gatherings | My 23rd Birthday Under the Sea

Yes, more pictures/commentary about my birthday {as if having a whole blog where I blab on about my personal feelings and what I'm wearing on a daily basis isn't egocentrical enough.} side note : woah just learned egocentrical is not a word. that's embarrassing. make that egocentric. 

The whole Under the Sea theme for the party evolved from me wanting to have a craw-fish boil for my birthday, like my friend Beth told me they do in the New Orleans. But, to my dismay they don't sell crawdaddies in Oregon, so crab was the next choice. I wanted to cook something that wasn't just for eating but an activity and I got my wish, since we didn't have crab crackers so we had to dig into the king crab with our bare hands and cocktail rings [see picture 3]. We also cooked shrimp and salmon, although now that I think about eating all those fish at an Under the Sea birthday may be a little cannibalistic.

Tessa and I decorated the porch to look like the stern of a boat, and the backyard, where we ate dinner, to look like the ocean. We covered the ceiling above the dinner table in turquoise and white tulle and fairy-lights so it looked like you were looking up at the sky from under water! It reminded me of scenes from the little mermaid. Also, Tessa dyed plain white fabric table clothes with RIT in the washing machine to make them a turquoise blue. That was easier and a lot cheaper than hunting down the perfect color, since white is easy to find and RIT dye costs less than 5 dollars. She's so crafty!

I guess it seems a little counter-intuative to cook everyone else dinner on my own birthday, but I like the idea of celebrating the people that made the last year of my life so wonderful.

Next up: Dessert! and click here for : the invitations, the cocktails and the flowers.