**Some product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.**
A Birthday Gathering at Home

It’s taken me awhile to feel like posting about my birthday, as we’ve been grieving our sweet furry friend Cheddar. But I didn’t do a dedicated birthday post last year since we were in Iceland on my birthday. Now that I feel more up for it, I wanted to write a recap of my 48th birthday.

John and I had been talking about hosting a housewarming party. Because my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, we decided to invite friends and family over for a backyard gathering. So I spent my birthday partly treating myself but also partly setting up for our birthday/housewarming combo party.

I kicked off my 48th year by going to our local Starbucks to pick up my free birthday beverage. Here’s an early morning car selfie I took with my salted caramel cream cold brew:

48th Birthday Starbucks
My new haircut is shorter than I wanted, but I’m getting used to it

After making breakfast at home, I showered and did a Headspace meditation while wearing both of my LED devices. I have the Omnilux Contour Face Infrared Light Therapy Device and Omnilux Contour Neck & Décolleté LED Device [affiliate links]. I’ve been using these about five days a week and I feel like they make my skin look a bit more radiant. Consistency is the important thing with these devices.

Omnilux LED red light mask
This mask makes me look so angry

After the mask and meditation session, it was time for the Peach and Lily Glass Skin Ginseng Collagen Mask [affiliate link]. I’ve used this a few times and I really like it (disclosure: the brand initially gifted me the mask, but I have since purchased some for myself). The mask makes my skin look hydrated and luminous, and I enjoy using it before special events. A birthday party/housewarming certainly fits the bill.

Peach & Lily Glass Skin Mask

Amidst our party prep, I did an 18 minute MadFit upper body workout. I’ve been prioritizing fitness and wanted to make sure to get some movement in. It’s especially important for women in our 40s and beyond to cultivate strength, mobility, and stability!

48th birthday workout

The rest of the morning involved setting up for the party and also resting prior to the socializing ahead of us. We had about 35 people coming over and after losing Cheddar I hadn’t felt super social. So I was a little nervous about how I would feel, and wanted to charge my social battery.

Party Ready

In the afternoon, I got myself ready for the gathering. Here’s my final look (don’t ask me what products I used; I didn’t take note and don’t remember specifics, haha):

48th birthday party look

Party Time

Our party ended up being a really great time, and just about everyone who said they were coming did in fact show up…which I feel is somewhat rare. We got lucky with beautiful weather, which wasn’t too hot when people first started arriving in late afternoon. Having a June birthday is often a crapshoot weather-wise, or at least, it always was when I lived on the East Coast. I guess LA June is usually milder than East Coast June.

John and I put out a snack spread, and once most folks had arrived he grilled burgers and Beyond Burgers for everyone. We bought the bulk of our party provisions from Costco—we’re lucky to have one close by in the neighborhood. We also got cupcakes there because I thought that would be a better birthday sweet treat than getting a big sheet cake that would probably only get a quarter eaten.

It was so, so lovely, to have most of our local friends and family over to see our new place. John has a bunch of family here because he grew up in the area; plus, my brother lives here, and a bunch of my friends from NYC moved to LA years ago. And I have other friends here that I made online and eventually met in person at Comic-Con. So it was a great group of people to bring together at our home. And once people began to show up, I relaxed and was able to enjoy myself.

I’ve never been big on celebrating my birthday. I don’t like being center of attention, so combining the celebration with a housewarming was absolutely the right move.

Birthday Gifts

Birthday beauty gifts

Even though our party invitation requested no gifts, people still brought us things (which I of course appreciate!). We ended up with a bunch of thoughtful gifts including but not limited to two beautiful orchids, homemade salsa, a bottle of bourbon with “Happy Housewarming” engraved on it, and a pretty clay planter.

Of course, my mom sent me gifts from a list of ideas that I had sent her (see above pic). Here’s what she got me:

Overall, I had a really lovely birthday despite feeling sad about celebrating without Cheddar for the first time since we adopted our buddies. I’m doing okay now and it hurts less every day. I do think that having our community over to celebrate was really good for us; social connection is very important and we are so fortunate to have great people in our lives. Thank you to everyone for coming over and for all of the wonderful gifts!