Gigi is Fifty and Fabulous!

A few months ago my BFF Gigi told me that she wanted her husband, Craig, to throw her a party, and would I mind hinting this to him to make sure it happened?  Knowing Craig like I do, I didn't hint - I bluntly told him what Gigi wanted!  Seeing the rather alarmed look on his face, I volunteered to help with the planning.

Okay, I kinda took over the planning.

It couldn't be helped, though. Craig was so accommodating whenever I asked for his opinion about the party.  And I lurve planning parties.  It is the best.  And I lurve Gigi.  She is the best.  So Craig, thank you for asking Gigi to marry you and convincing her to move to Indiana so we could meet and become such good friends and then letting me plan this birthday party.  I totally owe you one.

Any good party starts with an invite, and here was Gigi's.  I'm of two minds about print vs. emailed invites.  There's nothing like getting a printed invite in the mail, right?  It makes the event feel extra special.  But there's also nothing like the convenience and easiness of an emailed invite.  (Which is what we went for here.  Because I'm lazy.  And cheap.)

I spent much of the month planning decorations and games.  This helped stave off some of the dang February funk.  I thought my "What Does 50 Look Like" game was quite clever.  Players had to guess which jars held exactly 50 items.  No one chose the correct three jars; interestingly, 3 kids guessed two of the right jars.  We also played a fun Gigi trivia game, which Craig won but I decided that was a little bit cheating, so Gigi's sister-in-law won instead, which was only slightly less cheating... hmmm...

I also gathered a ton of pictures of Gigi from Gigi and her sister.  Then I printed them up in black and white and taped them all over the place. It was so fun to see all those pictures of Gigi growing up.  I especially loved the one in Jr. High.  Don't we all have an achingly awkward Jr. High picture?  Kudos to Gig for being willing to let me display it.
 

I also hung up different things about 1963 around the room.  Here's the movie corner.  I was truly surprised about The Sword in the Stone being released then - I totally thought it was from the 80's.  (Probably because that's when I watched it as a kid...)

Here's the Fun Facts corner.  Fact: zip codes weren't implemented in the U.S. until 1963!

Fact: there is no way you can buy a house worth living in today for the amount you would have paid in 1963.
 

And because I love advertising, I also put up a few ads from 1963.  I think print ads can really give you some good insights into the culture at the time.  (Fact: in college I was the geek that could be found pouring over the advertisements in LIFE magazines from the 1950's.  Why no, I didn't date much.  Why do you ask?)
 

I have always wanted to hang up tissue paper pom poms all over the basement, and Gigi's party was my chance.  This is actually a picture from today.  They're all over the kids' desk because I don't quite know what to do with them all...
 

But here they were hanging up.  It was hard to get a picture that showed them all.  But they looked pretty cool.
 

And here's something else I've always wanted to make - a paper streamer backdrop.  I love it!!  Cheap, easy, and big impact!  And aren't you impressed with the spread we put out?  It was super yummy.

Bergen was especially impressed.  And especially hungry.  Look at that loaded plate!
 

Did you see the cake on the table?  Yep, I made a cake.  You all know of my love/hate relationship with cakes.  But because I love Gigi I was willing to make a cake for her.  (This was especially daunting because Gigi is the queen of birthday cakes.  Seriously.  She made a Herbie the Love Bug cake one year and it looked like Herbie the Love Bug.)  Gigi's favorite cake is German Chocolate, which of course I had never made before.  And of course I chose a rather difficult from scratch recipe because it sounded the tastiest to me.  And of course I had fits over making it, but in the end it turned out to look pretty good.  Right?!  (Please tell me people weren't just being polite...)

Well, they didn't have to lie about how it tasted - it was soooo good!  (Not to toot my own horn or anything.)  I made one slight alteration to it by using toasted almonds instead of walnuts, and I think i like it better that way.
 

Anyways.  Back to the party.  But not really, because I didn't do so well at taking pictures during the party.  As I am wont to do at all my parties, dang it.

Apparently Cole got drunk on the cake pops or something.
 

This picture is kind of deceptive because the basement got pretty crowded there for a while.  I think this was towards the end of the evening.
 

I had a blast planning and putting the party together.  I also had a blast just being at the party and spending time with my friends.  I'm hoping Gigi did, too.  She's a great friend and a great blessing in my life, and I was so glad to be able to do this for her!  (Time to end this before the tears start flowin'...)
 

(Hey, look, Gig!  We finally have a picture together!)