Candace turns 40 - The Art of Celebrating

I'm going to spend some time this year documenting the celebrations we have for our milestone birthdays- you can read my original post- The Art of Celebrating- for a little background on the why.

Today is the first recap.

Candace.  

She is the most loyal person I know.  She values her friendships and her family like none other.  She is a constant warrior on your side.  You can see what she said about her 30s here.  We are so very fortunate to call Candace our friend.

Now our Candace is 40.  Her current thoughts would be:

I feel great being 40.

I remember when I was 20 & thought 40 was SO OLD!!  But it isn’t.... it’s just twenty 2.0

When I turned 20 I felt I needed to prove I was an adult, have my life all figured out...I didn’t.

Then turning 30 I was excited to start a family & be a mom- to give everything to my little family.

Now turning 40 I feel whole.  I know who I am... more so than I ever did before. I am confident in myself and in the woman I have become. I embrace every laugh line, wrinkle & squishy part. Because that’s me.

So cheers to 40 & all the wonderfulness it is going to bring.

For her 40th, Candace wanted to go out and be wild like we did in our 20s.

Which to be honest, made me groan because sometimes I feel really old (mostly after hard workouts and definitely after shopping at Aritzia) and doing the bar scene most certainly puts me out of my comfort zone. 

But this wasn't about me- this was about Candace, our little social butterfly, who wanted to go out and feel young again for her 40th. 

When you frame it that way- it makes total sense and once I got over myself, it was completely refreshing.

So what did we do for Candace, you ask?

A Footloose and Fancy Free 40th

Step 1: Feel Beautiful

The first step was the feel beautiful because we all know how easy it is to be confidant when you look fabulous.  We booked Candace a full makeup application session at Sephora which was followed by a blow out by her hair dresser back at the hotel.   We had a room booked at the James Hotel so we could comfortably spend the afternoon prepping for a night out but also have a sleepover after.  I mean if you're going to make the night like a night from our 20s, then one must have a sleepover.  Carmen took it a step further and had decorated the room with thoughtfulness.

Step 2: Eat delicious food you don't have to make yourself

Our typical birthday celebration would be a supper out because yay for food and not having to cook or clean up, so of course this was to be included - she picked supper at Congress Beer House where we all ended up ordering the Ace burger. Except Alynne- she was healthy and got salmon or was it pasta?  She's always the rebel.  The food there is so good! Another fave is their buffalo chicken poutine.  This is how we always end up ordering the exact same thing at restos.....

Step 3: Toasts & Speeches & Yummy Drink AND CAKE

After supper we headed over to Winston's pub where we had booked a room in the basement and were joined by her family and more friends.

Remember when you'd get drinks in fishbowls and they'd taste like koolaid? Well that was the level of awesome that Candace (and Carmen) had attained with delicious drinks . Sara, Alynne and I were being the moms and making sure everything happened.  Like toasts to our girl, and cake. Yes, cake. Now when I think cake, I usually think Candace because no one would be surprised if she showed up somewhere with cake.  Her go-to is vanilla with the frosting from Safeway- super sweet and super delicious and super good for you.

Step 4: Party like it's 1999

Our next stop once we were warmed up was to Hudson's which is (I think) the cooler establish for the youngens in YXE? It was crowded and the average age was something we could have birthed, so that was interesting. Some got their dance on, a few good drinks were shared but we couldn't hear anything and / or move  and yes, this is where we felt the oldest and most out of place.  So we left.   Off to Diva's, the local gay bar, where we went to dance into the night.  We should have gone there from the beginning as we felt much more comfortable and even did some speaker dancing like the days of yore.

Step 5: Giggle and Chat into the wee hours of the morning

We were ready to call it a night around 1:30 and walked back to the hotel for my favourite part of going out - sitting around, giggling and telling stories.  I wasn't surprised to see how long this part went when we finally snuggled into bed around 3 am.  The only thing we missed was poutine.

In the end it was a memorable night and we loved celebrating our oldest.

Candace, you are our sister and we love you.  Cheers to your 40s being the best decade yet.

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Follow along next week as I blog my birthday adventures old school blogging style with nightly recaps of what kind of trouble I got in ALL THE FUN!

* This article was originally published here