stevekemp's totally radical 80's bash

when you are the man, the myth, & the legend, what do you do for your 40th birthday?


dress up in red spandex and guyliner, naturally:






& you OWN IT. you make it your BIZNATCH.:





then you get a group of your friends together and convince them to dress 80's theme accordingly for the night:








some of them actually may or may not be FAMOUS:






just make sure that they are all willing to look ridiculous and make total fools of themselves:

(just like shooting fish in a barrel when it comes to this group, fyi....)




sit at the head of the table for a birthday dinner and reign supreme:




as well as work the adoring crowd surrounding you:




take a group photo and then be miffed that the dude who said, "hey! i have this same camera! i can TOTALLY take this shot!" was actually a liar. and maybe somewhat inebriated:




afterwards, hop into the party bus reserved in your honor and grab your hottest chick for a cruise down the strip:





make sure to apply a liberal dose of polo:

(blurry again. curses!)





then sit back and enjoy the hottest, most legendary & EPIC lap dance performed in the past twenty years:





delight in the fact that your entire crew is wearing your likeness on buttons:





something along THESE lines:





then rock out to the beats of a great 80's band while people ask to take photos with you:




how do you top off an evening like this?



by getting a mohawk. (i can turn 40. but you will never make me ACT like 40!!!)




stevekemp is a wonderful friend to all of us and takes care of business!

a fairy tale:

this is the story of a beautiful princess named kaitlyn....



.....who turned sixteen years old and celebrated by taking a girls-only/ALL-OUT/you-only-turn-16-once trip to las vegas with three of her peeps.


she was ecstatic when she realized she was going to stay here:



&, as it is all-too-easy with the good things in life, settled right in to the lap of luxury in a real hurry:



they did some lounging in their suite:



followed by the checking of the view from the 37th floor:



which is when they looked down to see this:



so they immediately decided to do this:




along with a little of this:



they got all dolled up for the evening: (with fake eyelashes no less! WHAT is this world coming to?)




the 16-year old princess went out with her special birthday banner made with love by kristin:



the princess was so happy that she even (!!) showed much love to her younger sibling:



the ladies enjoyed a wonderful dinner in a wonderful place:




& the princess received special birthday treatment:




along with being a volunteer at the mentalist: (amazing, btw.)



the princess & her peeps then stopped by the fountains to survey the view:



& made their way into the super-secret-vip-lounge at bellagio: (without an invite. SCANDALOUS!)




they made new friends:




said the word "balls" repeatedly at the wynn:



enjoyed the waterfall in the shoppes:



and capped the night off by the waterways of venice:





the princess & her posse had a wonderful time:




& even managed to take one semi-inappropriate photo: (don't look grandpa & grandma.)




the princess didn't want the night to end--she & her girls stayed up 'til 3:30 a.m. until finally calling it quits:




and they lived happily ever after:

sweet sixteen

my sweet firstborn turns sixteen today--how can that be possible? it just seems surreal.

june 24th, 1994 changed my life forever:



happy birthday to our little "doll baby"--you bring us such joy, words cannot express. your father and i cherish you with our whole hearts and want you to know that you are LOVED.

so, my little katie bird: happy sweet sixteen! (and never, ever, EVER been/going to be/planning on being/even THINKING of entertaining the option of KISSED.)



may your day be filled with pennies raining from heaven & bunny heads exploding:

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:


**the cutest parents in in the world who get to spend lots of time HERE.




**a kit-cat who appreciates the value of a good nap in a patch of late afternoon sun.




**this tree in my front yard which has been bringing me big fat patches of purple JOY for the past few weeks. (oh. my. GOSH. i am such an old woman! it's 4:30 p.m. dinner time for me at golden corral from here out...)




**a friend who knew i would be all over this magnificent tribute to felines--i love hers. (bailey--you rule.)