My Beautiful Mess: Happy Birthday to me!

I'm slowly going to work my way through all of the fun and wonderful things we've enjoyed over the last couple of weeks! We've been busy! I told you about Thanksgiving, and what's up with cancer-free me, so now it's time to talk about my birthday!

Last week I turned the big three oh. For many people this is a scary number. It somehow represents adulthood. Once you're thirty you're supposed to be grown up or something. For me, it represents the end of a year I never thought I'd experience. It represents the end of cancer. From the very beginning of this process the plan was that I would be done by my birthday. And I was! I anticipate my thirties will be the best decade yet.

The actual day was spent at the Happiest Place on Earth! Yes, I entered my "adulthood decade" at the biggest playground out there- Disneyland! We had taken my niece, Mia, for her first visit (with her mom and dad too of course!). But that's another post. =) Anyhow, I was greeted in the morning with a fruit plate and a birthday candle for my first birthday wish (thank you Sarah, Alex and Mia). Then we all got ready to head over to the park. We were visiting California Adventure that day since we had reservations for the princess luncheon at Ariels Grotto. Again, I will tell you more about all of these fabulous things in my Disneyland post, but it was such a wonderful way to spend my birthday. The adults got to trade off playing with the girls and all of the wonderful kid friendly rides and activities, and going on the big kid rides! =) After a full day of the parks, we finished the night off with a fantastic dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. Delicious! Complete with another birthday candle in a beignet and some flambeed banana's foster! Yum!

Then this past Saturday was the big party. Ever since my diagnosis, when we realized that I would be finishing treatment slightly before my birthday, we knew we would have to throw a huge bash to celebrate. It was the "I kicked cancer's ass / 30th birthday" celebration. Nick took the lead with help from his mom, my mom, my sister Sarah, and various other friends and family. They did an outstanding job. The theme was cherry blossoms based on the invitation I designed which was done shortly after I wrote my post about cherry blossoms! =) Here is the invitation...

The party was held at Falkirk Mansion in San Rafael. It is a beautiful old mansion that was beautifully decorated for the holidays (Christmas tree and all!). We had music and a slide show set up in one room, signature drinks (the Cherry Blossom and Aged to Pear-fection) and a candy table in the entrance, and food in another. The food was delicious. It was provided by both family (my family's gyoza by my mom, crab cakes by Nick's grandmother, hand rolled meatballs by Nick's mom and aunt, and more), and catered by Meals of Marin. Meals of Marin is a group very similar to the Ceres Project and they use catering as an additional way to fund their work. They also staffed our event. Their food was outstanding, service impeccable, and best of all- it goes to a worthy cause close to my heart.

The party was just wonderful. It is all a bit of a blur as any good party should be. So many amazing people in my life all in the same building- really warms the heart. Here are a few photos from the event!