I am very happy and a tad abashed to admit that my 30th birthday
was such a momentous occasion that it has taken me
nearly two weeks to recover from the festivities!
Our abode may never recover, in fact-
we may have decided to keep it as a half-gutted forest
covered in glitter confetti and sour cherries dropped on the floor
by ecstatic revelers! Or start sweeping, sometime soon!

Follow for more birthday adventures in the black forest..!
I bought this lovely Surprise Shell at Tail of the Yak
when I was in San Francisco, and had been faithfully saving it
until my birthday morning! I would tell you what was in it,
but that would ruin the surprise- so you’ll just have to go get one of your own!

Birthday mornings in particular are very sacred to me,
and should be as blissful as possible- sleeping late and then
a luxurious bath and magical breakfast with two of my most
favorite people! The sun was shining, alighting on flowers and
tea steaming up and so many sweet treasures from dear friends!
Above are some from Mlle. Verhext, wonderful music mixes,
the most beautiful necklaces (a mysterious abalone pendant
and the coveted antler woman necklace from Theatre of Dreams!)
So amazing. Also the Fairy Wood flavored pastilles from Leone-
one of my favorite candies, and the best chai from Crixa Cakes
and gorgeous jackets of cerulean silk velvet and emerald rose brocade!
I was blessed with so many kind and generous gifts from my sweetlings
that it really requires a separate post to do them justice. Seriously.

We stayed up until 6am the night before transforming our crazy, crumbling
renovation project palace into a magical black forest! It’s amazing what you
can accomplish in a few hours with the help of friends- we strew twigs
and branches hither and thither and decked the walls with frost flecked
red currants and fairytale dollies and forest creatures..

My love found these tossed out christmas trees on the road
and hung them from the rafters- it’s incredible how much it changed
the space. The acoustics, the delicious pine smell, the shape of the room..
Needless to say, they’re still up there. I think when we finish the house,
we must absolutely have a forest room- it’s so peaceful and lovely!

On the subject of forest creatures- I just can’t resist showing off my wonderful
prize from my friends and colleagues Mr. Garbs and Mme. Cornelius
who bestowed upon me my dearest wish- a taxidermied fox!
I have been half-heartedly trying to build it back up-
with little success. It has become so expensive, even for the old
rotty pieces that I favor. I have been wishing for a fox for so long-
I couldn’t believe my eyes. His name is Alavester, and he is half albino.

Eeeee! Thar be foxees in those trees!

Despite my dour glower, I am truly filled with glee in this photograph-
because though it took an hour to wrangle with my headdress,
I am finally dressed fittingly and thus the party can begin!

These two ladies, however, were truly the belles of the ball!
Amelia and Linda were both so gloriously beautiful and antler bedecked
that there was an audible gasp from the assembled guests when this
photograph was taken- such savage elegance, ooh-la!

Everyone’s costumes were so outstanding- every little detail
coaxed from their bits and bobs into miracles of millinery,
folktales turned into fabric and feathers!
Above is a detail from Mlle. Coffey’s Firebird ensemble..

Her date for the evening, Mr. Yates cames dressed as Little Otik!
He made a perfect Otesánek, telling tales in the leaves
around a roaring fire underneath the bare branches..

I nearly died however, when I saw the gingerbread man!
He made this a few hours before the party- and wore it all night long.
His mouth fell off at one point, so it’s stuck on with one of
my bobby pins he found on the floor- which makes it even better-
Gingerbread genius, MacGyver style!

This is the red-headed huntress who pierced
my heart with a thousand flame-tipped arrows.
Please note that her bodice is made from the skin
of a wee spotted fawn- ah! I swoon.

This fabulous piñata was created by Miss Katinka Pinka and her beau Lee-
it is the terrible bear with the severed head of Goldilocks!
I slew the bear (singlehandedly!) to avenge her, and delectable
green tea candies spewed out from his body!

My dearest Francesca was the ideal Tyrolean mädchen!

She and darling Annie created this work of art disguised as a piñata.
His/her name is Sissel (Or Cecil) and was so gorgeous that I could not
bring myself to destroy it! Instead we performed ritual surgery with giant scissors
and found that the chest cavities were stuffed with all manner of booty!

Including myrrh, firecrackers, cute barrettes, feathers,
fortune cookies, fancy chocolates and saint medals!

Not to mention roses of Jericho (aka Selaginella lepidophylla) with hand lettered instructions!

If you don’t already have one, I highly recommend one of these strange
and wonderous plants for your amusement and spiritual cleansing needs!

One of the best surprised of the evening was all of my sweet relatives
that appeared amongst the branches- my parents and wee nieces,
my aunt and uncle and no less than five cousins! It was so great
to have them there, family and lots of tiny little girls!
My dear papa played songs about crows on his banjo, much to our delight!

This is my cousin Luke, dressed as Gretel..
He came with Hansel and the Gingerbread man in tow,
and their little fairytale trio were the life of the party!

This was taken around the fire, about 6am.
It makes me burst into cackles every time-
Faith Delphi laughing at the Gingerbread Man
passed out in the leaves- he had gotten a hold
of a bottle of Night-Train (don’t ask!)
and well…

Dare I say it was the best birthday yet? Yes, I do!
I had no less than three birthday cakes- and all
were insanely delicious and attractive, as you can see..
The one above was made by Miss Nicoletta,
and another made by Miss Patience, and a sumptuous
german chocolate cake from Miss Evelyn! Hot damn, ladies!
There were impromptu performances and surprises
galore, so many wonderul people and music,
and all my wishes were granted, simultaneously!
Did I mention that it was a full moon that night?
I feel incredibly loved and lucky, and I thank everyone
in my life who has made it so! Besos, besos, besos!