New Year's Eve 40th!

Someone out there must be turning 40 today or tomorrow. What a great opportunity for a New Year's Eve-themed 40th birthday party.

These images are from Country Living, which I'm rather enamored with these days. I'm thinking this New Year's Eve birthday bash could be black-tie casual...something like this:





With the house already decorated for Christmas, decor can be kept to a minimum...but I might add a fabulous vintage-looking banner by the talented Jerusalem Greer (Storia Home at Etsy.com). She can customize anything you want - here's a Merry Christmas banner, but I can easily imagine "Happy Birthday."



Or some party poms (Party Poms shop at Etsy.com)




Lots of great New Year's eve party hats and noisemakers, with a special hat for the birthday girl or boy. And for food...bring on my fancy (but easy) favorites: pigs in blankets, mountains of shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce, filet of beef on bread with horseradish cream, and smoked salmon on pumpernickel bread. Veuve Clicquot champagne...





As the countdown to midnight begins...have a friend at the ready with a fabulous cake fitted with these sparklers from SeaandJae.com (I found mine at ABC Carpet and Home in NYC)...

The countdown ends with a big "Happy Birthday" and...hopefully...someone to kiss!

Happy 40th Birthday, Lisa!

The first of my college roommates turns 40 today! She has promised My Fabulous 40th Birthday an exclusive interview to tell us what it's like on the other side...I promise to tell all in a future post.

Nudge, nudge, Lisa!

Some of the Most Fascinating People Just Turned 40

After returning from the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center tonight, I sat down in front of the tube to get me some real culture: Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009.

The biggest thing that caught my attention in the show was Barbara's new hairdo -- very Pat Benatar. And the second thing that grabbed me: 2 of the year's most fascinating people (according to Barbara Walters) just turned 40.



Brett Favre, who is successfully leading the Minnesota Vikings this season, turned 40 in October, and Tyler Perry, the writer/actor/producer best known for his role as Medea, turned 40 in September. I took this as a good omen that interesting things happen to people when they turn 40.

40. Not just fabulous. Fascinating.

A This is Your Life 40th Birthday Party

Years ago, I worked with someone who told me about a terrific 40th birthday celebration thrown for her by her husband. It was a trip down memory lane that reminded me of the old 1950s TV show, This is Your Life.

If memory serves me correctly, it went something like this...

She knew she and her husband were going to dinner to celebrate, but the surprises began when a limo pulled up outside her suburban home. Her husband opened the door and inside the limo sat her sister, in from out of town! Surprise!

Out came the champagne...and the blindfold! When the limo stopped, the blindfold came off and they were parked in front of her childhood home. They had arranged in advance with the current owners to take a quick peek at the old homestead, the two sisters looking at where their old room had been, where memories had been made. Back to the limo and the blindfold!

Next stop -- her old high school. And standing in the parking lot? A couple of her best girlfriends from high school!

I'm pretty sure there was one more stop before the final destination...the restaurant to which her husband had said they were headed. She walked in the door and a huge crowd - friends, family, her parents, her kids -- were all assembled to yell, Surprise! This is Your Life!

Never Too Old for Santa

As you might guess from this blog, I love celebrations and Christmas is a big one for me.

I work near Christmas Central -- nope, not Bethlehem or the North Pole, but Rockefeller Center. Run out for a salad at lunch and you're pulled into a throng of tourists walking too slow, with cameras strapped around their necks and little girls in matching dresses carrying American Girl dolls with more matching dresses. All day long, the jingle of a Salvation Army worker's bell never relents, and if you want to catch a taxi at the end of the day, forget it.

But guess what? I love it!

As I approach my 40th Christmas, I'm as excited by the countdown to Christmas as ever. A little stressed, admittedly, about all that needs to get done between now and then, but as my mom says, "you always get it done." So, no amount of work, travel or responsibilities can get me down. I've got the Christmas spirit.

On Thursday night, I was walking past Radio City Music Hall and as I reached the stage door, it opened! Out came one long, shiny, glittery pair of legs, followed by another (the Rockettes!!!!) and following these two was...Santa!!! I kid you not when I tell you that my heart skipped a beat a little! What a sighting.

Can't wait for my 40th Christmas!

Fab 40 Definition # 42: Forty-tude

Forty-tude (for-tee-tud)noun: a certain attitude that women (and some men) rarely acquire before their fortieth birthday.

Do you have forty-tude yet? If you find yourself saying any of the following, you might:

- "I don't really give a shit what (you, she, he) think(s)"
- "What are they gonna do? Fire me?"
- "No. I can't be the Benefit chair/bake 12 dozen cupcakes/attend another meeting I don't want to go to/travel 10 hours in holiday traffic to see my in-laws."

Forty-tude is about finally getting your priorities straight and saying, I'm not going to spend one more minute doing things solely because someone else wants me to do them and I feel obligated.

Forty-tude is life, your way...with a few compromises thrown in, but not too many.

Do you have forty-tude? Sometimes? Always? Never?