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~