my mom's 50th bash

a month before my mom turned 50, we were devising the grand scheme of her celebration. we decided to keep it secret because duh, how fun right? 

turns out it's really hard to keep a party a secret. and even harder to execute said party IN secret.

since my sisters and mother all live nowhere close to me, it was doubly challenging. i mean, if it was on a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being hardest, this party ranked like a 12. 

i know mom had some sort of clue as to something happening but i don't think she expected what she got.

some really good friends of the family hosted us in their brand spankin' new "mansion."oh, it was so beautiful! there was more than enough room + the italian vibe totally didn't hurt. 

prior to our mom's arrival, i was sweating buckets (along with my sisters who were helping setup) because the pressssuuure!

and mom walked in. 

completely shocked and surprised and happy and so full of joy! 

the balloons i ordered from here and the chalkboard sign is a special sign that my sis drew up in her new business. there were lots of hugs and lots of laughter. 

i printed out a lot of pictures from back in the day...mom got a kick out of every single one of them. oh, the nostalgia!

and the cake. oi vey! THE cake! what a pain in the patootie! i will always have the fondest and funniest memory of "the cheesecake." let me just tell you this, i'm not a cheesecake baker. but doesn't the end result look beautiful?! *hint: i did not bake it*

i made the ''YAY" out of glittered cardstock and i love the way it looked with the fresh flowers. 

among the cheesecake, there were churro cupcakes and mexican sweet bread called conchas. my sister made the tiny little burrito piñatas too, aren't they adorable?

our centerpieces included succulents in potted cans, limes, and tissue paper. a total fiesta!

during the chaos, i managed to snap a panorama of the entire dining room, it was quite large.

and here's my beautiful ma with her three daughters. 

phew! i'm so glad we pulled that off! it was a ton of work so i'm very proud of what we accomplished. it was a sweet success! i wish i could have attended the after party, but man, i was pooooooped! 

i only wish that i would have paid more attention to the pictures i was taking. i usually tend to play all roles (baker, cook, host, photographer, entertainer, planner) with help of course, that afterwards i feel aren't 100% to the standard they should be. it's just another lesson learned.

another one in the bag! 

...and now it's time to plan baby girl's bash....