Some say, “Age isn’t any more than a number.” The way I see it, every birthday is a good one, because the more you have, the longer you live. I enjoy being 50 and like I told my friends at my milestone “Fun & Flirty 50th Fiesta,” I stopped counting the years when I met my husband at 35 years old. It could be that at this time in my life there is a lot of “been there, done that” and I have honed in on the work and personal activities that make me happy. That happiness quite often comes from those family, friends and partners that I am surrounded by in life, so this birthday was all about celebrating them, too, during my Fun & Flirty 50th Fiesta at our home earlier this month.
Years ago my friend Diana and I won a cocktail making contest at a local restaurant called Mayahuel. To include this sweet memory in our celebration, we made a beautiful batch of the award-winning Pina Basilio Coctel which served as the signature cocktail greeting our guests as they arrived from near and far. What a treat to have our nearest and dearest join us from Santa Fe, New York, Chicago, Alabama, Denver and more.
Thanks to the handy-work and support of my gal pals, we dressed a fiesta-worthy table with plenty of details that have been curated from our travels, through our celebrations over the years, and from our brand partners. Otomi table runners that I picked up during a few our annual visits to Cabo ran down the center of four farm tables. Clase Azul tequila bottles, saved over the years from multiple weekend parties, held single stem blooms adding the color and layering personality into our table setting. Lastly, Sherwin-Williams Dynamo color chips served as name cards personalized for each guest— just a wink to this loyal brand partner over our many years together.
While a Spanish guitar played in the background, delicious tuna poke, colorful turnip tacos, and scrumptious empanadas were passed on Hestan Culinary’s beautiful OvenBond pans just before the products were released to the public. The stainless steel pan finish set off the hors d’oeuvre colors beautifully and then made an effortless quick change to serve Salmon with Pepitas and Lime, Chicken Mole Verde, Wild Mushroom and Cheese Enchiladas and more. You can check out all of the tasty delights on Hestan Culinary’s website, so you can make them for your fiesta, too!
It wouldn’t be a party without a tequila tasting and our dear friend and Sommelier, Tesh, was just the guy to do it for us. He took us through four beautiful tequilas, each having significant meaning to my husband and I, so it was fun to tell the story behind each selection while sharing tasting notes over our gorgeous al fresco dinner with friends.
Just when we thought we couldn’t eat another morsel, our churro truck and the mariachi band arrived. We closed out the night dancing with friends and tasting every churro flavor ever created. It was a perfect way to ring in 50-years and a night we will never forget.
