Birthday/NYE 2016 Party Recap

My birthday is New Year’s Eve and this year I turned 32. As a kid, it was awesome because I got to have a party or celebrate however I wanted and then stay up until the ball dropped, drinking sparkling grape juice. As an adult, it isn’t quite as glamorous simply because I now have to compete with the holiday. Kids always come to your birthday party because there are no bars or clubs or better things to do. Your party IS the thing to do. As an adult, you have to make your party pretty enticing to convince your adult friends to stop by before heading to the other festivities. I’ve been throwing a birthday/NYE party for myself for several years now and these are the reasons why I always try to have an amazing spread, fun decorations, a fun activity, and plenty of booze at my parties. With the baby expected to arrive in the spring, this was my last party for a while. But we made it pretty awesome!

The Food

Our menu consisted of black bean sliders with chipotle aioli, charcuterie tray, sausage balls, mini corn cakes with smoked salmon and dill, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, a dessert tray from our local Fresh Market, and some bomb-diggity short rib queso dip that I didn’t get a picture of because it was in a slow cooker on the counter.

We accompanied our charcuterie tray with cornichons, honey-roasted mixed nuts, and green olives.

In addition to all of this food, our friends also brought side dishes and drinks so we were definitely set on delicious noms all night!

The Decorations

I’ve been using the same decorations for years. I got them pretty cheap at Party City and box them up after the party and keep them safe until the next time. I think they work pretty well but Nick hates them because they do look so cheap. Oh, well. They’ll have to do until I can afford some fancy schmancy decorations, which will probably be never so plastic decorations it is!

The Fun Activity

This is another activity I do every year: setting up a resolution station. This year I simply taped some black craft paper on the wall and outlined it in strips of leftover glittery wrapping paper. I set out gold sharpies for my guests to write down their New Year’s Resolutions if they felt up to it. I have several resolutions this year that I’ll be sharing with you all tomorrow.

I’m really grateful to all of my friends that were able to make it this year. Like I mentioned above, it’s the last soirée we’ll be having since our little man is coming, so it was nice to feel like I went out with a bang!

Last couple selfie of 2016. It’ll be ‘just the two of us’ for only a few more months!