MIL's 50th Bday Surprise!

Yesterday we pulled off the biggest surprise for my Mother-In-Law. She *thought* we were going to Sunday Brunch to celebrate her birthday...little did she know that we'd been planning her 50th surprise party for the last 6 months!!

Sadly I had to say 'no' to 2 other fun celebrations that same day... but there was just too much to do for this big event!

We threw the party at a ocean-view restaurant in Cardiff called Ki's - same place James & I went for our Vday lunch date. After eating there that day, I thought it'd be the perfect location for her party. The dining area is up on the 2nd story and has almost full panoramic views of the west, north & east...so beautiful! We had buffet-style fajitas/tacos, delish shrimp ceviche, chips/salsa/guac, and of course some yum "Bundtinis" for dessert!

"Bundtinis" from Nothing Bundt Cakes

A lot of work went into making this day memorable - we made a fab accordion-style "Happy Birthday" banner to hang in one of the windows. I sifted, collected, scanned, edited, resized & printed over 100 photos of the bday girl through all her 50 years - then we compiled them all onto a poster board. My original plan was to have the photos arranged in the shape of a "5" and a "0"... but there were just too many great pics, and not even enough room - as you can see it's filled, corner to corner!

We also made some cute little tissue pom poms using this tutorial - I have to say, I was really disappointed with the outcome of the pink/purple ones we first made. I blame it on the tissue being too thin, and not enough sheets. So we just stuck with the silvery grey ones... which had a much thicker feel, so it made them fuller and stay in place. In addition to the huge collage, I printed out a large 11x14 picture of M with her 3 kids, and mod podge'd it onto a canvas board. Since Amanda & I weren't in that pic, I made her a separate frame with a pic I love of us 3... of course when I was 10 days away from giving birth to K... and somehow I actually look decent, HA! I also made her a cute {Ikea}-framed poem that I felt really expressed our overall wonderful feelings and gratitude for this amazing woman.

We had all the guests arrive with time to spare - so we could chat, eat some appetizers and patiently wait M's arrival! Luckily, we had her fiance helping us with the surprise, so he was able to keep her from being early (which she always is to family dinners!!) and to text us when they parked downstairs. My heart was racing as we huddled together and finally yelled "SURPRIIIIIIIISED!"

She. was. SHOCKED!

Success!

After she greeted her friends & fam, wiped away her happy tears, and finally sat down to eat - James, the hubbiest of all hubby's - stood to thank everyone for coming and gave a wonderful, heart-felt toast - which brought his mamma to tears. How proud she must be, I know i am!  :-)

So glad I've married into such a great family and even more incredible MIL - she constantly puts others needs in front of her own and has such a loving, gracious heart & soul. Love this lady I get to call my Mother-In-Law.