40 is FABULOUS!!!!!!

(EDITED: 1/24/11. New pics added)

What can I say??? My 40th birthday was

A*M*A*Z*I*N*G

A. MA. ZING.

Love love loved every bit of my day, and especially...

my night!!!

My awesome husband and amazing parents threw a faaaabulous birthday bash for me and about 50 of my family and friends!!! It was at my parent's house, the home I grew up in, the home where the majority of my birthday parties have taken place. So it was so fitting to celebrate such a milestone there, too (and they just have a much better set-up for entertaining!).

 Why yes, I did wear my tiara all night!

At the height of the evening it was literally wall to wall people in there, the faces of the family and friends I love and cherish so much! So the pictures to follow are not the greatest. I pretty much had a drink in my hand all night! And being the social butterfly that I am I was flitting from person to person all night. It is hard in such a crowd to spend as much time with each person as one would like but I did my very best. And I was just really soaking it all in...so my picture taking suffered. Today as I thought about it, there are definitely pics I wish I had, but I love the ones I do have. And the fact that I don't have as many as I would normally like (I still have 60+) just tells me I was there, I was in the moment, I took it all in, and the memories are forever imprinted on my heart! And I am actually pretty happy that I was pretty free with my camera and let others take it...this way I actually ended up in many of the pics (looking oh-so-lovely, sure, but at least I was in them! lol).

Well, since there are so many, I guess I will just let the pictures tell the story...

And I did drink from this glass (courtesy of my friends Erin, Shawn, and Carol) all night!

 My "big brother" Greg and his awesome wife Kelly! Greg and I have known each other for 25 years! He was the first person to buy booze for me and my friends...when I was 16 and he was 21! Ummm...he didn't buy me another drink till I was 25!!! Kelly got a kick out that story. They live about an hour away now we don't get to see each other often. I have only met Kelly a handful of times, and last night we got to really spend some good time talking (and continued it today on Facebook)! She loves that I have known him so long and can tell her all his stories!!! lol

 Our good friend Christa & Kevin!

 My awesome godparents, or Nona and Nono as they are known in Greek! My Nona is in the middle in red. The lady in white is my Nona's mother, Thea Paula. She made awesome pastitsio for the party!

 Our friends Ed (Renee's husband) and Lori (Ben's wife)

 Our friends Stephen (Sue's husband) and Ben (Lori's husband)

 Our friends Patti & Glenn

 Our friend (and my co-worker) Carol with Kevin

 Our friend George & Chris. Chris is one of my closest friends from college!

 Ed & Renee...aren't they adorable!!!

 Mom, me, and Sue! Sue started out as my hairdresser about 12 years ago. We quickly became close friends. She still does my hair and Mom's hair but we are friends first!

 Isn't my cake AMAZING!!!!!!!! My incredible Mom designed this and had it done at a local bakery, Cakes for Occasions. This bakery has done several of the cakes for those weddings they do on the Today show! Anyway, to say my Mom knows me well is an understatement! Hello, Sony dSLR!!! And to have them add in the quote* I am always repeating and adding to art pieces and such!!! And the black and white damask pattern on the side (which I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of! Grrrr!). It was just a FABULOUS cake!!! And there are only two pieces left that I am hoarding!!!

*The quote is a take on a Thoreau quote: Live the life you've imagined." The quote on the cake is my personal spin on it.

 The little joy of my life...my sweet nephew! He came out of the den and pulled himself away from his Wii to help Auntie.....

 ....get ready to blow out all those candles! Yes, my Mom counted out 40...and one for luck!

 My boss Mark and his fiance Tina

(and Mary and Brenda in the background)

 Mom lighting the blaze!!! lolol

 It is damn loud with 50 people (many of them drinking!) singing Happy Birthday!!!

 Good thing I had the little guy to help me!!!

 My friend Deanna...another friend of about 22 years!!!

 My friend Renee makes the most unbelievable homemade cannoli!!! Everyone waits for them!

 Me and Lori

 Kevin, me and Ben. This is the only picture that is kind of a pic of me and Kevin.

 My friends (and co-workers) Alex, Shawn, and Greg. Don't I work with cute boys! They are a pain in the ass, but cute! I joke, I joke! They really are great guys and fun to work with!

 Me and my big bro! It meant so much to me to have him there! I couldn't imagine celebrating such a big birthday without him!

 Mom is going to kill me when she sees this pic!!!

 So to make her feel better I posted one of me!!! This happened to all of us, from the black food coloring on the cake!

 One of my bestest friends, Shannon!!! Another friend of 20+ years!!!

 Carol and Shawn

 Me and Renee

 OK, so for some reason I have gotten in this habit at parties of taking a self-portrait of me and Ed. And for some reason it is after I have had a, well, a few drinks....and Ed always seems to be around when I have had a few drinks. So the pictures always come out like this! Maybe I should try letting him hold the camera...

 Renee took this pic!!!

 Sam (another co-worker) and Greg

 The whole motley crew!!!

Greg, Sam, Alex, me, Carol, and Shawn

I know I have said it before and I will continue to say it...I have the best freakin co-workers! Work isn't always easy, and it isn't always fun, but we are blessed to have our jobs, and lucky we like each other enough that we not only enjoy our workday together but will hang out in our free time, too!

My heart simply cannot take the LOVE!!!

My nephew and his Papou (my AWESOME Dad!!!)

They were both pretty tired at this point but they were troopers!!!

Before I hit "publish post" I looked back over this post and all the faces of the people I love and care about. I have a freakin AWESOME life!!! So blessed in so. many. ways.

I know many in my family and a lot of my friends that were there read this blog. To all of them I must say....THANK YOU!!! Thank you from the very bottom of my heart!!! You all made this my most memorable birthday ever!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

(and to those of you I didn't capture with my camera...I wish I did but you are all in my heart!)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
1/24/11:
Just got these few pics from my friend Sue. These show how many people we had in there! Crazy!

But first a super-cute pic she took of my nephew and me!!!