Katy's 40th!

We have been talking about Katy's 40th birthday for years and looking forward to what would have been an epic trip to Croatia to celebrate. Enter COVID and all of our fun travel plans were quickly shuttered! While a trip is hopefully still in our future, there was no way I was going to miss celebrating the one and only Katy Haley. To know her is to love her, and I've been lucky enough to know her for over sixteen years. Katy started as an intern at Bridal Bliss and is now our most senior planner, mentor to many, and one of my closest friends. She is a constant inspiration--a cancer survivor, a dedicated mom, and an uber-talented and creative planner adored by her clients. We have weathered many ups and downs in life together over the years and I can always count on her to make me laugh and to have my back. We are co-workers, neighbors (living only three houses apart!), friends, constant texters, dance party instigators, cocktail hour junkies, inappropriate joke sharers and she is like a sister to me (bickering and all).

When March came along, we were very limited on what we could do with the current COVID mandates. No one likes a good brunch, with Bloody Mary's of course, like Katy does so I knew that was the route to go. Joined by her cousins, Mahsa + Hoda, we decided to host an intimate brunch with her nearest and dearest full of good food, yummy drinks, and many many laughs.

My first call was to Eric at Art of Catering who graciously allowed us to take over their super-cool loft space in the Pearl, filled with unique art. The team catered a delicious coursed brunch with items like quail eggs and avocado on toasted brioche, Dungeness crab cakes, lamb lollipops, and marinated burrata. I can assure you no one was hungry or thirsty after the epic meal, personal cakes by Dream Cakes, and over-the-top Bloody Mary bar! Jordan with Blum and I schemed together a vibrant, springy, and fragrant tablescape we knew Katy would love, and with rentals from Bridgewood, it turned out just gorgeous. The yellow, pink, and apricot tones were so fun with the print-on-print linens. Crave Design created the printed items and Deyla Huss captured the whole event. It was so fun to not only have a reason to celebrate but to celebrate someone so wonderful. It was clear when I reached out to the vendor team, that Katy is an incredibly special person and we all wanted to spoil her.