40 years

My husband, his sister, and I threw a surprise 40th anniversary party for my in-laws last Sunday. I had my husband tell them it was a belated surprise party for my birthday. This seemed like the perfect plan since we could ask to borrow anything we might need for a party and numerous parked cars wouldn't be out of place. I crafted up some pretty cute invitations and we made plans for food and drinks. And of course there were flowers. Lots of flowers.

Anniversary #40 is the ruby anniversary. Since red is also a popular color with the MIL, we went with a red theme.


I think all the food turned out wonderfully (even though I failed to take a picture of the table). We had fruit and cheese skewers, candied bacon, chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches, a garbanzo-pesto dip with fresh veggies, layered shrimp dip, cherry brownies, chocolate covered strawberries, and raspberry-filled mini red velvet cupcakes. For drinks, we served a variety of red wines, champagne punch, and ginger ale with cucumber. Yes, the red theme may have crept into the food and drinks as well.

It was a really beautiful day for a party. Sunny and relatively warm. It let us have great light inside and leave the front door open for people to come and go. I must say it's been awhile since we hosted a party and I really love it. (It doesn't hurt that people compliment the house and decor.)

By the time my in-laws arrived, the guests were just starting to show up. However, there were two couples who drove in from out of town as well as my SIL (who had sneakily been in town all weekend). When my MIL walked in she asked if I was surprised and I asked her the same in return. After a minute of trying to figure out why these people would come in for a surprise party for me, someone wished them a happy anniversary and they realized the party was for them.

Every time someone new showed up, my FIL would look surprised all over again. It was very cute. He later said that he would think "wouldn't it be nice if person X showed up?" and then that person would. This apparently happened repeatedly. I'm really glad so many people came and that my in-laws could be surrounded by their closest friends to celebrate such a monumental feat.

Forty years... The night before the party I was asking The Hubby what he thought his parents would think about it, if he thought it would be a surprise, how they would react. I told him that I thought some things deserved a big fuss. Forty years is a long time. And I realized that they've been married 80 times longer than we have. I can't imagine spending a lifetime married to the same person but I hope to find out. Congrats, MIL and FIL. Here's to many more years...