Birthday Party Hi-Jinks
Fun fun night! I feel like I have morphed into Paris Hilton these past couple of weekends. Late nights and fabulous events. But now the madness is over and I can focus on less drinking and dancing and more fiber and early nights. This week ahead is exciting. On Tuesday is the awesome evening with the Honourable Mike Lake. I still haven't written my speech but at least the location is secured, people are slowly RSVP'ing and no matter what, it will be an inspiring evening. I have sent lots and lots of e-mails. I am little ticked because I believe one organization thinks I am stepping on their toes and I find that pretty ridiculous, quite frankly. This isn't about ego, this is about creating a community, working towards government support for therapy and spreading awareness. We need to all work together and GAH! I don't want to get ranty after such a fabulous night.
Deep breath. Moving on. So about last night...
Office Twin and I decided a few weeks ago to have a joint birthday party. Well, it was more like:
Me: Office Twin!
OT: WHAT?!!?
Me: YOU KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD DO?!
OT: Oh no.
Me: No, you will like this idea! I promise!! Let's have a joint birthday party!!!
OT: Ummmm.
So yes, he was totally on board. Thanks to a friend who last year was looking for a location for her Not Going Away Party, I was able to book a great little place in the 4th. It is called Wohlleben and looks like a Beisl. You can get the place for free as long as your guests spend 450 euros. DEAL! I booked it a few weeks ago and the theme (after many many discussions) was decided. We went for the Communist Party of Kovastan Party. Kovastan is our made up country. We still can't decide on a national dish so the possibility of us actually creating a country is pretty low. I did say that broccoli was banned so we do have an embargo already. Yay! Halfway there. Since I have been incredibly busy, I didn't have time to make decorations (I know, I am disappointed in myself, too). But I figured that with enough drinks, decent music and dark lighting, the party would be a success.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking a cake. I hate baking. I hate it with the passion of a thousand suns. And I am terrible at following recipes. I like to just throw ingredients together and hope for the best. I was mentioning that last night and one friend was getting twitchy. He was like "Baking is a SCIENCE! How do you not follow the recipe?!?!" and I just shrugged. For some reason, it always works out and I know that real bakers want to smash their heads against a wall when I say I just kind of wing it. The hardest part about yesterday's cake was making grey icing out of 4 primary colours. There was a lot of swearing and my fingers looked like I had murdered a group of Teletubbies by the end of it. But I am happy with the end result and next time I need to add a third layer because there was not enough cake for everybody. I apologize!
I showed up at 7 with the cake and greeted the bartender. I was RELIEVED that there was not a mix up and that the party was going ahead (little known fact: I stress a lot just before a party starts. A LOT). Office Twin told me he was going to be 15 minutes late and I may or may not have texted him that I was going to hurt him. I started on the playlist (the location has a choice of 69,000 songs. I know) and made sure to put my favourite songs on. Office Twin came running in, out of breath because he knows how I feel about tardiness. We arranged the chairs and tables, made some space for dancing, and figured out the lighting. Dark on the dance floor. Must always be dark. The Office Twin started working on the playlist and deleted the one I had worked on, accidentally.
8 p.m. rolled around and the Husband showed up as our first guest. Our babysitter could only stay for a couple of hours but I was happy he could come. Soon the flow of peeps happened and it was so great to see so many familiar faces. Drinks were ordered, the music started and I jumped around, dropping by briefly to see friends. That's the one drawback of large parties, I don't get a chance to talk to people for a long time. Around 10, Office Twin's friends showed up and suddenly it was packed! Nobody was dancing yet but I knew that come midnight, the dancing would start. It always does.
Around 11, it was cake time. A friend was kind enough to light the candles and bring it into the main room and people sang happy birthday to us and then it was time to blow out the candles and I totally beat Office Twin at that. I'm kind of a jerk. My wish is so going to come true. Midnight rolled around and yes, the dancing slowly started. AND THEN IT WAS ON! My friends and Office Twin's friends formed a circle and we Daft Punked and Beyonced and it was everything! One friend was challenged to a dance off and at one point she did the splits! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! There were mental fist bumps all around. I think I danced for close to 4 hours and today I hurt. Luckily the hurt is not alcohol based but rather based on the fact that I feel like I was an extra on Fame. My poor poor feet.
At one point I was dancing and tried to copy a move of one of Office Twin's friends and I grunted and said "I am too old for this!" and he said "I am older than you." and I laughed and said "No, I am pretty sure you aren't." and then he said "I am 38." and then I exclaimed "Oh YAY! You are!!" Best birthday gift ever. Speaking of gifts, people totally ignored my "Gifts are not expected but compliments are required." memo. So I accept the awesome gifts with quiet stoicism. But thank you, twas awesome!! Around 2 I asked the bartender what time we would be thrown out and he said "4". Holy crap, Europe! So we partied until 4 and then it was time to head home. I asked an Austrian to call a taxi for me because it was late and my German had disappeared by then. I said good night to the last of the guests, climbed into the cab and headed home. I took off my tiara (yes, I wore a tiara) and my kaftan ball gown (yes, I wore a kaftan ball gown), washed off the last of my make up and then crawled into bed, dreaming of Taylor Swift.
The Kid woke me up around 9 so I am currently going on about 4 hours of sleep. I actually feel o.k. and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I am in a fantastic mood. It was a great night; I have awesome friends who accept my crazy ass. I have sadly lost some friends along the way. Life gets in the way and having a child with autism has changed everything. I try my best to maintain friendships but sometimes I let people down without meaning to and for that I am sorry. As I hurtle towards my 35th birthday on Thursday, I am starting to re-assess some things. I have been a people pleaser for so long and this past year, I have been trying to stop the madness. And there have been some casualties.... sadly. Sure, I will continue to live for praise, but I have to stop being stretched so thin. So this is just a long way to say thank you to the peeps for sticking with me during this crazy ride called "life". It takes a village to raise the Tova. So thank you friends and family for all of your support! Now I will snuggle with the Kid and refrain from eating leftover pink frosting. Ciao!
Deep breath. Moving on. So about last night...
Office Twin and I decided a few weeks ago to have a joint birthday party. Well, it was more like:
Me: Office Twin!
OT: WHAT?!!?
Me: YOU KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD DO?!
OT: Oh no.
Me: No, you will like this idea! I promise!! Let's have a joint birthday party!!!
OT: Ummmm.
So yes, he was totally on board. Thanks to a friend who last year was looking for a location for her Not Going Away Party, I was able to book a great little place in the 4th. It is called Wohlleben and looks like a Beisl. You can get the place for free as long as your guests spend 450 euros. DEAL! I booked it a few weeks ago and the theme (after many many discussions) was decided. We went for the Communist Party of Kovastan Party. Kovastan is our made up country. We still can't decide on a national dish so the possibility of us actually creating a country is pretty low. I did say that broccoli was banned so we do have an embargo already. Yay! Halfway there. Since I have been incredibly busy, I didn't have time to make decorations (I know, I am disappointed in myself, too). But I figured that with enough drinks, decent music and dark lighting, the party would be a success.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking a cake. I hate baking. I hate it with the passion of a thousand suns. And I am terrible at following recipes. I like to just throw ingredients together and hope for the best. I was mentioning that last night and one friend was getting twitchy. He was like "Baking is a SCIENCE! How do you not follow the recipe?!?!" and I just shrugged. For some reason, it always works out and I know that real bakers want to smash their heads against a wall when I say I just kind of wing it. The hardest part about yesterday's cake was making grey icing out of 4 primary colours. There was a lot of swearing and my fingers looked like I had murdered a group of Teletubbies by the end of it. But I am happy with the end result and next time I need to add a third layer because there was not enough cake for everybody. I apologize!
I showed up at 7 with the cake and greeted the bartender. I was RELIEVED that there was not a mix up and that the party was going ahead (little known fact: I stress a lot just before a party starts. A LOT). Office Twin told me he was going to be 15 minutes late and I may or may not have texted him that I was going to hurt him. I started on the playlist (the location has a choice of 69,000 songs. I know) and made sure to put my favourite songs on. Office Twin came running in, out of breath because he knows how I feel about tardiness. We arranged the chairs and tables, made some space for dancing, and figured out the lighting. Dark on the dance floor. Must always be dark. The Office Twin started working on the playlist and deleted the one I had worked on, accidentally.
8 p.m. rolled around and the Husband showed up as our first guest. Our babysitter could only stay for a couple of hours but I was happy he could come. Soon the flow of peeps happened and it was so great to see so many familiar faces. Drinks were ordered, the music started and I jumped around, dropping by briefly to see friends. That's the one drawback of large parties, I don't get a chance to talk to people for a long time. Around 10, Office Twin's friends showed up and suddenly it was packed! Nobody was dancing yet but I knew that come midnight, the dancing would start. It always does.
Around 11, it was cake time. A friend was kind enough to light the candles and bring it into the main room and people sang happy birthday to us and then it was time to blow out the candles and I totally beat Office Twin at that. I'm kind of a jerk. My wish is so going to come true. Midnight rolled around and yes, the dancing slowly started. AND THEN IT WAS ON! My friends and Office Twin's friends formed a circle and we Daft Punked and Beyonced and it was everything! One friend was challenged to a dance off and at one point she did the splits! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! There were mental fist bumps all around. I think I danced for close to 4 hours and today I hurt. Luckily the hurt is not alcohol based but rather based on the fact that I feel like I was an extra on Fame. My poor poor feet.
At one point I was dancing and tried to copy a move of one of Office Twin's friends and I grunted and said "I am too old for this!" and he said "I am older than you." and I laughed and said "No, I am pretty sure you aren't." and then he said "I am 38." and then I exclaimed "Oh YAY! You are!!" Best birthday gift ever. Speaking of gifts, people totally ignored my "Gifts are not expected but compliments are required." memo. So I accept the awesome gifts with quiet stoicism. But thank you, twas awesome!! Around 2 I asked the bartender what time we would be thrown out and he said "4". Holy crap, Europe! So we partied until 4 and then it was time to head home. I asked an Austrian to call a taxi for me because it was late and my German had disappeared by then. I said good night to the last of the guests, climbed into the cab and headed home. I took off my tiara (yes, I wore a tiara) and my kaftan ball gown (yes, I wore a kaftan ball gown), washed off the last of my make up and then crawled into bed, dreaming of Taylor Swift.
The Kid woke me up around 9 so I am currently going on about 4 hours of sleep. I actually feel o.k. and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I am in a fantastic mood. It was a great night; I have awesome friends who accept my crazy ass. I have sadly lost some friends along the way. Life gets in the way and having a child with autism has changed everything. I try my best to maintain friendships but sometimes I let people down without meaning to and for that I am sorry. As I hurtle towards my 35th birthday on Thursday, I am starting to re-assess some things. I have been a people pleaser for so long and this past year, I have been trying to stop the madness. And there have been some casualties.... sadly. Sure, I will continue to live for praise, but I have to stop being stretched so thin. So this is just a long way to say thank you to the peeps for sticking with me during this crazy ride called "life". It takes a village to raise the Tova. So thank you friends and family for all of your support! Now I will snuggle with the Kid and refrain from eating leftover pink frosting. Ciao!
Comments
Post a Comment