I am in the very fortunate position to have a bestie who lives next door. The value of this situation cannot be overstated. When I run out of something -- eggs, vodka, patience, ice for the vodka -- Stacey rescues me. She lends me lifesaving necessities like statement necklaces, extra bedrooms for the in-laws, a car. A condo. She lets me hide giant gifts in her garage on Christmas Eve. Is there anything she doesn't do?
Yes. She doesn't judge. That time when she caught sight of me throwing a flower pot in the general direction of my husband? She never breathed a word. The time that one of our kids showed up early one morning on her doorstep with a suitcase? She let him in and gently broke the news to us that he was, in his words, "going to be changing families". Or the time we were having drinks on the driveway and then a tornado came and as we were dashing for the basement, we realized we forgot a child at soccer practice? She did not report us.
Another thing that Stacey did not do? Move. Anyone else living next door to a half-Iranian woman and a half-Colombian man raising four hairy hellions would have recognized that much like relations between the U.S., Iran, and Colombia, there could be border trouble beyond the scope of neighborly diplomacy.
Indeed our darling sons caused her a few headaches. One broke the hood ornament off of her car with a stray basketball. One shot out her lantern with a stray airsoft pellet. One repeatedly snuck soda out of her garage fridge, and stashed the empties inside the dropped ceiling of our basement. One knocked down her mailbox -- twice -- while learning to drive. And one darling angel child signed his name in pee on her snowy lawn one winter day.
Stacey, her easy-going husband, and their gentle daughter have become like family, albeit with less facial hair. So when she faced a big birthday, I was all over it. Plus, her birthday falls in October.
The girl doesn't scare. Which gave me license to go a little crazy with punny signs and of course, plenty of ghoulish vintage decor. Here are some of the pics from a really really fun night. The only mishap was forgotten birthday candles. Luckily my neighbor next door had some. :)
Want to make punny signs for your party? Click here for my DIY. Want me to make them for you? Email me here and let's talk!
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