Happy Birthday to ME!

I have to say I think I may have outdone myself for my birthday celebration this past Saturday night. I wanted a fun Aussie BBQ with a cool relaxed, loungy vibe for people to mix, mingle, dance and eat. I have to say the whole night was a smashing success! I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my new friends: Nissa, who woke me up at 8am Saturday morning for a trip to the local market, and the mall for supplies, Lucinda (pictured above) and her bf Daniel for doing the music and clean-up, and my housemates Ramona, Dominic, and Anna for helping with the lighting and clean-up. 

To get the mood right I bought some cellophane and we covered the potlights in the ceiling to get a blue and red light-effect- it was so cool! Nissa and I also decorated the party room with balloons and streamers for a really fun, festive vibe. We even put balloons at the door to help guests find the house- so 1985!! I wore a vintage strapless pink dress with a big bow in the front- very "birthday girl" I thought!

For dinner, guests started out on ore douvres - tortilla chips (NOT easy to find here), salsa, homemade guacamole, crusty baguette with dip, and a cheese platter. For dinner we had homemade gourmet burgers, shrimp and scallop skewers (fresh from the Sydney Fish Market), market-fresh sweet corn, homemade potato salad and a garden salad. My friend Kathy also brought some delicious vegan dishes to round out the spread. For dessert Nissa made some divine brownies from one of my favourite Martha recipes, and a vegan chocolate cake. The boys even pitched in- making themselves very useful at the barbecue!

Lucinda and another new friend, Chad were amazing DJs- mixing a blend of Australian dance music, with some French techno, and mellow beats. I couldn't believe it but we even had a bit of a dance floor going! Overall about 35 people attended the party and I had a GREAT time. We concluded the evening with popping party poppers and present opening, all in all a great night!