Surviving 50 Years...

...isn't difficult if your friends throw you a Hawaiian luau themed party.

Sorry this post has taken so long, but here's the big 50th celebration from three weeks ago.

When my marvelous friend Vi said she wanted to plan my 50th birthday party I was very grateful for her generosity. When I sent her a guest list, I also suggested we have a Hawaiian theme. As I am going to Hawaii for a couple weeks in May for a holiday I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate. I thought people could wear a flowery shirt and we could pick up some leis at the dollar store and that would be it.

Little did I suspect to what lengths Vi was going to take the theme. On the day of, Vi and her son Marcus arrived at my place at 2pm. I was then promptly shanghied by Marcus who then drove me to the Magnolia Spa where I was treated to a lovely pedicure and massage. Three hours later Vi's husband Tom, and their other son Phillip picked me up and brought me home. In that three hours our apartment was turned into a tropical luau paradise. Friends and family had arrived and helped with the decorating.

There was a beach scene set up on the coffee table...

...a table spread with yummie munchies, surrounded by flowers, and tropical trees...


...tables wrapped in grass skirts... (the bouquet of flowers was for Mummie)

...and they made me wear this....


...but I drew the line at this, and it became wall decoration.


They also had beach towels on all the chairs and tropical clothes strewn around.

I wasn't the only one wearing a grass skirt. These are three of my cousins. The two cousins wearing the green skirts are sisters and had theirs when they were little girls. They've been saved in a cedar trunk all these years just waiting for an opportunity such as this, but...


...of course the grass skirts didn't quite fit the same any more...


...a quiet moment before the crowds hit the beach...


...you can see on the wall behind me a net with crawlie critters on the wall. There were creepy crawlies everywhere. Even after I had taken down all the decorations the next day, I was still finding rubber crawlies everywhere for days. I think I've found them all now.

The cake was delicious, here it is being held by the most amazing party planning ever...my friend Vi.