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Hello, dear readers! I am still trying to catch up on all the fun posts I have up my sleeves. Today I wanted to share some fun & fresh imagery from the surprise 60th birthday party we threw in early February for my beautiful, inspiring, wonderful mother-in-law, Del.

Erik is the baby of the family (and the only boy in his generation! All female cousins!!) and has two fabulous older sisters. The two of them, along with the two of us + Erik’s aunt (Del’s younger sister), planned a well-deserved party to celebrate and honor Del’s special day. Del is the best mother-in-law you could ever imagine. She is also such a delightful person, I just feel blessed to have her in my life! She is always the type of person who wants to give and serve and love others, and she rarely takes the time to treat herself. So a big surprise party celebrating her was in order, wouldn’t you say? We all had a great time putting together a chic cocktail party at Simon LA at the Sofitel Hotel in Los Angeles.

We used the hip outdoor (covered) lounge area as our backdrop. The existing furniture has a lot of ocean blue tones, so we decided to embrace the hue as a key color in our palette. I loove poppy orange with blue, so we threw that into the mix for a fun look. Pure white rounded out our color scheme. Add swank food, nostalgic desserts and 40 of Del’s closest friends… and you get this fab party!

Enjoy these lovely photos courtesy of my dear friend, the talented & totally awesome Michael Norwood. Michael is one of my favorite people to work with because he is SO.MUCH.FUN and he always delivers beautiful images. Michael: thank you for being a part of this special day with my family!! We loved having you there!

Earlier in the week, I put together a few dozen little arrangements for the party. I used lots of ranunculus, white china mums, tulips, kumquat branches and ruscus. The vases are from Ikea and personal collections.

A blue candy buffet… of course! Personalized treats bags from For Your Party.

Cute napkins for drinks & appetizers, also from For Your Party.

guests mingling before the guest of honor arrived… We put framed photos of Del through the years on each table. The b&w pic in the blue frame here is of Erik’s parents early in their dating years. Awww

A quick family portrait. Anna and I did not plan the pink, black and white; I promise! Don’t Mom & Raj make the most dashing couple?? (For those of you who are curious, my dress is from Anthropologie and the jacket was a lucky vintage thrifting find!)

The arrival!! I think Del was pretty surprised. She had her suspicions but was not expecting the party we had in store for her… (That’s one of Erik’s sisters on the left, and his dad in the back.)

We kicked off the night with toasts by her husband, her sister, her 3 kids and two kids-in-law (me and her son-in-law).

I love this pic of my timeless, elegant, kind-hearted and lovely mother-in-law!

Some of Erik’s beautiful family! (And yes, I am wearing hot pink tights with open-toed black heels. If that’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right…)

Some of the girls! Left to right: Erik’s sis, Erik’s cousin (half-Thai), me & my sis Anna!

Del blowing out the candles on her cake! We brought in our own from Paris Pastry: a yummy Princess cake (which, ironically enough, is Swedish… not Parisian).

Nostalgic desserts were presented in Simon LA signature fashion. These “junkfood platters” included tufts of cotton candy, fresh caramel popcorn, “hostess” cupcakes, sno-balls, donuts and cookies!

I’ll end with this sweet pic of me and one of my nephews, Alejandro. Isn’t he perfection??

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at the intersection of my private and professional life. I loved working on this party for Del and look forward to many more memorable birthdays to come!

Have a FAB week, everyone! I had a completely charming wedding on Saturday and cannot wait to share it with you! A few inspiration hints: grapefruit pink, papaya orange and strawberry + watermelon hues, milk glass & mercury glass containers, stacks of antique books, vintage charm and springtime whimsy. SOOO excited!

xoxo, Angel