I turned 30th last month. Hard to believe, I know. I, myself am still in a state of shock at the news. Deep in my heart, I feel I shall stay 25 forever…

Anyone who knows me well, knows I like parties. And for my 30th, I wanted to plan a nice big birthday party and invite everyone we know.

I contacted the gorgeous girls over at TwoDelighted and enlisted them to help me come up with some ideas. Since August is during the winter in South Africa, I imagined a big fire roaring in the backyard, surrounded by a few hay barrels covered in flannel blankets, wine barrels here and there, cafe lights strung across the yard and inside the house. A rustic chic, country sort of theme.

Enter Colleen and Megan. They came up with this inspiration board and jammed packed it with gorgeousness. Just enough to get my wheels turning.

I booked the wine barrels, located a farmer with hay, picked out the menu, ordered the cake, TwoDelighted designed me a few printables, and then…

I found out I was pregnant…

Lil ole selfish me was not going to throw a bash, at my house, until all hours of the night and not be able to partake in all the festivities. Then have to clean up the next day? No siree. Not happening. So I cancelled the party. Pregnant women are allowed to do that from time to time.

But what now? My friends had put so much effort into helping me plan the party, I couldn’t just toss it to the waste side?

Thankfully, I remembered a few years ago my Aunt Ava moving to Chicago from Georgia. Seeing as she was so far away from friends and family and could not be with them on her birthday, she mailed everyone some tea to enjoy on her special day. Such a great idea and it gave birth to the idea of a tea party.

So, I changed my Big 30th Birthday Bash, to a calm tea party at my house with all of my favorite South African ladies, my mom and Amanda. I then mailed some of my dearest family and friends tea bags to enjoy alongside with me on my special day.

I had a LONG list of people to mail tea to, got to the post office and saw the price of posting, scaled it down a whole lot and off they went. Praying they would arrive in time for the party and not get lost on the way. If you didn’t receive any tea in the mail, you made the cut, yours just got lost somewhere in the mail… Promise. 😉

The actual tea party went off without a hitch. Big thanks to my dear husband for keeping Ava busy for the day. My mom and sister for being AMAZING as always. Tria for always being there for me, if it’s advice for a sick child or whipping up delicious snacks for my birthday party, I can always count on her. My mother in law for her mouth watering sweets and all she does for us. The girls at TwoDelighted, even though they are thousand of miles away, they still helped make my party a bit more magical. All of my wonderful girlfriends that came to celebrate with me. I don’t know what I would do here, without any of you. And of course, everyone far and wide who shared a cup of tea in honor of me on my birthday.

One of my favorite parts of the day were the Mad Libs that Megan and Colleen created especially for me. In the US, we grow up playing them, but for my SA friends it was new. My friend Natalie was kind enough to video the girl’s Mad Libs. Will post the videos as soon as I figure it out.

My advice for anyone planning an event of any size, hire a photographer. I for one will no longer count on myself or others to take photos of special events. I will hire a professional photographer, even if it’s only for an hour. At least I will have that hour of photos. Hence, I do not have one nice photo from the party to share with you all. Not one even Instagram could save. It’s a shame really.

But, I do have a few photos from the US of tea drinkers!

Aunt Ava enjoying her cup of tea!

My pal Stacy, lovin’ her some Rooibus. Which I bring home for her every time we visit.

Cousin Leah drinking her Rooibus tea

My aunt Joy and cousin Morgan looking fabulous while sipping their tea.

Megan from TwoDelighted

To brighten your day or to read TwoDelighted’s sweet post about my Tea, click here.

Fast forward back to the present. At the moment, I am 13 weeks pregnant and getting fatter by the second. Some days I feel like one of those people from the People of Walmart website, with rolls overflowing from my skinny jeans. I keep telling myself I can still fit in them and can’t breathe by the time I get to work. One day I’ll learn.

Little Miss Ava is so darn cute these days. I call her my Pumpkin Pie because I really could just eat her up.

Today I stumbled across this picture from September 2011:

and to think a year later, that little baby has turned into an exuberant little girl:

;

Until next time friends…

Blair