To celebrate my birthday, Mike threw a party in our backyard – Heather’s 33 Jubilee on June 30 at 3:33pm! He handled the big things like ordering a cake, hiring a taco cart, and inviting the people, and I did the fun things:

Mike says I like the prep for a party as much as the party itself. I...don't know what he's talking about.

I really do love the party prep. I painted the numbers, frames, and chalk boards, made the poofs, decorated the mason jars…it’s fun for me. I become a very different person when a party is involved. I’m almost crafty!

sangria table

To go with my threes theme, I made three kinds of sangria: my friend Helen Jane’s White Sangria, my famous Red Wine Sangria, and a peach sangria I found online. They all tasted amazing, and our guests thought so, too, because the drink dispensers were empty by the end of the night.

I decided to go classy glassy and nixed the red solo cups for these mason jars I got on special at my grocery store:

mason glasses

I made the tags on Photoshop, then cut them out and tied them to the jars with twine and raffia. I know, I’m rolling my eyes at myself a little, but they are CUTE.

The thing I was most excited/proud of? My margarita popsicles!

margarita popsicles

I did not know how these were going to turn out, but I was determined to try them…and they were seriously awesome. I took disposable three-ounce cups (THREE!), filled them 2/3 with my margarita flavor of choice (three flavors, obviously: regular, blended strawberry, and coconut), then put them in the freezer. About three hours after I put them in the freezer they were solid enough for me to add the popsicle sticks. Two hours after that, I sprinkled my “toppings” around the popsicle sticks: salt for the regular, blended strawberries, and toasted coconut. I let them freeze overnight. We handed them out to everyone and they were a big hit.

So what I’m saying is, make them for your Fourth of July parties.

It was such a chill, fun time with friends:

friends

Leah, Annie, Heather

Also there was face cake

face cake

and ice cream cones (with Neapolitan ice cream, get it?).

ice cream cone

(also, yes, I made ice cream wrappers)

Annie was a lucky girl, and had both:

Cake and an ice cream cone. Lucky kid.

When we bought our house, I envisioned lots of backyard parties, but this was the first one we had and it exceeded my hopes. I think I go all-out on the party prep because I want to show my friends a good time – I really love hosting the people I love. Thanks to everyone who found the time (and braved the stupid 405 freeway) to come celebrate.

And seriously you guys – make the margarita popsicles!