Bollywood 40th!

This is such a great 40th birthday theme I had to share it!


This party was done by the newly fabulous forty Hillary Thomas. She is an interior designer and party master!

Hillary was a fabulous host and we enjoyed our Indian food, Bollywood movie and very own bindi!

Everything was gorgeous and so were the guests!!!

What's the best fortieth birthday you've ever been to? What will you do for yours?

Suggestions For Forty Things To Do Before Forty List!

Been having a hard time coming up with your forty? Me too! I got this list from Live The Charmed Life- maybe this will help us! Tell me what's on your list!

1. Drive a different way home from work today
2. Volunteer at the Olympics, if you live in the UK
3. Buy an amazing new cookbook and try recipes from it for a week
4. Wear a colour you never thought you’d wear, even if it’s only in your tie
5. Try that new ethnic restaurant around the corner
6. Take Merengue lessons
7. Tell a secret to someone you trust
8. Attend the opera
9. Watch a movie that everyone is recommending, even if you aren’t enthusiastic about it
10. Pick up a bestseller that’s the exact opposite to the genre you always read
11. Pack a picnic, get in the car, and just drive
12. If you aren’t a writer, write 500 words on a topic that interests you
13. You know that little local town you’ve been meaning to explore? Explore it.
14. Take a photography class at a nearby community college
15. Volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, and help build a home for someone
16. Redecorate, or rearrange a room in your own home
17. Try Tai Chi
18. Learn a new language with your significant other and speak it at home
19. Join the local community theatre, and fulfill your dream of becoming an actor
20. Train to run/walk a marathon
21. Learn to play a new musical instrument
22. Restart the ballet lessons you stopped as a child
23. Go camping in the backyard
24. Explore a bit of the city you’re in on your next business trip
25. Join Toastmasters, and learn the art of public speaking
26. Take a painting class
27. Let the kids decide what’s for dinner tonight
28. Plan an around the world trip with your family, and let each member present on the country they’d most like to visit…even if you can’t afford to go
29. Write a memoir so that your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will know where they came from
30. Change your haircut/colour
31. Choose a DIY project for your home that’s a bit out of your comfort zone, and try it
32. Stay at a hostel on your next weekend away
33. Smile and say hello as you pass people on the street
34. Volunteer at your local zoo, and learn about the exotic places the animals come from
35. Make Julia Child’s Coq au Vin
36. Walk in the rain, and jump in all the puddles
37. Order something different than “the usual” at your favourite cafe
38. Wear red lipstick
39. Make eye contact with someone you have a crush on
40. Climb a tree
41. Make a list of the 10 things you’d like to do in your lifetime and start planning when you’ll do them
42. Grow orchids
43. Take a surfing lesson
44. Accept that great new job opportunity and move away from your home town/country
45. Fall madly in love and hold nothing back
46. Stop saying “no” just because it’s easier
47. Say yes whenever it’s possible
48. Start your own business on the side around something you love
49. Learn how to swim the butterfly
50. Ask the perfect girl out on a date
51. Join a bowling league with your girlfriends
52. Ask what you need to do to reach the next step in your career
53. Introduce yourself to your neighbours
54. Think of something to do with only the cash you have in your wallet right now (no debit or credit cards allowed)
55. Host a game night for friends
56. If you normally drive, take public transportation
57. You know that great outfit that’s hanging in the back of the closet? Find a reason to wear it.
58. Take Italian cooking lessons
59. Join a local hiking club
60. Go out to dinner alone
61. Talk to strangers
62. Write a love letter
63. Learn how to invest in the stock market
64. Start a neighbourhood book club
65. Try escargot
66. Turn the television off for a weekend
67. Book only your airfare and hotel this holiday, and just explore/ask for recommendations from the locals
68. One word: Karaoke
69. Stop worrying
70. Plan a romantic night in
71. Make Sangria
72. Make breakfast for dinner
73. Kiss that someone special in public
74. Go to a movie alone
75. Finger paint on your next date
76. Write an article for the local newspaper on why you love where you live
77. Only use your mobile phone for emergencies while you’re on holiday
78. Let it go already
79. Commit to trying one new thing every day
80. Change jobs, if it’s time
81. Eat the local cuisine
82. Take a kick-boxing class
83. Dare to dream
84. Stop listening to naysayers
85. Take golf lessons
86. Host a whiskey tasting event in your home
87. Go back to college
88. Try one more time
89. Learn how to make wine
90. Learn how to fly fish
91. Learn how to hula dance
92. Learn how to belly dance
93. Stay at non-chain hotels
94. Make a curry
95. Kiss in the rain
96. Take an improv class
97. Write to someone you admire, and ask how they’ve achieved their goals
98. Learn how to kayak
99. Don’t ask for directions
100. You know that thing you’ve always wanted to try? Try it.

Forty Things To Do Before Forty- Throw A Party

On my forty things to do before I'm forty list I had to add Throw A Party! Most of us, the last time we had a big party it was our wedding day! We invited friends and family to celebrate with us. Well, I feel at forty, this is the perfect time to do that again!

I decided on a Tapas restaurant near by and suddenly I had a theme! Fabulous Fortieth Flamenco Party!!!
I had the most fabulous invitations made up by Papercourt press, a fabulous bloggy friend who does the cutest invitations!!!

The night came and friends and family were there. Some even flew in from across the country!

Husband did the most amazing video with pictures and video clips all to my favorite songs. It was the best gift I could have received. It was so much fun seeing high school friends, next to college friends, next to my Mom friends!

Throwing a party was on my list because I feel when you turn forty you need to start over. Gear up for new goals, new directions and new adventures! Even if you can't afford a big blow out, have a celebration. Honor where you have been and what you have accomplished. Then set the bar again, this time even higher.

Cheers to Forty!

Forty Year Old Mid Life Crisis? Where's Carol Burnett?

What is it about forty that feels like an end? End of youth? End of dreams? End of the good times? I am telling you the Mrs has been down in the dumps. It could be all the lack of shopping now that I am on a BUDGET. No, I think it's more...

I need Carol Burnett.

Everyone has a famous person they look up to or admire for one reason or another. For me it's Carol Burnett. As a child I was in awe of her. I watched the Carol Burnett Show religiously. I had never seen a woman be the star of her own show, be funny, and so gracious to her fans.

I loved the question and answer part of the show with her audience. Do you remember the young teenage boy who wanted his first kiss? The woman who sand "you made me love you" with her? She treated everyone, her fans, friends, and fellow actors with respect and love. One class act. It's inspiring.

Carol also holds a special place in my heart because she made me laugh at a time in my life I needed it the most.

Which brings me to my next challenge. If there's someone you admire, famous or not, find them and meet them. Ask them the questions you've always wanted to ask.

Carol Burnett is mine. I googled for her contact information. I am writing her a letter and found out she is coming to a theater near me to do a lecture. Got tickets! I'm going to meet her, tell her I adore her, and probably bawl. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

So who's your idol? Who do you need to meet and see so you can be inspired!

Forty Things to do #1- Give A Performance

Turning forty seemed a little bit like a day of reckoning for me. I was feeling like I had not accomplished things I had set out to do, and was not exactly where I wanted to be financially, career wise, and personally. It was my mother in law who put it in perspective. She said turning forty is not the end of things. This is the time to set new goals and accomplish even more!

Wow! I had never thought about it like that before! She was right! I have twenty or thirty more years really good years to accomplish my goals and dreams. I needed to just get to it! So I started a list. Forty things to do before forty. Forty things to shake me up, challenge me, help me grow.

Okay people! For your first challenge, or should I say assignment? You are to give a performance.

Always wanted to try stand up? Want to try acting in a play? Love to Kareoke? Play an instrument? Now that you have a good group of friends in your life, set up a little performance and invite everyone!

I did this by performing in a show called "Expressing Motherhood". It was a show of real mom's telling real stories. I performed for two weekends and invited all my friends and family. I was an actress many years ago, but I was nervous about this. It was me not "acting" but telling about Landon, and I hadn't been on stage in years.

I literally forced myself to write a piece and submit it, thinking there was no way I would be chosen. Then I was!

At the first rehearsal I was terrified. I didn't know these women! Why was I doing this again?

Then I heard the stories of their lives, and was blown away by these women. Now I have a bunch of new friends. It was so powerful being a part of it. It helped me open up, put myself out there, and share. I am so proud I did it. There's something about stepping out of your comfort zone, you surprise everyone, and you surprise yourself. Who knows what we're capable of when we really GO FOR IT!

So what will you do? I am dying to hear about your performance!!