Throwing a Dirty 30 Party
My beau turned 30 this past weekend and we had such a great time celebrating! I get pretty lucky as his birthday falls on restaurant week here in Charlotte - where many local eats and fine dining places invite you to try a few selections off their menu at a prixe fixe price. This year, we went to 5Church and WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN UNTIL NOW??!! If you haven't gone and you live in Charlotte (or Charleston or Atlanta) GO RIGHT NOW!
Everything about 5Church blew me away!! Especially, especially, the atmosphere. The low lighting, the unique chandeliers and light fixtures, the art, THE CEILING, the pillar candles at the tops of the staircase with melting wax cascading down the handrails. All of it was so stunning!
I had read about their ceiling a while back and kept telling myself to go check this place out. Seriously, why did it take me so long?? - We were thinking that surely the artist pre-painted ceiling tiles where possible and then installed them, but nope...dude painted the ceiling while standing on a ladder!! Cray cray!
Artist Jon Norris | picture via Creative Loafing ATL
If you want to learn more about this amazing ceiling - read this Creative Loafing Article.
Another piece of H's birthday was a surprise party the next night. And let's just say, for all you future surprise party thrower's out there, make sure you have a "plan" to go somewhere so you don't have to drag the guest of honor out of bed and out the door making them hate you every. marching. step of the way, confused as to why in the world you are making them go somewhere when they ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT TO GO ANYWHERE! Trust me, you'll make your life much easier.
Since it was his 30th birthday, we just had to throw him a DIRTY 30 party! If you or your friend is turning 30, this is the way to go. Make you some signs, get some balloons, find the best cake around town (our's was from Suarez Bakery - the Texas Doughnut Cake - and it was every bit as delicious as it looks!!) and set you up a snack table which we appropriately deemed VICE STATION "Your one stop shop for all your dirty desires"
This VICE STATION included the following items:
- Popcorn
- Chips and salsa
- Sour Patch Kids
- Oreos
- Cigars
- Cigarettes
- Bourbon
- Condoms - Taco Bell was omitted and home-made tacos were made instead. Otherwise, fast food is definitely a vice and I highly suggest getting a platter of their favorite fast food; whether it's tacos, McDonalds fries, Wendy's frosty, Chick-Fil-A nuggets...etc.
I had so much fun creating this and we also hosted a bourbon tasting at the party! I've been watching all these phenomenal shows set in the 60s and 70s - like Good Girls Revolt and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - and they all drink bourbon in the office or get home to their living room bar carts and serve it up after a day at work. So, essentially, I really want to like bourbon simply to be classy like the people I see on TV. Woops. - I gathered my inspiration for the tasting from Pinterest and used the free printable provided. It definitely helped me expand my drinking palate.
Until next time, folks.