Makes it feel like a real Full House moment, you know?

Around 10 or so, we started packing up the car and tearing down the tables and chairs and saying goodbye to everyone. Our car was PACKED. I had to carry the cake on my lap, while holding the balloon, that was in my face, back. It was such a wonderful evening with our loved ones, and it's good to know that even after all of these years, no matter what life has brought us or how often we're actually able to hang out, that it hasn't changed our relationships with them. It's also great to know, even when you find out that you aren't invited to other get togethers...Though, I should be used to that by now. Oh, well...

So glad that my mom had a wonderful birthday and was celebrated the way she deserves to be every day. 

That's all for now,
Shelby