If you know Grandma, YOU KNOW GRANDMA. She is sassy, loud, hilarious, and so much fun. She has a thick New York accent and absolutely no filter. At her core, she loves to have fun and be the life of the party.
With her 80th birthday falling on a Saturday this year (February 15th), the stage was set for a shindig to celebrate her big day. She is my dad’s mom, so he, my mom, and my aunt put their heads together to pull off a get-together with family and friends, and they did a wonderful job.
Meet Cecile Brown and her “silly” face. 🙂
About 30 people showed up to celebrate Grandma. The party was held in a private room at a restaurant near downtown Huntsville called The Furniture Factory. My mom describes it as a “dive-type restaurant and bar”, which actually lent itself super well to the relaxed, fun party atmosphere that ensured.
I went with my mom about an hour early to help set up a bit, and then at 2 p.m. all of the guests started pouring in for the fun!
I thought these placemats my mom ordered from Amazon were so fun!! Everyone really enjoyed reading and discussing them.
The Furniture Factory provided the private room, a TV to keep some sports on, a big screen to hook up a slide show, a microphone, the ability to play our own playlists (my brother created a fantastic one!), white table clothes, balloons, and more. They were the sweetest people and so excited to play a part in Grandma’s day.
My mom’s co-worker made this beautiful cake, which was a big hit with everyone!
Several out-of-town family members came, including my brother from Birmingham (his fiance couldn’t make it), my sister and her family from Chicago, and my cousin Nik and his wife from Alexandria, VA.
We ate from a yummy buffet, we all took the mic to share funny stories about Grandma, we sang a loud, long, quirky version of Happy Birthday (that Grandma always sings to us!), and then had a great time dancing the afternoon away.
My mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brother-in-law joined the party too, which made my grandmother so happy. They were a big help with the kids!
It was so great to spend time with my cousins! They have all turned into outstanding adults and we enjoyed being together.
Of course my girls and my sister’s kids couldn’t get enough of each other and were little centers of attention throughout the party. They danced their hearts out and had some fun with the microphone too. 😉
My dad worked for over a month on putting together a slide show for Grandma, which she really loved. We all did. I’m really glad he did this because it added a wonderful element to the party. Everyone enjoyed the throwback pictures, especially because many pictures included our late grandfather.
What a crew! So glad we were able to get a picture of everyone who attended.
Cheers to 80 years, Grandma!
I was super spoiled with almost a week with my sister. It’s no fun to see them leave. 🙁
My dad kicked off the dancing by asking my Grandma to dance to “What a Wonderful World”. I love seeing my mom in the background and her big smile. Everyone was having a great time.
Here is Grandma with all four of her kids: my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle.
The only thing that was missing from this party that Grandma requested was a belly dancer. Yes, a belly dancer. For obvious reasons, that wasn’t a request we could fulfill. Ha!
After the party, my mom and I were riding home reflecting on the party and the week in general. We were tired from so much activity (Orlando and then immediately coming home to gear up for the party), but it was the best kind of tired. The week was full of family, which was very “tank filling”. As a big, extended family, we are all very different from each other and lead different lives, but we share a lot of love, are quick to forgive big and small things, and are very loyal. It’s events like this that we really feel the joyful benefits of that intentional effort.
More: Throwing my father-in-law a surprise 60th birthday party
Let’s chat!
What big milestone events have you celebrated with and for your family members? Birthdays? Anniversaries? Did you celebrate with parties? Trips? I’d love to hear!
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo