This year was a milestone birthday for me. I turned 40. I am looking forward to this next phase of my life, and don’t want to go back in time to a younger age. After all, I still feel pretty young, and that’s what counts. To celebrate this, I decided to have a party that young girls might have. I invited 18 of my closest friends to a slumber party at my house. Yes, that’s right, a bunch of 30 and 40 year old women sleeping on the floor, talking and giggling all night. Doesn’t that sound like so much fun? Well, let me tell you, it was!
I was very worried that I was going to have to cancel the party on Thursday night. I had been so sick in bed all afternoon with a high fever and chills. But I knew that if I had to postpone it, it would never happen. With summer vacation starting the week after, everyone would be off to distance destinations. So I just suffered through it, hoping the fever would kill whatever infection I had quickly, and I would be all healthy for Friday night. And it worked! Some time in the night, I felt my fever break and by morning I felt much better. Of course, this was not the end of it, but that comes later..
Even with the careful timing, not everyone could make it the party. It was already the beginning of summer vacation for some of them, or they already had other plans. But there was still a great turnout, and I am glad I decided to have it a week ahead of my actual birthday so the majority could attend. We grilled shish kebabs outside on the grill, and the group cooking rotated from the group inside talking. When I walked in the apartment, after having been outside for a while, I just had to smile at the noise! All these women talking and laughing at once. It was perfect, just what I wanted to have happen, but it was a bit loud. 🙂
We sat around the table talking, eating and laughing until at least 10 o’clock. Sounds boring, but trust me, with these ladies, it was a hoot. They all have the best stories, and aren’t shy about sharing them. 🙂 Not everyone was spending the night, so we decided it was time to move the festivities along. First, my friends totally surprised me with presents. I was not expecting anything, just wanted to enjoy their company for the night, but they were very generous and I am not one to turn away a gift! A personalized, hand drawn watercolor featuring me and all my favorite things, a new paper punch (she knows me so well), a way cute hot pad and matching oversized mug, and then a bunch of them pitched in to take me to a spa for the day! I have never been to one, ever in my whole life. So that was kind of overwhelming, and I teared up just a bit. Having good friends is one of the true joys in life, thanks so much Ladies!
Oh, and the game, can’t forget the game. Jenni made a “pass the parcel” game. I had heard of them, they are an English tradition, but I had never actually played one. She did a great job on it. Basically, she took a small gift and wrapped it in several different layers of wrapping paper. Between each layer, there was a quote describing a different attribute of a Crab. She wasn’t saying I was crabby, it’s the astrological sign I was born under. You know, Cancer, which doesn’t sound very good either. Hmmmm. Anyway, I loved that some were super flattering and complimentary, and others were much more true to life. 🙂 Very funny, and lots of laughs. She would play music, and we would pass the parcel around until the music stopped. Whoever was holding it at the time, unwrapped one layer and read what was written there. We kept doing that until all the layers had been removed. Inside was a small Jenni original watercolor, that the person got to keep. So fun.
Then it was definitely time to cut the absolutely delicious cake my friend, Tanya made per my request.
She tweaked the original recipe posted on the famous Nienie Dialogues and turned it into a cake fit to be served at the fanciest restaurant. It is sooo rich and chocolatey. yummm! In fact, the cake is so fancy, she made two more for a friend’s wedding the next day. Yeah, that’s right, I got wedding cake for my birthday, I’m so special. haha
The cake is made with mascarpone and needs to be refrigerated at all times, but my fridge was completely full. So it had been sitting out on the counter for a few hours before we cut into it. The frosting had softened a bit, and it got a crack in it.
Tanya was a bit sad at first, all her hard work ruined. But we ended up making the best of it. Meet Mr. Cake!
Isn’t he just so cute, you could just eat him up? Well, that’s exactly what we did. mmmmhhhhmmmmm!!!!!
We said goodbye to about half the group at this point, and then we cracked out some more games. Iliana is the queen of games, so she brought several of my favorites. Rummycube, Mad Gab, and I know we played one more, but it was so late, and so long ago, that I can’t remember. 🙁 A tip for playing Mad Gab, have someone who speaks English with an accent read the phrases. Sounds weird, but it totally helps to “hear” what the phrase actually is. Fortunately we had Meike and Iliana playing, so each team got their own “secret weapon” as it were. By now it was like 1 am, and Iliana had to get home while she could still drive. But first, Julie S. had a little game to play with us. I can’t tell you what it was, but those of us who played it with her, got a good scare and a lot of laughs. It was perfect for a slumber party!
Then we dragged out the mattresses, pillows, and blankets and settled down to sleep. Except that’s not what we did. We laid there in the dark, talking and laughing. “Peep!” Finally, I announced that it was 3:33, and no one made a sound after that. But like good Cinderella Mommies, with the coming of dawn, we all turned from silly teenagers back to responsible women. We were up at 6:30 to start back to our real lives; picking up people at the airport, taking other people to the airport, and generally taking care of our families. It was so fun while it lasted though. And the sleep deprivation hangover we were all suffering from the next day was totally worth it. Thank you again, Ladies. It was the best birthday party ever!