<< i am officially the big three-oh >>

with the complete planning, organizing and conceptualizing of my husband - i celebrated turing t-h-i-r-t-y in the most delightful and exciting way. he enlisted the help of amazing zhanna to make the invitations and invited our family and new and old friends to a party that was full of twinkling lights, delicious food and warm wishes that still ring in my heart. 

the invitations came as a total surprise. zhanna said that husband was the most pickiest customer yet...i believe it since it takes him triple-time to place an order at a restaurant. sorry zhanna. but at the same time, the invites are amazing and i am still in awe that these were all hand-made. for those that don't know her, she's just a small town girl with amazing talent. she's putting up a website soon...right zhanna?! ;)

my husband also learned the hard way that invitations that are square need extra postage.  

husband and dad put the lights up. if it was up to me, i would never take them down. 

love their measuring system!

and so...in addition to the party, in addition to all the planning and the invites and the food and the guests, my husband decided he needed to make a table to serve all the food on. and for him, using newspaper as one would traditionally use for a clambake would not do - so he scattered pages of my magazine instead and made it part of the table. if i've never bragged about him...well, there will be a lot of that going on in this post...

head chef was uncle oleh. we would not trust anyone else to prepare seafood like he does. hands down, perfection.

my "facebook friends." amazed how small the world is. 

all my grandma's and grandpa's grandchildren and great grandchildren - all of us in one room and we're still growing!

 reading the poem and letter i wrote to my mama

sulyma-side of the family

thank you to all my family that attended and drove and flew from afar. 

thank you to my canadian family that surprised me (!!) 

thank you to our friends that even though we see you often, you still decided it was important to spend the day with me. 

thank you to my friends and family that didn't make it but still sent their love from far. 

and thank you my dear, dear husband for throwing the warmest gathering of friends and family for me. your thoughtfulness, creativity and ability to keep some sneaky secrets was well worth it. 

with love, from a newly t-h-i-r-t-y-year-old. love you all. 

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