A 30th Birthday Party to Remember

My friend Nat turned 30 last week and her husband threw her the most AMAZING surprise birthday party! He was a smart man and enlisted the help of her friends. Her friend Trihn was the official mastermind behind the party and my job was to keep Nat away from home! It was so much fun and I think she was so surprised - loved it!

James, Trinh and I brainstormed ideas over email starting back in February and we were all so excited about pulling this off. Trihn is seriously such an amazing party planner and all of her ideas were executed so perfectly!

First of all, the invitations were awesome!

So, first things first, how do you keep the birthday girl away from home all day when she has her two sisters in town visiting, a 2.5 and a little 2 month old all at home? Well, that was tricky...she had a spa appointment in downtown Dallas so I planned a fake girls "happy hour" at my house that started at 3pm conveniently the exact time she would be done with the spa. Since this had been planned months ago, I knew she wouldn't back out completely...but she said she was just going to stop by. No problem...when she came over I told her there was a change of plans. 

  I tried not to give her much more info than this but the girl can ask some questions!!! I tried to dodge them as best I could but at one point I did mention the word "party". Ugh...I was just hoping she would still be pretty surprised! I was pretty sure she would never guess the scale of the shin-dig that her hubby had in store for her. Anyhow, we had a personal stylist pull a bunch of outfits for her and told her she was getting a "Mommy Makeover". After we found the perfect outfit she was whisked away down to the make-up department. Once she was all ready I told her we had one more stop but she would have to be blind-folded! She was not thrilled about that at all, but luckily I convinced her...It's pretty amazing how acute all your other sense become when you no longer can see. She was hearing all sorts of things and even thought we were in the country because she could hear birds...we were pulling into her neighborhood! LOL!

Guiding her back into her own house...

SURPRISE! Isn't her outfit ADORABLE?

We should have taken a picture of what she actually was seeing - which was about 40 of her friends all crowded together to greet her! She was very surprised!

There were balloons everywhere! So fun!

Out front there was a wood fire oven making custom pizzas for all the guests! This pizza was seriously yummy. They also had stuffed mushrooms, yummy garlic bread and caprese salad on skewers! Delicious! Oh and a little later a Pinkberry truck rolled up! If you know Nat, you know that is one of her most favorite things ever! Speaking of favorite things...Trihn had the idea to make a table full of Nat's favorite thing...30 of her favorite things!

Left side of the table

Right side

I LOVED this whole idea so I am going to share the full list of "30 of Nat's Favorite Things"

1. US Weekly Magazine (included the lastest issue of the magazine)

2. Taylor Swift (Her latest CD)

3. Social Group Buying (Just a print out with logos of her favorite sites she buys from)

4. Pinterest (My crafty contribution to the table :), I found a project that she pinned and gathered all the supplies for it in a little pink basket). This is everything she needs to make Easter Egg Garland.  Here is a pic:

5. Handbags (Picture of some of her favorite handbags)

6. Chick-fil-a (Gift card)

7. Food (1 year subscription to Food Network Magazine ) 

8. Central Market (Cute new reusable shopping bag)

9. Diet Coke (Cute Diet Coke bottles)

10. Pinkberry (Giftcard)

11.  Vampires (Picture of her favorite vampires)

12. Limes (Bowl of limes)

13. Macarons (Book)

14. Sprinkles Cupcakes (Actual Sprinkles cupcakes)

15. Oreos (Oreos in a jar)

16. Nordstroms (Makeover from friends that she got that day)

17. Blackberry (her phone)

18. Foursquare (print out of her last 30 badges she earned)

19. Facebook (print out of her last 30 status updates)

20. Her boys (Picture of her husband & two little boys)

21. Tiff's treats (cookies)

22. Hi-chew candy (candy)

23. Cooper (picture of her dog)

24. Starbucks (giftcard)

25. Marshmallows (Marshmallows dipped in chocolate with sprinkles on a stick)

26. Sushi (Giftcard to Bluefish)

27. Baking (Push-up Pops Book)

28. Saks Fifth Avenue (Her husbands gift to her - the new Celine Mini Luggage Tote!)

29. Crate & Barrel (Not sure what was in the box)

30. Crafting (Martha Stewart crafting supplies)

We had such a good time. The entire family was invited - Ryan loved blowing the little party horns (or making everyone else blow them for him!)

Click Here ladies...(at some point or another)

 Everyone had such a great time and I know the birthday girl appreciated everything! It's so much fun to help plan a party for someone who is such a wonderful person! We love you Nat sizzle!