on turning forty

this is me ... on my 40th birthday 

my husband planned the most amazing and fun party for me

he had the idea and then he let a couple of our friends unleash their 

creative genius on our house!  it looked amazing.  the photos don't do it justice

AT ALL.  i'll try to explain what's going on ...

i had been sequestered basically the whole day.  part of the day was spent shopping and having lunch with my Mom (who was here for two weeks but that is another story!)  and sister and then the afternoon was spent inside the house (curtains drawn!)  with family and friends who were preparing the food. when i was led out to the party, this is what i saw!  rory was behind the 'bar' (his workbench) in our garage!!

here's the view from across the street ...

this is inside the gazeebo that you see to the right in the photo above.

thanks to our amazing friend who lives next door (he is the fairy light king 

and did all the lighting for the night!) there was a path that led from the front yard to

the back yard ...

and when you got to the back, this is what was there!  more lights.  more food.  more people!

here's a shot of the inside of the garage.  i can't believe how they transformed it!

absolutely incredible!!  there were tall tables all around the room with mason jar tea 

lights... i think there were like 8 tables.  so cool.

one of the cool things Rory did on the night was to make the cocktail he created for me.
he and our friends had been working on this for who knows how long
and it was perfect!!  it was all the things i love.  they even
infused vodka with cinnamon for the drink!  i can't
remember all that was in it but it was the
cinnamon vodka, dr pepper,
maraschino cherry 
juice, ice cubes
with red
hots frozen inside.
and i can't remember what
else!  he did write it down though
and i am hoping he will make me another
one soon!!  mmmmmm .... here is the write up
he did to describe my cocktail, which he named "the Bon Qui Qui"

the night was fun.

i loved having so many of my

favorite people there to celebrate the

big four-oh with me! 

i especially loved how much Rory thought and planned 

about what i would love.  he got it ALL RIGHT.

every single bit!

thanks sweetie.