best surprise party in the history of the known universe.

my surprise 40th birthday party was such a..........well, SURPRISE.

and i'm warning you: there are a LOT of photos. (the camera was malfunctioning, so they are a bit fuzzy--sorry.) and a good amount of words.

but, as the song goes, "it's my party." and i can bask in the afterglow of it even now by blogging to extreme excess about it. (who am i kidding? like that's a stretch.)



this is right after i walked in--what the photo below does not show is the diet dr. pepper that i spilled all over the front of my shirt from the shock.

what it DOES show, however, is the fact that i am ALWAYS white trash enough to bring my 32-ounce drink. and me in my "throne", throwing the glamour shot:



everybody was SHINY. and the room was SHINY. it couldn't have been lovelier:


katie's edward cullen who made me scream like a little girl was all decked out as mindi for the evening--each couple got to pose with her. (some might even have taken liberties. but cardboard is very forgiving.):




the attention to detail was what thrilled me so much--they had such a wonderful spread of all of my favorite foods:

(okay, maybe not the "veggies" part. but i thought it made me look like i made really healthy choices. so it made the cut.)


and cakes. did i mention CAKES?

i needed a lot of them. like SIX:

{aren't they glorious?}



then the party really got underway, and that's when things really started getting bananas. nuts. CRAZY.

( as any l.d.s.-sponsored, non-alcoholic drinking, middle-aged gathering of moms and dads tends to get:)


things I loved & wanted to remember about my party:

*jared in gold shirt, rings, bracelets, and all manner of finery. he even had a knuckle ring to match my own.

*mike wearing a d-bag shirt (“it came with a complimentary set of DJ headphones!”) and sara wearing a sequined shirt from maurices that she would never put on again. plus the fact killed me that she couldn’t really see all evening long because she didn’t wear her glasses as they didn’t “go” with her shiny-ness. AND she wore mascara for the first time in 5 years.

*darrin and neal in the glitter shirts. on the back they said “WORD” and “2 ur mom”.

*adam wearing a bejeweled, diamond-encrusted B (“it stands for ‘amber’s biznatch”) and amber with her fantastic gems bought from wal mart.

*the most fabulous cake display in north america~ possibly even south america, too. So yummy, so wonderful, so SO.

*all foods were labeled and displayed properly and in a pleasing manner.

*edward cullen/mindi with large breastesses and gold lame shirt. genius.

*the most breathtaking silver/glitter/sparkly/twinkly décor in all the land.

*coordinating silver cups, plates, napkins--plus the cutest little party favors with my favorite candies AND the “HEART OF THE OCEAN” on top.

*the greatest CD and CD cover of all time. from the pictures chosen for both cover and cd’s, to the song selection, to the description of chosen songs, to the dedication at the back, it couldn't have been more perfect. or more “me”.

*a throne dedicated to me.

*colby’s I HEART LAS VEGAS t shirt.

*best answers to the WHAT WOULD MINDI SAY? Quiz from the group:

two things i am good at: MANIPULATION AND DEFLECTION

If I had to get a job i would: KILL MYSELF.

*diet dr. pepper and sierra mist cranberry splash in fancy glass containers.

*the coolest birthday party invite i’ve ever seen--when i read it, i thought, “i’m good. but i’m not THAT good.” it was absolutely perfect.

*the true element of surprise--i can’t stress that enough. i’m still shocked that i didn’t even catch a mere glimmer of this somewhere. it made it 10 times better.



i was so overwhelmed with love and gratitude all night. and i confess, i might have shed some tears of joy when i arrived home later that night, thinking about how much it meant to me.

i felt so loved and so special. THANK you to my megan, dannielle, jody, kristin, & kamari for planning such an unbelievable night.

turning 40 with these yay-hoos made it ALL better. i love them: