My 35th Birthday Party: Red Carpet Style

First and foremost I know this post is ridiculously late but I just cannot forgo documenting what a wonderful birthday weekend I had.

As if going to Nascar qualifying, having dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, going shopping and most importantly being with my family and great friends wasn't enough. Joe helped plan a little party for me on Sunday the 22nd that was ultimately an Oscar party. I have been a huge fan of the awards circuit since working at a video store, even though after moving to 29 Palms and having kids I admittedly seldom have seen most of the nominated films. I still love all the pomp and circumstance. The bonus this year was that over President's Day weekend, Ali and I had the opportunity to go see Slumdog Millionaire and we were both heavily rooting for it to win big at the Oscars.

The evening was complete with ballots for everyone to guess the winners, a fondue themed dinner including an over-the-top chocolate fondue desert with yummy items for dipping including Vanilla Bean cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, assorted fruits, marshmallows, pound cake and graham crackers. It was simply heavenly. We all got very competitive with our ballots and Hugh Jackman ran a very entertaining show. Although I technically won with 16 correct guesses out of the 24 awards (seriously who has heard of some of these animated shorts or documentaries?), it was Ali coming in closely behind with 15 correct that won the prize. And yes we did have a prize - a popcorn bucket with movie theater tickets and assorted goodies. Here I am with Scottie and Ali and their prize:

I only wish I would have created a booby prize for the person with the least amount correct, which by the way would have gone to Danielle's husband Andres who sadly only had 4 correct.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Jake enjoying the chocolate fondue:

The spread for dessert:

The kids table:


The girls (I wish I had a better picture of all of us but it was during a commercial and we had like 4 cameras going off simultaneously):

And finally can I just say Whoo Hoo for Slumdog Millionaire. It was the Little Engine That Could picking up 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. I have not seen the other nominated films but I cannot imagine any of them being better than this inspiring tale and the little kids who played the main characters when they were younger were so cute jumping around and smiling on stage. For anyone who has not seen it, I highly recommend it.

And instead of thanking the academy for a prestigious award, I would like to thank my amazing husband, friends and children, not to mention family near and far for making my 35th one of the most memorable birthdays ever.