Saturday, September 19, 2009

Mamma Mia! It's my big fat Greek 30th Birthday and Housewarming!

Well, it appears I've made a habit of being late on this blog, but better late than never! :) On August 29 we celebrated my 30th birthday and our housewarming with a Greek-themed open house. Over the course of the day (from 1-9pm) we had 93 family and friends join us in our double celebration. We felt so blessed to see so many loved ones and to share our joy with them in our new home. I've included some pictures of our house and the party.We do have photos with every guest, but that would take too much space...but you can check out the photos on facebook if you'd like.



The house is no longer empty - our furniture is there! It's feeling more like home, but sometimes I still get the sensation that we're somehow on vacation yet we brought everything we own with us! :)






Our living room has since changed due to the wonderful addition of a large entertainment center - a hand-me-down gift from Uncle David and Aunt Rasa - thanks! :)







Birthday balloons leading up the stairs, and looking through the living room into the dining room.
Another view of the stairs, this time looking through to the kitchen past the bathroom.




The extra part of the living room...will eventually hold a nice desk and a large shelf for the stereo.


The kitchen is mostly moved in we're just still trying to find the best location for some items with less cupboard and drawer space than we had previously.





One half of the dining room - one of my favorite rooms in the house





The other half of the dining room - the loveseat is under the window and since the ceiling fan is just above it's one of the coolest parts of the house. :)





Our Greek extravaganza - Kelly cooked Greek chicken and soup and hot diggity dogs, Mom cooked more hot diggity dogs, and we made Greek meatballs, hummus layered dip, Greek roasted potatoes, Greek salad, watermelon feta salad, and pasta salad.



We also had flavored hummus, pita chips, tzadziki, fresh pita bread, marinated olives, Mediterranean salads, fresh fruit, veggies & dip, marinated peppers, fresh tomatoes and homemade vinaigrette. Kelly was our living menu and showed every guest the bounty of the table. :)




My wonderful friend Mandy made two cakes which were themed from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The lamb cake was red velvet and represented Tia Voula's decision after hearing that Ian "won't eat no meat"..."that's ok, I make lamb!" :)



Mandy also made a lemon bundt cake which was also in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding..."Bun, no a bundt, bung, no a bundt...it's a cake...I know" :)


Later in the evening our wonderful friend Gracie from church showed up with this beautiful and yummy cake version of our house. We hated to cut it up, but it was quite tasty. :)



It was a great party and we felt so blessed to have so many wonderful guests in our new home. We look forward to having people over again individually so that we'll have more time to chat with them personally.
It's hard to believe that we are now homeowners and we still have a garage full of boxes to unpack! :) We are so grateful that God has blessed us with a lovely home, wonderful friends and family, and so many other amazing blessings. Thank you God!