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!)
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 😉
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!
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!
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.
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!
I love your sibling photos-what fun! Sending Happy Birthday wishes to your sister!
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!
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.
What a fantastic party! And, happy birthday Karen! And, really – you clearly have perfected "having fun"!! Thank you for sharing! XO
Celebrating a sister's birthday in such a fun and charming way looks like a grand way to show love!
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 :).
This whole post just radiates joy! What a great celebration! And oh that cake!
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.
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~
Happy Birthday Karen!! What a great party — I love all of your food choices/inspiration! And, oh my goodness, our sibling photos are all just like that!! 😉
This just made me smile … you all have the most beautiful smiles!