marty-gras (holiday party #14)

My friend Anne-Marie throws her husband Marty a birthday party every year. Anne-Marie has an events business, Annie O's Events, so you know the party will be over the top. Marty turned 40 and the theme was Marty-gras. This photograph does not do justice to the amazing decorations. The house was outlined in lights and those giant jester heads could be seen from a block away.

The first birthday party Anne-Marie threw for Marty was big fun but small enough that I was helping her prep that day by cutting vegetables and cheeses. The annual celebration has turned in to the 'place to be' for December 19th. There were hundreds of guests this year. You were greeted at the door with Marti Gras beads and pointed to the punch bowl of hurricanes (I bypassed that in favor of an Irish whiskey from the bar set up in the kitchen).

There was food in every room -- a creole buffet, wonderful cheeses, crackers and fruit, coffee and dessert bars upstairs and a punch bowl of hurricanes in the entry-way.

The guests were a great diverse mix of people - politically, socially, economically and racially. Anne-Marie and Marty are active members of different political parties (I'm hugging the Democrat of the couple in the photograph above). They used to live in my neighborhood and moved closer to downtown in a much more urban area. They have done a great job restoring their house - it is amazing.
Someone gave Marty a 40 ounce beer in honor of his 40th birthday. Bad Influence Girl mentioned that he might look a little more bad-ass if he did not lift his pinky finger as he was drinking.

B.I.G. looks so innocent, doesn't she?

The party has gotten so big that this year they added a tent off of the back porch. I was at the party hours before I discovered it.

AVS worked in a relief kitchen for eight months after the hurricane. I'm guessing this tent was a little more fun then the one he worked in.