I'm here for the party

We had fantastic weather for the party. Absolutely unbelievable, I had every window in the house open and half my neighborhood was on the deck. My neighbor even loaned us his fire pit so we could have a mini bonfire. Who would have thought we'd be so lucky for a November party?

Almost everyone that I invited came, which was wonderful - I really wanted a houseful of my family and friends and a very informal, casual feeling, and I got exactly that. I felt like there just wasn't enough time to talk to everyone though.

My daughter made a scrapbook with pictures from when I was growing up - it was sweet. My son designed a necklace for me, which my sister in law helped him make after he picked out the beads.

We might have had a little bit of food & wine. Well, ok, TOO MUCH... We bought some Pino Bianco, Gravina Bianco, and Pinot Grigio to go with the appetizers (a variety of cheeses, some shrimp(wrapped in bacon and smothered in teriyaki sauce, then baked until the bacon is crisp), some bread/ veggies/ dip, a sundried tomato cream cheese spread, and some white bean dip(mixed with garlic, onions, pimento, & mexican cheeses & baked)

For the actual dinner we bought a Shiraz '04 (to go with the beef stew, salad, and rolls) and Blackstone Merlot '02. Everything was set out in the kitchen so people could help themselves.
I will be having leftover stew tonight (and some of the merlot) so that is awesome.

Dessert was cheesecakes, (a J & S Watkins sampler of french vanilla, peach, fudge marble, and pumpkin cheesecakes). We also had carrot cake (for the actual 'Happy Birthday Char' cake) and a chocolate cake for Mr C, who is actually 45 today. Yes, overboard on the desserts but less than one whole cake was left when we combined what remained of all 3.

My adorable little baby niece came in a t-shirt that said "40 really bytes, Aunt Char" and it cracked me up - she gave me a matching t-shirt. My other gag gift was this shirt: