Dirty Thirty

When Adam told me he wanted to plan my 30th birthday party - I was a little skeptical. Not because I didn't want him to or because I doubted he could do it...but I have a little Type A situation when it comes to party planning. Have you seen me the weeks before our annual holiday party? I go nuts menu planning and decoration shopping and guest list tracking. It's a mania I enjoy, and it's hard for me to relinquish control. But he really wanted to plan me a party so I figured, what the hey? Let's do the damn thing.

In the following month I tried hard NOT to know anything about the party. I wanted to be surprised! I still managed to unconsciously sleuth out a few facts but not when the party would be and where it would be. Adam was good about laying down tracks in directions OTHER than towards the actual day of the party. So kudos to him for that.

I had dinner plans with my good friends Andy and Meg this past Saturday - to catch up and hear all about Andy's recent travels to Europe. Once we got to the restaurant though, I started to get an inkling by the ton of cars in the parking lot.. However when we got in I saw there was a private party in the front space filled with people I don't know. So I figured this really was just dinner out. But then the maitre d' started walking us all back to the large private room...and THEN I knew. It. Was. On.

The doors opened and a roar erupted from within "SURPRISE!" - there was a crowd of friends, family, everyone I love, ready to party! I saw my parents, Adam's parents, some of my Aunts and Uncles, my cousins my good friends....even our favorite karaoke DJ whom Adam had hired for the night. He had a big spread of food and had managed to cover every table in the joint with pictures of me through the years. I was SO EXCITED!!! SO freaking excited and happy.

I sent down to business greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, was handed a Gin and Tonic and the night's festivities started.






I strongly suggested we do a pyramid "for old time's sake" but my idea didn't fly.



Then the karaoke started in earnest. I started off the night with "Son of a Preacher Man" and Adam followed up with "Lido Shuffle". Other memorable performances include Andy singing "I Saw A Little Prayer for You", Peter's stunning rendition of "Don't Rain on my Parade" my uncle Wayne and aunt Marilyn doing "I Got You, Babe", and of course some of us girls doing a throwback from 1998 "Wannabe"



We only had the private space for 4 hours so as the first portion of the night wound down, I had to get up there with my fellow Golden Girls (Andy (Dorothy), Jill (Sophia), and Meg (Rose) for a rendition of "Thank You For Being a Friend".

It started off well, of course we know all the words..



Then things got....weird. Lyrics we had never heard of in all of our Golden Girls watching years.


please note Jill and Meaghan's faces.

We powered on though. The tune was the same so from that you could kind of work the lyrics out.



I think we were all relieved when it was done though!



For the record here are the extended lyrics. Who knows that shiz?

In any case it was so much fun to celebrate with everyone! Tons of people tried their hand at karaoke and my cousin Melissa definitely brought the house down with her song. She prefaced the song saying it was something from "my" generation that my friends and I would enjoy. We were like "Hmm what could it be?" Then when the first lyrics came out "Here I go, Here I go, Here I go again, Girls what's my weakness? Men! Ok then". I looked behind me and everys single person had a hand in the air and was singing along. So Melis, you called it. That IS definitely a song from my generation.

Eventually it was 11PM and people had to start taking off. Luckily about 10 of us stuck around and headed to the bar where the second half of the party would take place. The part of the party I have dubbed Dance Party 1998.

The DJ (DJ Ron, a perennial local fave for us) took note of my "30th" tiara and our age and astutely deduced what kind of music he should be playing. Namely, dance hits from the nineties such as but not limited to: The Humpty Dance, You Can Do it Put Your Back Into It, Let Me Clear My Throat, Too Close (Baby When We're Grinding). And thus commenced a frenzied dance party.




Working it out!



After kamikaze shots and a boatload of dancing, we closed down the place and headed our separate ways into the night. I had the time of my life, and cannot believe what a good job Adam did. It was truly a birthday to remember and people keep telling me what a great time they had which is AS important to me as me having a great time. The bar has really been set for me to try and to top this for his 30th in July!

So even though I am not 30 (my actually birthday is this Thursday) I feel completely convinced that it's going to be a kickass year.

See some more pictures from the night here