The Party House

When we first called the realtor and came to walk through our house, it was in foreclosure.  Every wall was covered in beer (and other) stains, there was not a single interior door left in the house, and every room was painted a ridiculously bright color.  As we guessed, and was later confirmed, it had been quite the party house for Ambrose students (only a few blocks away).  Long story short, by the time we moved in nearly a year later, there was no evidence left of the "party house" days.  However...

A very special wedding reception at our house.

...as we brought more and more of our family members to see our new home for the first time, the consensus was:  "every event will now be held at Sara and Matt's house!".  This scared Matt a little bit (our family is big, and very close...I'm sure he was picturing our door hanging open with random family members walking in and out at all hours of the day).  But for me, it was exciting...I love being the hostess, and the truth is we didn't get to host too many things at our first house because we lived the farthest away from everyone.

And so, very quickly, our house returned to its "party house" status.  Definitely not the same kind of parties (I can count on one hand the number of times we have even had alcoholic beverages in our house at all), but still parties...and some great ones, if you ask me!  Not only have we had birthdays and family get-togethers...we have hosted three baby showers, a cook-off, two Super Bowl parties, a Mafia-themed New Year's Eve party, and even a wedding reception!  Every single one of the parties has been a blast, and I look forward to so many more!

Blue and Brown Owl-Themed Baby Shower!

Our Mafia/Casino New Year's Eve Party!

So why post about this today?  Because today is a special day.  My grandma Shirl, one of the best people in the whole entire world, is 80 years old today.  And you guessed it...we are hosting the party at our house.  My mom and my aunts will be invading the house to clean and decorate, and Laura (or Chef Laura, as you all know her) will be here to set things up and help us look fancier than we actually are!  And to make it even better, it's technically a surprise party!  I mean, she knows that we (the family) are having dinner at my house, but she doesn't know that a lot of special people are coming to celebrate her 80 years.  I'm so excited!  I know it will be yet another great time with our favorite people, our family and our friends, and my grandma deserves a celebration more than anyone we all know!  (And for those of you who don't know, I can't write this post without mentioning that it is also my mom's birthday, too! Such a special day for our family!)

Happy birthday to my mom and happy 80th to my grandma Shirl!