Just Life

Karen’s Fiftieth.

February 6, 2017 /

We celebrated my sister (I guess we can still call her the baby of the family even now that she’s 50?!) Saturday evening with a fun group of family and friends.

Karen and Lydia

And of course cocktails and party food. The highlight of the bar was champagne punch (I followed the recipe exactly, except I made an ice ring instead of cubes – highly recommend – easy and delicious!)

For the food, I went with a throwback theme – potato chips and onion dip, pigs in blankets, cocktail meatballs. you get the idea.

My mom couldn’t attend the party, so she sent gifts. Karen had a great time opening them (a mix of funny, thoughtful and beautiful); it was perfect party entertainment!

Of course the cake was the main event. Completely inspired by Karen’s 14th birthday cake (my mom baked that one) and a vintage copy of Bon Appetit (that’s also where I found the meatball recipe – chili sauce and grape jelly ftw!)

Of the 50 or so photos that were on my phone from the party, easily half were of me, Karen and Steve, trying for a decent sibling photo. Hands down, these two were my favorite.

Clearly we don’t know how to have fun together!

p.s. Congratulations to the Patriots and all their fans – it was a good game … we just enjoyed the first half more than the second 😉

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15 Comments

  • Bridget

    February 6, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    Oh it looks like such fun! I love the pics of the three of you.

    I enjoyed the first half of the game more too …

    Happy 50th to your sister!

  • Bonny

    February 6, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    There is so much to love here! That you threw a party for your baby sister, that you, Karen, and Lydia all wore your pearls, the delicious food and amazing cake, and your wonderful sibling relationships. Wishing Karen a very happy birthday and a wonderful year ahead!

  • Kym

    February 6, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    I LOVE that you made the cake!!!! Best part! Well . . . except maybe those sibling shots. I love photos that really show the . . . interactions . . . of the folks in the photo. What a fun celebration, Mary.

  • Patty

    February 6, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    What a wonderful party! (Pigs in blankets…my all time favorite!) You must have had a very fun evening. And I'm sorry about your team, our roller coasters going in opposite direction!

  • Carole Julius

    February 6, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    That looks like such a fun night, thanks for sharing the photos and stories about it. I love your sibling photos and I can't get over how much Karen and Sarah look alike. As for that game last night, I thought you guys had it in the bag. What a turn around!

  • Vera

    February 6, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    Fabulous pictures – especially the ones of the three of you. Happy birthday to Karen! Your food and beverages look great (I love 19 Crimes). Fun, fun, fun.

  • alexa

    February 6, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    How brilliant to start the week looking at such happy photos of lovely, loving people! You did a great job with that birthday cake – how clever you are. At the end of a working day, that's quite lifted my spirits popping in here :).

  • Lydia

    February 7, 2017 at 10:49 am

    It was spectacular fun-as usual :-). I love when the best photos are often the "unposed" ones-you get to capture someone's personally much better.

  • Honoré

    February 7, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    You throw a great party! Congrats to you and to Karen on her big 5-0! Loved seeing the throwback photos and the contemporary ones…a treasure. Thanks for sharing Karen's b'day with us…and we were sad the Falcons losed (misspell intended)!
    Cheers~