80th!

For Mom's 70th birthday Katherine and Don planned a big surprise party with around 70 people. It was quite the success, but in the lead up to Mom's 80th, she made it clear that a surprise was totally unnecessary and she'd prefer to have a bit more input into the invite list and planning for the festivities. So this time around Elaine and I consulted with Mom on the guest list and planned a more intimate gathering of around 30 people at Little Pearl. 

It was the perfect venue for the party, with delicious food we've shared with Mom at special occasions in the past like the beggar's purses from Pineapple & Pearls and the amazing pork & lychee salad from Rose's Luxury. Nancy arranged all of the flowers, and other than worrying about the rain in the forecast the day of the event was all relatively stress free. A lovely group of Mom's closest friends celebrated with us – old friends, neighbors, archives friends, Smithsonian Women's Committee friends, new friends, and family. Mom gave some lovely remarks focusing on all of the people celebrating the day with her, and I tried to follow that with a few remarks of my own. It was a special evening to celebrate an amazing woman that I'm lucky to call my Mom.

(click here for all the pictures)