Nadine's Birthday-Part 3: Party!

You know how you clean and clean and clean before a party? And you want your house to look perfect- even if you missed all the dust bunnies under the couch and the cobwebs in the corner?

Well, I had loft goals for getting my house ready for my Welcome Spring/Birthday Party. And, amazingly, I met about half of them!

My bedroom- serious need of organizing and sorting clothes.
The pictures on the floor are a semi-permanent fixture- at least until I get the stairs painted...

Yes, I did make all my own cake/torte/cupcakes. Although, I feel like I skipped on the decorating part this year. But, I just wasn't feeling it- and for me if I don't feel it, it doesn't turn out well (at least not as well as it looks in my head), just well enough.

I should've had a before/after shot. I took this picture for Travis. He already knows how awful this corner gets- the one place where I dump all my papers that I need "out" but don't want to get to right away.

Ahhhh, there's nothing that needs to be said because it is all felt: a clean kitchen!
Don't look at the floors ;)

And, I even had 10 minutes to curl my hair and put on a little makeup. I am wearing my new jewelry the girls got me for my birthday, too.

Travis had decamped to a "Guys Night" with friends. He was in Brockport with all sorts of good food. The girls were banished with books to their room (this party occurred the day after my huge blow-up over not just picking up things and they did earn their books back).

I made 45 invitations, delivered or mailed 42 of them (one even as far as Arizona- I knew Lorna Bingham couldn't come, but she didn't get an invitation last year, but came along with friends anyway, and I am so glad she did!). I really didn't know how many people to expect: as few as 9 or as many as 30? It was definitely an unknown, but I was ok with it- the more the merrier, and if I didn't have space, well, there were pillows and cushions for the floor. :)

As it turned out, I had 15 friends able to make it:

From left to right:

Cheryl Maxwell, Veronica Morphy, MaryBeth Tonkery, Nadine (me!), Mareva Baldwin, Shannon Palmeri, Courtney Larsen, Agniezka Bajan, Desiree Weldy, Jen Foote.

 

Amanda Lonsberry took the picture. And, we had more people show up a little late (and hence missed the photo): Tami Hutchings, Jodi Welch, Genevieve Pedacci, Lin Larnard, and Brandi Heel.

The gift exchange was much more fun this year! Lots of swapping hands. I got awesome magnets and a chocolate bar (I brought 2 gifts in case somebody forgot), so I got the "leftover". The provenance of the gift exchange?

When I lived in Pearland Texas, we had about 6 of us who got together every month to celebrate whoever had a birthday that month. We brought a dish to share, and a $1 gift. Just $1 for the birthday girl. It was INCREDIBLE what these ladies were able to put together for just $1! I got a full Chinese dinner date one year! Well, when I moved to South Bend, I wanted to have a March Birthdays Party (so I could throw myself a birthday party, and have an excuse to make and eat cake). So, I started a $1 white elephant exchange. We had so much fun, I kept it going. And, so when I moved to New York, I dropped the pretense of it being a March Birthdays, and said it was a birthday party for me, but bring a gift to exchange.

I love having this birthday tradition- I love having a party to get together with friends, have delicious cake, and then find an awesome gift for $1 and take home something new. Thanks to my hubby for letting me do this, my friends for playing with my, and my girls for being so well behaved that they stayed upstairs (even fell asleep!). They were particularly glad that there was TONS of cake left over. :)