Aaron's 40th Birthday Party

My husband turned 40 on September 1st this year. I'm not quite sure what it is about 40 but it seems like an important milestone to me. When I turned 30 I finally felt like maybe, just perhaps, I was finally a grown-up. When I turned 40 I KNEW I was a grown-up and I knew that because I had long before that realized that in order to be a true grown-up you had to be willing to act like a kid. No matter how much it embarrasses your children...

Since my husband is the quintessential "overgrown kid" (this is him stealing french fries from our then 8 year old) and the most dedicated carnivore I know, I decided that we had to celebrate 40 in a way that pulled those two major aspects of his personality together. So... I went with meat. Meat was my theme. Truth is, there really isn't much in the way of demand for meat-themed merchandise... Imagine that. The occasional bacon t-shirt, sure, but you can't really decorate for a party with just a t-shirt. So I had to get a little creative with a LOT of help from the internet and family input.

First there were the decorations... I chatted about it with my mother and my sister-in-law, both of whom thought the meat theme was great and more than just a little funny. Perfect for Aaron and pretty unique. When I said I wanted to find steaks to decorate with, we started searching online only to find that this year doesn't seem to be the year for steaks. Mom and I then spent a Saturday going from pet store to pet store (her brilliant idea) and I did manage to find a few sausage links, several pork chops, some chicken legs (ok - the package may have said hamhocks but I don't care - I labeled them chicken legs. End of story) and even a pig in a blanket and a hot dog and what butcher shop would be complete without a rubber chicken? My sister-in-law finally found a place with latex t-bones big enough for what I needed. I used those chew toys to create a butcher shop for the food table.

The pictures below are, obviously, before we put all of the food out. I was a bit busy once the food started getting to the table...

Next, I started thinking about food and again while searching the internet, I found a few awesome, creative ideas. First, there is Bakerella. She has an amazing blog on baking and she came up with a fun cupcake idea for Father's Day. I downloaded her pdf, put "Happy 40th Aaron" on the front of her french fry holder and printed off what I needed... Christopher and I spent 1/2 of a Tuesday cutting those things out. Taping them came on Wednesday and Thursday. It was quite the production. Of course - I wasn't doing just a few - I was planning for 60 guests so there was definitely going to be some time dedicated to this operation. Then, I baked 60 cupcakes and the cookies (fries) and froze them. The brownies and assembly happened the day before the party.

This would be my most wonderful assistant aka Mom. She really is one of the greatest women I know. Doesn't matter what's needed - she just dives in and does it (except for making dip... she's not fond of doing that, apparently.).

I'm pretty sure Aaron was pleased...

Hostess with the Mostess, a brilliant party and event planner, had this adorable French Circus themed baby shower on her blog. One of the food displays included zebra-striped paper cones filled with Crunch n Munch. I thought the idea was too much fun and wanted to use it. So... I found some bbq paper and some brightly colored cardstock and set to work. Fortunately someone other than me was thinking and actually took a picture of them. I'm sorry it's a little blurry but you get the idea. My intentions were to take hundreds of pictures. I only managed to take 118 and that included some of the work BEFORE yesterday so yesterday's pickins' are pretty slim. My cones, by the way, held Fiddle Faddle. Aaron's favorite treat...

That's all I'll cover in this post. Next post... more food, a magician and a pinata...