Birthday Bash (Sat Oct 29)

The one good thing about returning home besides the obvious was the much anticipated birthday party. It was a celebration of sorts: Halloween, Fanny's Birthday, our return and the Wedding! Alan decided to take charge and throw me a party. The guest list was full of names, names, names sweetie...even Little Steve made it down from Sydney to attend my party. Well, he tells me he was in town to visit his mother but we know better. In fact, Steve was our house guest for one night.

After a full week back at the office, it was hard to get into a routine. The jet lag was pretty bad and by Friday, I was ready for another holiday. I took it upon myself to clean the guest room on Friday night. I also felt compelled to dust the living room (one less thing to do on Saturday). On Saturday morning we did the usual 'breakfast club' at ICE with the boys and made a mad dash to buy a few supplies for the party. Alan ordered catering for the night and a cake, which we had to collect on our way. Luckily we ran into David and Jason, who saved our lives by giving us a ride home. We desperately needed an extra pair of hands and I was already starting to stress out. After purchasing some flowers from the Prahran Market, we headed home. It was obvious that I needed to get out of husband's hair so that he could start on the party preparations. I took a brisk walk down the Kings Way to the Party Supply store to find some metallic streamers. I was on a tight schedule. Clean the house by 5pm, decorations up by 6pm and that would give me just enough time to shower, moose, tuck, pluck, and choose the ultimate 'birthday' outfit before the guests arrived at 8pm. We almost had a disaster on our hands as Alan explained that Karen, David and their two year old son Zak, would be making an appearance between 5 & 7pm. I forgot to mention that Steve was arriving at 5pm as he was our house guest. Luckily Karen called to say that they couldn't make it and would call again on Monday Oct 31. Disaster averted.

We managed to clean the apartment from top to bottom. Kudos to Alan. The decorations were arranged and put up with fantastic flair. The severed hand from Walmart was a huge success. I also bought a plastic pumpkin from "Toys R Us" years ago that actually talks and flashes...My home made tealight shades were a success. (Thanks Kim!). The haunted bedroom was a success too. Billowing streamers and the sound of a chain saw coming from the bedroom hallway was most disturbing. There was also the occasional screaming from the bedroom, but that's another story.

Alan and I received wedding presents including a rotating Marilyn Monroe lamp! Fanny scored some fabulous gifts for her birthday and the champagne never stopped flowing. Jason brought some Cosmopolitans complete with dried cranberries. We had about 20 guests arrive and the final one left at 3am. Nova and Suzy were a big hit. Tony came solo and our new friend from Holland (Dutch Boy) came as promised. I'm hoping to get the photos from Alex and David soon. Andrew took photos with his camera (not digital), so I'll post them tout sweet once they're developed. I'm eager to see what I looked like and confirm who was at my party. I can't remember a thing?! I must say that Alan was the perfect host. The food was delicious and the birthday cake was dreamy. Blair arrived with his boyfriend, Philip. Blair shares his birthday with mine. How weird is that?

I found out afterwards that there was some serious flirting going on between DB and a few other people. I love a little scandal. Sunday was Rawhide but that's another story.