It gave me the perfect excuse to use one of my 1950's Alfred Shaheen dresses. I can't get enough of them! To me, they're meant to be for me. They are colorful, beautiful, and made in and inspired by Hawaiʻi.
This one has a design that looks a lot like ʻōhiʻa lehua, a flower (and tree) native to Hawaiʻi.
And I finally got the chance to use my beautiful feather hat i got from Vintage From Paris in Malmö. Unfortunately I didn't have a photographer handy at the time to help me take pictures of my hat, so I did the best I could.
My hair looks blue-black!
As an aside, I wanted to be careful not to make it a bogus, aloha-tiki-hula-hula party, though, because that stuff just gets tired and offensive for someone who is interested in 1950's kitsch but also happens to be a real live actual Native Hawaiian. That said, I think the idea of "tropical" is fun and doesn't have to offend someone's culture.
So I went with bright colours, flamingos, and tropical fruits incorporated into the meal. Whenever I have parties, I'm so focused on getting food out and making sure everyone is all set that I almost always forget to take party pictures! So the coconut candle and flamingo table decorations didn't get to make it onto the blog. But of course I managed to take pictures of the food!
I also got this joker to take a picture with me. He was a big help throughout the day!
I was serenaded by my friends - accompanied by guitar even!- as I blew out the candles on the lilikoʻi (passionfruit) cake I baked.
All in all, it was a lovely (early) birthday weekend filled with friends, food, and fun. It can't get better than that!
All in all, it was a lovely (early) birthday weekend filled with friends, food, and fun. It can't get better than that!
