the 20s, they're a-roarin'

ck and sallee both turned 29 in march (sad that i can no longer say "this month." where does time go?), so we decided to celebrate the end of their roaring twenties with none other than a roaring 1920s-themed extravaganza. (get it? i have to say, i thought it was a stroke of party-planning genius.) another stroke of genius? holding the party at the woolley mansion, complete with secret passageway in the library, pool table and hot tub, only adding to the prohibition-era ambiance.

thanks to a brilliant party-planning web site uncovered by sallee's nathan, and an impressively large collection of jazz contributed by nate c., authenticity was the order of the evening. food included gatsby-style crab-stuffed mushrooms and celery olive salad, which was, you may or may not know, president calvin coolidge's favorite side dish. for real. the site also had lots of dress-up ideas, including step-by-step instructions for creating the "finger wave" hairstyle. sadly, none of us attempted it but, as you can see, creativity was not in short supply when it came to the evening's costumes.


ck and her friends john and christie, enjoying delicious fried ravioli, spinach artichoke dip, crab-stuffed mushrooms and the coolidge classic. (can you tell i am really proud of the menu?)



kristin and sallee the birthday girl. sallee, by the way, made her own flapper outfit by sewing fringe on the bottom of a dress. it was hot.



susan reveling in a winning pool shot.



sus and heather duking it out on the pool table. heather promised to wear her tiara every day for a week, and i am pretty sure she meant it.



newsboy dan (definitely one of the best costumes of the night) with adrianna, marie and liz.



joel and dan take a boys turn on the pool table. joel had to take off his somewhat restrictive bright red and white striped jacket (don't worry, you'll get to see it later).



lovely ladies nicole, sarah and emily relaxing on the parlor couch. these girls also had amazing outfits with long gloves and everything.



rachel, ashley, nate and corey. rachel wore that hat to church the next day. awesome. nate was going for the 1920s gangster white on black look. i think he wears it well.



vamping with susan and chrislyn, who was wearing the most darling little hat.



my turn with the birthday girl. wearing feathers in your hair is remarkably fun. i think we should all do it more often.



jessica, dave and karen. dave went for gatsby sporty preppy, not too different from his daily attire, in fact.



these incredible shoes, however, he saves for special occassions.



betcha didn't know charlie chaplin was on the salt lake social scene.



heather obviously had a better pose than me. funny how "sexy kissing mouth" turns into "fish lips" so quickly and unexpectedly.



family photo! this one gives you the best glimpse of joel's coat, which we are pretty sure was made from a retired barnum and bailey circus tent. also while this photo was being taken, the following exchange occured:

joel to rachel: here, why don't you hold my cane?
sallee's sister, abby, who was taking the picture: never trust a boy when he asks you that.

other triumphs of the evening included a successful execution of an amazing chocolate bundt cake recipe pulled off caroline's blog, and successful execution of homemade mayonnaise. "what the...?" you might be asking. well, two of our menu items called for mayonnaise, and i had a minor cardiac episode when we realized we didn't have any. luckily, sallee's mom knew how to make it from scratch. she coached me over the phone and i did it! i would tell you how i did it, but frankly, its sort of gross, so i'll spare you the details. the important thing is, no one could tell the difference.

i also learned two important hostess lessons:

1. feather boas leave a trail. i had picked up some extra feather boas (as well as tiaras and strings and strings of beads) at the party store so people who didn't dress up wouldn't feel left out. it seemed like a good idea until i spent about an hour sucking up stray feathers, one by one with the vacuum cleaner after everyone went home.

2. the logistics of a kitchen-downstairs-party-upstairs event are exhausting at best. we decided to have people gather upstairs because it was a smaller, less formal space with more room to stand around and talk, and it's where the pool table is. but we made all the food downstairs because that's where the kitchen and the two ovens and the pantry with the automatic light are. i may have lost 10 pounds running up and down the stairs, and my calves totally hurt the next day.

but, it was more than worth it to celebrate two dear friends with a roaringly good time. happy birthday girls!