How 30 Year Olds Throw Down

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here is how you know we are officially parents (aside from the hard evidence of a child): we now have our parties start at 12:30pm and expect everyone to be out of the house by 5pm. the theme for my 30th birthday party was “tacos & tequilas” –  we supplied the tacos and guests supplied the tequila. i am now at the age when i would rather people bring me bottles of booze for presents instead of little knickknacks – genius!

my husband organized the whole thing and this was the first time i had a “birthday party” since i was about 12. party city is a dangerous place…

(the hand dipping in the guac shall remain nameless but it totally cracks me up that i caught this!)

not only did he organize it all but he also flew my sister out from arizona as a surprise so we could celebrate together! my nana also flew in from missouri (sad that the papa got sick and couldn’t come) but lady party!

*sidenote: friends, you are allowed to tell me when my hair looks like i’ve been in a headlock and wrestling. i’ll fix it – it’s no biggie.

an important lesson we learned that day: ryan avery makes a strong margarita. like – almost too strong. if he served you in one of those large green glasses, you basically consumed about 6 shots and had to sit on our couch for hours.

party hack – take everything off your vertical ikea shelving in your office, flip it on its side and make a bar out of it!

this little one barely wanted to nap because she loves a good party! oh and she loves stripes too. it’s hereditary.

on my actual birthday, january 25, my husband made me an amazing cake! who says youtube videos are a waste of time?! you can learn how to make and decorate beautiful cakes! thanks boo.

this is why i was able to fill a mug with cake crumbs and milk as mentioned in my 20 important lessons learned in my 20s post. he had to level the cakes (it was checkered white and black on the inside) so cake crumbs were in abundance.

for the party, he totally surprised me with an epic birthday treat. i literally yelled with excitement when he brought it through the door:

that is hands-down my favorite pastry ever – a kringle of epic proportions filled with almond paste from the local danish bakery! people…it took up half of a card table.

for my birthday last year, we celebrated with alison and matt. i sneakily blacked out the ultrasound that was in the photo (see it to left of the ebay cake – you can see the corner of the white photo).

now this year – that little gummy bear in the photo got to celebrate in person!

thank you for all the birthday wishes and love! i plan to make my 30s a decade full of laughter, engagement and going all in! oh, and more danish!

18 Comments

  1. Elyse @ Just Murrayed

    February 1, 2017 at 8:02 am

    Tacos and tequila at lunch sounds like my favourite kinda birthday celebration. I’m so glad you had a great time being celebrated by friends and family.
    Elyse @ Just Murrayed recently posted…February 2017/January Recap

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      it was pretty darn great and now we have lots of tequilia – yay! you are right – 30 is turning out pretty great 🙂

  2. Jennifer Haston

    February 1, 2017 at 8:24 am

    I love it!! So glad you and Ryan are taking time to celebrate the birthdays! Hubby and I had a nice quiet dinner with Vivienne and I can honestly say it was a great birthday.. I, who typically have a big old party and karaoke (I may or may not have used the word Bash to describe past events.. ) Keeping it simple was a good call for me this year, AND I am glad you had a super fun day!.. Now, next year, I am not sure what I will want.

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:15 pm

      so glad you also had a great birthday jennifer! looks like we swapped birthday situations this year – i am totally the low-key, dinner with a few close friends type of person but this year we had to show off our house and have a ‘bash’ of our own 🙂

  3. Vivien

    February 1, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    Looks like you had a great time!
    And your idea of friends bringing bottles of booze as presents sounds genius.
    Vivien recently posted…Almost a Champ Again

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:16 pm

      take the idea and ruuuun with it vivien – it’s pretty darn great 🙂

  4. Penny

    February 1, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    How wonderful. Looks like you had a terrific birthday party. I wish I could have been there to help you celebrate…. oh well! I’m glad you had a terrific time.

  5. Penny

    February 1, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    i forgot to say “great pictures” especially of atlas and ryan.

  6. Penny

    February 1, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    oh and you and atlas as well. sorry…..

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:16 pm

      thank you penny 🙂 appreciate your comments and glad you enjoyed the pictures!

  7. Charlene Maugeri

    February 1, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    Happy Belated Birthday! Yes party city is very dangerous! By the way, I know that arm is your Nana thanks to the very next picture where she’s wearing the blue sweater. That is priceless! Also, I love how 3 out of the 4 of you in that picture are wearing stripes. Great job on the party, the pastry and the cake, Ravery!!

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:18 pm

      thank you charlene! i can’t tell you the last time i was in a party city but wooweee now i know to go in with a strict budget! haha good call on figuring out the hand was nana – very observant!

  8. Audrey

    February 2, 2017 at 6:18 am

    Atlas is side-eyeing that tequila like, “But mooom, it’s a special occasion! One sip??” Hahahaha!
    What a wonderful birthday party!! K turns 30 in March and I was thinking of doing a taco bar, too! That cake is professional level, by the way! Way to go Mr. WS! (And bravo on flying sister out!!)

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:19 pm

      bahaha you are so right, she totally is! the taco bar was so fun – i highly recommend it especially for 30th birthdays 🙂 mr. WS is a man of many talents apparently!

  9. Courtney {Alkeks Abroad}

    February 2, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    What a fun party! I’m seriously so impressed with Ryan’s cake skills, side business?!
    Courtney {Alkeks Abroad} recently posted…Leighton {Five Months}

    • chelsea

      February 7, 2017 at 2:20 pm

      haha i think he would have to charge an insane amount of money per cake because of the insane amount of time it took him haha

  10. Magnus paul

    February 7, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    Hi chelsea, You learned an important lesson that day and I also learned now by reading this story 🙂

  11. Christina @ Hugs and Lattes

    February 8, 2017 at 8:59 am

    I fully support tacos at any celebration. Tequila is a dangerous drink for 5 ft people like me but I do love a good margarita. I just have to eat like 5 tacos to counter the buzz. But hey, if it takes 5 tacos, it takes 5 tacos. Happy birthday!!
    Christina @ Hugs and Lattes recently posted…If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say. . .