friends, i cannot even begin to express the absolute sh*tshow last week was. it all started wonderfully (which we’ll get to in a second!), but as of last monday, all four of us woke up and were down with the flu. correction: my entire family – mom, dad, stepmom, sister, nieces, husband, and both boys and me – all went down. we had hosted my family holiday celebration over the weekend and we all managed to share the love with one another.

not only was last week the last week before the holidays, but it was also the oldest’s finals week. and the youngest’s fun week in middle school. and the week the husband had to make a last minute trip out of town for work. if you or someone in your orbit hasn’t had the joy of this year’s flu strain, it’s awful. wash your hands. if you are able, get your flu shot. wash your hands again. and again.

but before this happened, we had a lovely holiday celebration + finished it off with a close-knit celebration for my sister’s 40th birthday. with my sister’s birthday falling the wednesday before we were all going to be together, what better time to celebrate her and this milestone? plus, with all of us together, it was the perfect time to do an updated family photo…the kids just keep growing + we wanted to be able to keep marking their amazing milestones.

now for the fun part: the details!

location: i knew when we were planning this 40th birthday celebration, we wanted somewhere that felt cozy + intimate for our little family celebration. we were looking at 13-15 people total…while we could have done a restaurant setting, i also thought it would be more fun to do something different. so, i reached out to my friend kailey at the greenhouse in sycamore! the greenhouse is a beautiful, chill plant store/coffee bar with lots of comfy spots to sit, relax + enjoy some snacks and beverages. kailey was incredible to work with…and, we were able to bring in catered food + our own beverages!

food: we needed food, of course! with an event time of 5pm – 7pm, we decided that we wanted to go with charcuterie + some heavier, heartier bites. for the charcuterie, i turned to my friend dana, the chief snack officer at say cheese. can i just say: her charcuterie is GORGEOUS. and delicious. it’s seriously a work of art! then for our heavier bites, i knew we were going to include the incredible hand pies from my friend chef christy at the treehouse pie co. both dana + chef christy made the food for this party an absolute breeze…from delivering to the greenhouse to helping with pick up, they are *chef’s kiss!*

dessert: y’all know i believe cake is a food group. i also love a fantastic cookie. this is why i went to ken’s kakes so she could deliciously + beautifully handle both! she did such a fabulous job with the color palette and inspo photos i sent her, and everything was absolutely delicious!

florals: there was one place i was going for these florals and that was willrett flower company in dekalb. with the party taking place in a plant store, we already had such amazing ambiance + decor, but i did want to add a few pops of color in the jewel tone palette we were doing. mary grace did such an amazing job putting together a centerpiece bouquet and individual stems for me to include in bud vases around the tables!

and to finish the night, we did a family photo shoot. the kids are getting so big, my oldest is about 18 months out from going to college, my youngest is flying through middle school, and the nieces are just growing like crazy! it had been a couple of years since our last photo session, so what better time to do updated pics? i reached out to my friend andrew with schrock media + he did an incredible job with all of us…ranging in age from three to seventy+!

to my sister: happy, happy, happy 40th to you! this celebration was a delightful little way to show her love and celebrate this next chapter of her life!