Half Birthday Shenanigans.

02 March 2012

Do you remember my Epic Life Fail post?   If you don’t want to click over… It was basically a post full of me whining and being a big giant baby because two months after a baby is born your world is still flipped upside down and you’re all angsty and hormonal and nothing is back to ‘normal’ whatever ‘normal’ might be… not that anything is ever normal in this house, but I digress.

One of the things that bothered me though was skipping out on Dave’s birthday.  {Previous Birthdays include: a Surprise 30th Manly Beer Tasting Bash, a Ferris Bueller Outdoor Movie Night, the year of the three cakes, and a sit down al fresco dinner for 26 that had to be moved indoors at the very last minute due to tornado warnings}  I always do something special for him and last year, I just didn’t. 

I didn’t even get him a present.  Or a card. 

And really, Dave didn’t even care.

One of the comments on the post came from The Amazing Trips who brilliantly suggested celebrating on Dave’s half birthday.  I did the math in my head, ok, ok, it was on my fingers but whatevs, and figured out that his half birthday would be in February.

FAIL.

His birthday is the 29th which doesn’t exist. 

Except if it’s a leap year…   

It is the universe telling me, dude, it’s totally fine that you missed his birthday, I’m going to give you a do-over.  Or something. 

We partied like it was a Wednesday night.

071 072

082

130 073

I didn’t really care who sat where, so the place cards were all “half” sayings:  half baked, half empty, half full, half nelson, half off, half price, half naked, half assed, half pint, etc…  I attached them to the drinking glasses with mini clothespins.  I also used the Cricut to cut out circles and cut them in half to add a little color to the plates.  If I had my act together, I would have printed the menu on these.

147

085

128

The cake was half a cake inspired by this incredible one from Hank & Hunt. I came up with a cake idea the night before the party inspired by an Almond Joy which is Dave’s favorite candy. Basically, it is a yellow cake with almond extract, chocolate ganache, toasted coconut, toasted almonds, almond buttercream filling and a chocolate almond buttercream icing with toasted coconut and toasted almonds on the outside. I’m actually going to make a full sized version of this soon and post about it because it turned out really well. To make the half sized cake, I made two 8 inch rounds, cut them in half, filled and crumb coated them like a regular layer cake, popped it in the freezer for two hours, then flipped it on its side before icing it and adding the toasted almonds and toasted coconut.

106

220 210

160

214

Dave was also blessed with SpiderGirl and SpiderBoy who made several appearances at the dinner.

197 212 

The Menu: Salad with a Homemade Garlic Ranch Dressing {made by Nikki and to die for!}, Skirt Steak, Grilled Shrimp, Rice Pilaf, Balsamic Honey Glazed Roasted Baby Carrots, Roasted Asparagus, & Ciabatta.  Almond Joy Cake + Strawberry Shortcake Mini Cuppies for dessert.

188

207 137

Our friends Jon & Nikki brought the most ridiculously awesome gift, half a six pack of beer and a half cigar.

208

Hope you enjoyed the peek at Dave’s Half Birthday Shenanigans.

206

7 comments:

Shannon said...

Love it! Everything looked super cute! My half birthday is on Sunday, and we will be celebrating, although I don't think it'll be as good looking as this post. I've always celebrated my half birthday as it is my mom's birthday and mine is her half birthday. Anywho...any way to get that garlic ranch dressing recipe? You can't buy ranch in Germany and I'm always looking for a good homemade version.

Meg said...

Looks fun! Especially the booze... ;) I love the cake topper and Ive never seen a half cake before (unless of course I'd eaten half the cake already... I got jokes!). The food sounds delish and really, I can't quit thinking about that almond joy cake. I craved almond joys like crazy when I was preg!

Unknown said...

looks like loads of fun.Good Job. You are such a sweet wifey!

belles♥mom said...

Such a very fun party, everything was fantastic (as always). Thanks again for including us! Jon, Spider Girl and I will celebrate with you guys anytime!! :){And I'm still craving that cake, it really looked AMAZING!}

Sara @ Russet Street Reno said...

I love the fun party signs! So cute. The half cigar present is a scream.

Just A Normal Mom said...

You are so creative! Such a fun idea! And executed quite well :)

Bunny @ 86n It said...

Looks terrific, you are a good wife!

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for taking the time to add your thoughts! Comments on older posts are moderated, so if they don't get published immediately, don't despair.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
*