Day 251 – Time of my life.

This year, for my 36th birthday, I had an idea.  And this one was very out of the box for me.  It involved a lot of time and planning and energy (mostly Dan’s).  And it came together perfectly.  Beyond perfectly.

It started out as a way to gather my favourite gals in early January, the most dreaded month of the year.   I thought that if given enough notice, people would be eager to get out and to get together.  I sent out paper invitations (Gasp!  Snail mail!) about a month ahead of time. It stated that the event was ladies only and the dress was formal.

Once we had the guest list, the real work started.  And the fun part.  Since the guests were all girls, the boys would be the ones doing the cooking, drink mixing and the serving.  Dan and my brother-in-law Mark kept busy in the kitchen cooking up a meal to die for.  My brother worked his buns off between time behind the bar and serving us hors d’oeuvres.  They even dressed the part in crisp white shirts and black pants.  Our very own wait staff…I felt a little like a celebrity.

Now I’ve celebrated a lot of birthdays, but this was, by far, the most fantastic.  Halfway through the evening I looked around and realized just how lucky I really am.  There I was, surrounded by some of the most fantastic women I’ve ever known.  And I’ve known most of them for a loooong time.  As we celebrated my 36 candles, I thought back to how some of those faces were there beside me when I rang in 16 candles as well.  But there were also some gals there that I’ve only known for a few years who have also become such important people in my life.  See?  Lucky.  So lucky.

Sadly, there were a few obvious missing faces.  A few girls were just too far away to be able to make the festivities and they were very, very missed.  Next time, right?

I wanted this post to be an enormous thank you.  To the girls, for showing up, for dressing up, for looking beautiful, for being so incredibly fabulous, for turning my little dinner party into a late-night dance party, but mostly, for making me smile so big- thank you.  To the boys, for working so hard and spoiling us rotten – thank you, thank you, thank you.   I had the time of my life and couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you.

And there’s no better proof of a good night than some great pictures.

For more of the shenanigans, click here.