Last Sunday (July 20th) my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately that milestone is rarely reached nowadays; especially at my parent's age. They married very young, just shy of their 20th and 21st birthdays. To celebrate the exciting occasion our family ventured downtown to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Cape Cod Room in The Drake. We dined for about 3 hours - sipping cocktails, slurping back (in the most elegant of ways) oysters, savoring every last bite of our lobster, steak and crab legs and finished with decadent creme brulee and cheesecake. It was rough but someone needed to eat all that food and keep that restaurant in business. :-)
The anniversary celebration did not end there...
For months I had wanted to surprise my parents with a vow renewal ceremony on their anniversary. It would have worked out perfectly since it fell on a weekend. Unfortunately with the busy summer and people on vacation, the actual day of their anniversary (July 20th) was not going to work. Luckily (and strangely enough) my parent's birthday falls one week after their anniversary - July 27th. Yes, my parents were born on the same day, one year apart. My dad is older if anyone was wondering. :-) So the planning for their vow renewal commenced and we decided to have it take place right after the church service this past Sunday. My dad, not being able to keep a secret, ended up telling my mother so she could prepare herself for the emotional renewal that was coming. 
This past Sunday (July 27) in front of our church family and friends, my parents renewed their marriage vows and were introduced once again as husband and wife. It was a beautiful way for them to once again profess their love for one another and to set a beautiful example of what marriage is supposed to be - for forever.
After church it was time to celebrate birthdays!!! As I mentioned before, my parents share their birthday along with my blonde bestie, Stephanie. Not only was it all their birthdays but it was my mother's 60th birthday. It was going to be a day of celebrations to say the least.
It seems like our family has a "theme" for every occasion - whether it's a birthday, anniversary or even a simple Sunday dinner. Given the fact that we would have three birthdays to celebrate we wanted to have a theme that everyone would enjoy and that my mother would be very excited about. Seeing as how we all LOVE going to high-tea, eating delicious pastries and munching on plethora of assorted mini sandwiches, a tea party was definitely the way to go.
Our Menu: Chicken salad on croissants, egg salad (regular and curried) on Hawaiian rolls, smoked salmon with schmear on crostinis, olive tray, cheese, grapes, apples, garlic potato salad and pastries.
My mom was beyond excited about the tea party and even put on her special hat for the occasion. :-) We sat and enjoyed a relaxing lunch and more or less devoured everything on the table, including the pastries and cake I bought from Mariano's.
In honor of my mother's birthday and in lieu of tangible gifts, my family and I decided to either perform a random act of kindness or make a donation to an organization or group that is near and dear to my mother. We then wrote separate letters to my mother explaining the act of kindness or donation that we made along with a birthday message. To say she was touched by the sentiment would be an understatement. She laughed, she cried, then she cried some more. It was the perfect gift.
For the past two Sundays we were blessed to spend a lot of time with family and friends, honoring the most important people in our lives and cherishing the beautiful relationships that have been built through the years. Ron and I are beyond grateful to both of our parents for setting such an example and high standards for what it means to have a beautiful marriage. We look forward to following in our parents footsteps in our faith, in our home and with our own family in the future.
Now that all of that planning and those celebrations are over, it's time to focus on ordering supplies and crafting for our upcoming nuptials. Next on the to-do list is printing and mailing our invitations. Eeeeeeee!!!
24 Days until the Bachelorette Party
25 Days until the Bridal Shower
87 Days until we say "I do"
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