So...it's over and was a smashing success. Project "Rina Turns 70" is complete. Patty (my sister), myself, my father and Katie and Carleigh have been plotting/planning since the beginning of August. Here's the rundown of the before/during and after of this grand event! (you can click on individual pictures to enlarge them for better viewing)
The party was held at Patty's house in Bristow - here's the sign that was hanging in the food area/kitchen. We had 4 themed areas representing mom's passions and who she is....
Room 1- Breakfast at Tiffany's - this room celebrates her love of Audrey Hepburn, the theater and NYC. The room was decorated in Tiffany Blue. The balloons had pictures of mom and her theater experiences hanging from them. The cookies were made by a friend our here in Purcellville, Angie Wade, and were themed for each room.
Yep, lots of theming and decorations!!
Room 2 - the Cowboy/Western room - mom always dreamed of being a cowboy. She visited a dude ranch when she was young and fell in love with the ideas of being a cowboy...and also a true cowboy (she was a teenager). :)
The central kitchen area was decorated for Kathie through the Ages - 70 yrs. Balloons had pics of her from birth to present day and all of the milestones in between.
The cupcakes were also made by Angie, and were topped with milestones representing her 70 years.
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| Lots of candles! |
Room 3 - Disney - mom has always loved all things Disney. This room had red/black baloons with pictures of her with many different Disney characters and her Disney visits/cruises.
We also had a Disney themed Photobooth area set up. We knew she would have a good time with that, and many of her friends attending are involved with her Senior theater group - the OLLI players.
Lots of signs at the entrance to the Disney Room pointing to various Disney locations.
As I said, the Photobooth was a big hit!!
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| Katie, Alexa (Car's friend - a big fan of mom's), and Carleigh |
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| Patty and her friend Julie (also a big fan of mom's) |
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| mom's good friend Wendy |
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| my cousins Dave and Jen |
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| my aunt and uncle - mom's brother and wife - they drove down from upstate New York |
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| mom's good friend Manny |
and the many, many wonderful friends that came to celebrate mom's 70th...
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| Don and I snuck in ... |
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| mom and the girls |
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| Don and Katie |
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| mom (a la Audrey Hepburn) and Jante (one of Ev's good friends - and a big fan of mom) |
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| mom and Ev (Patty's husband) |
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| mom and dad |
Carleigh and Katie's gift to mom was her name with pictures of the three of them together through the years. They worked on this gift together and had it finished before the school year began.
My cousin, Blaze and his family drove up from the Hampton/Newport News area to celebrate and his son, Miles had a blast with the girls before the birthday girl arrived.
Guest started arriving around 3:15 and mom was scheduled to arrive around 4:00. Lots of food and visiting even before the birthday girl arrived. We had about 40 people at the party.
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| Pam (my aunt) and mom's sister in law in the black sweater, and in blue is Pattie - mom's cousin and maid of honor in her wedding. Pattie and her brother Bill drove down from Rochester, NY for the night. |
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| Ev, Don, Jante (Ev's friend) and some of the men escaped to the basement and enjoyed the quiet. |
It's 4:00 - and she's not here....she arrived about 5 minutes later with my dad...and recognized a friend's car outside, so knew something was going on. She came up the stairs, and started wobbling...I went out to "help" her come inside. She was definitely surprised!
First hug is for Pattie and Bill - her cousins from Rochester.
Then Pam and Dave - from Watertown, NY
Then she started seeing all of the familiar faces from OLLI
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| Lots of catered food |
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| Patty and her friend Julie |
The song...is a tradition that goes back in mom's family as far as I can remember. My grandfather went to Princeton and it is the Princeton fight song with the words changed for any family event that comes about. We had to resurrect the song for this party and it was a huge hit.
Below are "song" pictures from years past
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| at a family reunion with my grandparents |
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| at my wedding - it was VERY long with about 20 verses... |
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| at our last family get together before my grandmother passed away |
Here is our "song" for mom's 70th - don't know if you can read it, but here are our 9 verses!
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| click on the picture and it should enlarge to see the lyrics...if you wish! :) |
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| everyone singing the chorus - each person got the chorus on a little card to "sing along" |
after the song was a 15 minute movie I made with pictures and songs from her past
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| I love the way she is sitting the same way that young Kathie is in the picture on the tv |
The CAKE - all 70 candles of it....
We love her and it was a great evening!! Happy Birthday mom!
