This is how I know I’m fostering my circle of friends well:
one of them planned a Mad Hatter party for her 40th birthday. Not only did I dash into my closet, which is half costumes, to retrieve my Mad Hatter attire, but I rummaged through my boxes of creative fodder to Mad Hatterly wrap a gift for her.
Although she’d messaged me pictures of her costume and wig,
seeing the whole thing all put together in the flesh was fabulous. Look how that wrapped gift looks at home in her hands!
Once The Austin Writers Roulette closed in December 2019,
I didn’t think I’d have an opportunity to dress up so soon at the start of 2020.
I’m so happy I’m not the only middle aged adult who still nourishes her inner child.
Even the birthday cake, made of moist dark chocolate, set the scene.
Yet I avoided the cupcake tree.
Although my inner child would have loved it, my outer middle ager acknowledged she could no longer consume vast amounts of sugar in one setting.
The funniest thing about the tea party was we sipped a variety of beverages, and not one of them were actually tea!
The teapot was full of adult punch and the ceramic teacups were full of drink snacks.
These two were truly belles of the ball: the birthday girl’s aunt and mother.
These ladies had so much fun, they changed outfits and hats several times throughout the evening.
Technically, this wasn’t part of the Mad Hatter decor, but I have a soft spot for bathroom poetry.
By far the most intriguing drink snack was the lemon shots.
Not only were they delicious, they were environmentally sound.
Everyone dug out all their fun clothes for the evening.
The youngest partygoer definitely brought the cuteness.
As other decked out partygoers arrived, party aunt did her brand of photobombing.
Notice how cleverly this couple’s costume concept was brought together with adult punch.
The inner princess came out while playing a drinking game.
Since we were mostly experienced adults,
no one objected to the rule of sipping one’s beverage instead of taking a full shot.
Periodically, hats changed since there was a large bag of them to parade around in.
I managed to get one picture of the princess by herself.
Followed by her aunt and mother, who never seemed to wear the same outfit or hat in any given picture.
At my direction, all the men were rounded up for their group picture.
Here was the first attempt at the all women’s picture.
Then again.
And another because I wanted to make sure my leggings were in the shot.
The two birthday women assumed the position to blow out the candles.
Superstitious or not, I hope their wishes come true.
So many hats. I placed a nearby hat on the decorative skull.
Only when I reviewed the pictures later on did I actually see the cigarettes and lighter. What an intriguing story this picture tells.
Again, at my direction,
the music changed to reflect something the birthday girl would actually dance to despite the fact she doesn’t really like to dance. But of course, the true dancing queen was the aunt.