Laura's Birthday

Laura's 29th birthday had a Thai theme.  That is because she is going to Thailand soon to see the elephants.  She is very excited about this but her family that knows her well are wondering what she is going to eat when she gets there.  So we planned a Thai birthday party with Thai food.  It was Suzanne's idea. 

I handled the decorations.  I used the party as an excuse to check out the new Dollar Tree in Greenville.  I bought a bright pink table cloth, a purple runner, gold napkins, and purple plates.  When I set the table I sprinkled gold stars for added shimmer and added yellow butterflies I found in the Dollar Tree floral area.  I wanted to have a bunch of those drink umbrellas for decoration too but it was the wrong time of year for those.  Fortunately I found a couple at Nana's house when I was visiting a few weeks ago and slipped them into my suitcase to take home with me. 

For party favors I found magnetic elephants on Amazon and then I bought peanuts in a shell and strong them on clear thread to create a drape on my light fixture over the table.  Even though I gave everyone a favor, Laura managed to collect them all back and took them home to decorate her refrigerator. 

Suzanne and Heath handled all of the food.  Heath researched the best Thai food in the area and collected our orders for dinner.  I misunderstood his directions and ended up eliminating the surprise factor when I asked Laura to choose her dinner from the take out menu.  It probably worked out for the best though because she did actually eat what she ordered.  She also said she was grateful for the chance to check out Thai food before she actually traveled there.  She ended up liking the pork dumplings and her shrimp and pineapple rice.  I am now a little bit more hopeful that she will not starve on her dream vacation. 

Of course, it does not count as a real birthday party unless there is cake.  That was Suzanne's department.  I envisioned a homemade sheet cake with an elephant drawn on it in frosting.  Instead, Suzanne arrived with a homemade cheesecake.  Both Mike and Laura were ecstatic!  Mike said it was better than Hank's cheesecake in St. Louis and Laura took all of the leftovers home. 

Laura asked for a Go Pro for her birthday.  She wants to take it to Thailand to make videos of the elephants.  A Go Pro is a tiny, tough, extremely durable, waterproof camera with a fixed wide angle lens that is wearable.  It takes videos and stills.  But it can also be used for things that happen on this continent too.  Laura goes to a lot of obstacle races and could use this camera during the race.   Or she could use it while paddle boarding on the pond or while playing on the blob. 

I am actually thinking that there are benefits to Laura owning this camera.  For instance, she can now be head cinematographer for the blog.  It feels so good to keep up with technology.