mega edition friday fotos: a whole lotta birthday goin' on

I think this is the most photos I've ever put into one blog post before (!), so I'll be as short on the words as I can. It was a FABULOUS evening! No rain. Perfect temperature. Had about 60-70 people show up throughout the evening--and no one complained about parking (or lack thereof). Pretty impressive for something not quite so impressive as turning 34 :) !!!

Here's my backyard all ready to go:

I actually did nearly all the decorating while chatting on the phone with an old friend--made the time pass quickly!

My nieces came early and so I told them to go sit on the trampoline and not to touch anything :)!

More backyard....

My attempt at beautifying the eyesore that is my giant hot tub. The kids in attendance actually loved watching these float around. One blue plate casualty there at the bottom....


Here are my sweet neighbors (who are also my friends) embracing the "if you can't beat the noise, join it" attitude. It was loud---really, really loud. So I guess I should be publicly thanking my entire neighborhood for not calling the police!

Bloggy friends came too! (L-R) Miki came from the next town over, Elena made the nearly 5 hour drive, (me), and Queenie just moved here and came to meet us. Definitely a highlight of the night to have these ladies here!:

Here (on the left) is my professor/ poetry mentor/ author of this comment ...J. Reuben Appelman (his name link is for his upcoming movie), and a dear friend from my high school days, Ryan (on the right). They were so lucky as to get the rickety old hot tub stairs to sit on.....

The musical stylings of Kinetic Karma!

My nephews are the two behind the microphones. They did a great job and even had a few of us up and dancing!

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More friends...the lucky ones who got one of the *whole 10* chairs I had out:

Everyone else sat (uncomplainingly :) ) on blankets, including another bloggy/ real life friend:

I made my own cake based on one I spied on Meg's blog. Got all the candles out in my first try too! (but I forgot to make a wish! uh-oh!)

My dear friend Heidi came with her Polynesian dance group and gave us an amazing performance!:

I was loving her for being so kind AND THEN she made me get up and dance....nothing like showing off your lack of dance moves at your own party! :)....

Another of Queen Shiner and I (and my nieces who insisted on jumping into the photo, I think they were the most photographed guests at the party!)....

Here's my friend Ryan singing one of his original songs "Midwestern Blond". You would swear you were listening to Johnny Cash!

Almost over....

And just like I promised all my neighbors, it was almost silent by 10 pm!


I am soooo grateful to friends Heidi and Elli who figured out I was in WAY over my head trying to do it all by myself and came to help frost cupcakes and load my dishwasher. To my brother for keeping the food and drinks well stocked the whole time (and who made a fabulous bouncer when the very drunk "friend of the neighbor" wandered over). To Brandon and Tyler for supplying the great music, and Heidi (again!) for her *magical Samoan hips*. To another nephew, Nick, who manages a pizza place and got me all the food for next to nothing. And to everyone else who came and made me feel like a million bucks! When I looked over my pile of gifts and saw Bath and Bodyworks lotions, ice cream gift cards, books, flowers, and marshmallow circus peanuts---I couldn't help but think how blessed I am to have friends who know me so well.

And to you blog readers I say--if you can do it: THROW YOURSELF A PARTY! Whether it's your birthday or your "just because", you'll be happy you did. If a single mom on a Dave Ramsey budget can do it---so can you :)!