party 4 me

A week all about turning 25.

On Saturday, I turned 25.

I love to make a big deal about anything that I can, so becoming a quarter of a century old felt like the perfect occasion to do just that. While it took me a long time to figure out what it was exactly that I wanted to do, I spent the last few months taking inventory, mentally preparing, and increasingly bothering my friends about it.

At first, I thought that maybe I wanted to have a big party somewhere. Upon completing research I realized that venues in the Lower East Side were upwards of $2500, which I do not in fact have to spare. I figured I would just invite my best friends over, and we could take the night on from there.

When I host, I love to do things that make your guests remember your party forever. This is something I inherited from my mom, who is arguably the world’s best host. It’s not about spending a lot of money on hosting, it’s about being smart and fun with it. I wanted to decorate my apartment, but didn’t want it to be a traditional sign from Amazon (no shade) or pink balloons or things that I see on the regular. I also didn’t want to over do it. I knew I wanted to supply alcohol and dinner since I was keeping the pregame pretty small, and I had ordered a cake from Gabrielle Scelzo.

So, I ordered a custom banner from Etsy that typically houses pictures of the person whose birthday it is, but instead filled it with twelve of my cool girl icons:

1. Gwyneth Paltrow

2. Hannah Horvath

3. Marnie Michaels

4. Jemima Kirke

5. Gracie Abrams

6. Ashley Olsen

7. Mary-Kate Olsen

8. Zoë Kravitz

9. Chloë Sevigny

10. Kylie Jenner

11. Taylor Swift

12. Carrie Bradshaw

It now hangs in my apartment for the forseeable future, and it was a huge hit. Some honorable mentions that didn’t make it to the banner due to space were Addison Rae, Alexa Chung, Camille Rowe, Kate Moss—the list is honestly pretty big.

I don’t remember what made me rediscover the dress I wore, but I had bought it over a year ago, and when I sent my friends a picture from when I bought it they insisted that the search for a birthday outfit was in fact over. It’s from Zara, I saw a cool girl on TikTok wearing it, and it actually comes across way nicer than something that was probably $40. They don’t sell this exact one anymore, but here are a bunch that are very similar.

I discovered Gabrielle Scelzo from Feed Me , and knew after a quick scroll of her page and reading Perfect City that I wanted her to make my cake. I reached out a few months in advance which greatly pleased my type-A brain, and told her that I wanted matcha cake with strawberry filling and raspberry frosting, for it to say “25”, and for it to be semi-olive themed. Olive themed, not martini themed. She hit it out of the park, and everyone said it was the best cake they had ever had. I’m having it for dinner once I finish this letter.

For additional refreshments, I provided Scarr’s Pizza (an LES delicacy), cheese and crackers, miscellaneous nuts and olives, spinach and artichoke dip, sour candy, and the classic potato chip-pretzel one-two punch. Alcohol was a bunch of surfsides, two bottles of riesling, margaritas, vodka sodas, and champagne that we didn’t pop—is that bad luck?

Other custom party favors I got for what I deemed to be an “Olivia themed” party were custom lighters from BIC with my face on them, and custom temporary tattoos that say Olivia on them. I brought them to the bar for us to apply as we increasingly got drunk which was a blast, but no one asked me to light their cigarette with the lighter, which was disappointing. Did anyone give one to a stranger? God I hope so.

The night was truly amazing and I owe that all to my besties. We ate, we laughed, and we sang, for the second year in a row, until the early hours of the night at one of my favorite bars, Winnie’s. I had told my friends that I didn’t feel like singing, only to bring the house down with No Air like I did last year. Who was I kidding.

Earlier in the day, I had gone to lunch at Raoul’s with my best friend Eliza, and then walked around before parking on the benches outside of Cha Cha Matcha. The perfect afternoon if you ask me. The Raoul’s burger (my first time there) lived up to every expectation, but I’ve had a sensitive stomach this week due to my recent trip to Mexico, so it kind of knocked me out until I had to get ready for my little shindig. I wore the Prada Dress I got from The Real Real, and I felt very 25. My sister arrived later in the afternoon to stay over for my party, and on Sunday, we got foot massages and slushies in Chinatown.

On Wednesday, my mom and I went to Bemelmans at the Carlyle Hotel, somewhere I’ve been wanting to go since I moved to the city, but haven’t had an occasion to. I love fancy dinners on the Upper East Side, I love bars and restaurants that are just so New York like The Monkey Bar and The Odeon, and I love any occasion to dress up. We drank Jackie O’s (their pornstar martini) and Veuve Clicquot, sat right next to the Jazz Trio, and snacked on bar bites. Friday after work, my coworkers and I got drinks at Dolly’s Swing and Dive in Williamsburg. They surprised me with homemade limoncello, an Edible Arrangement, and a mini cheesecake. I’m the luckiest girl in the world, and it’s never been more apparent than this week.

Turning 25 got me into a very introspective mood. I feel like a baby, and everyone is truly starting to splinter off into their own real adult lives. Some people are getting engaged, getting married, buying houses, moving cities or countries, and some people are standing still. I’m really happy with the pace that I’m currently moving, which is something I often need to remind myself of. This year taught me a lot of lessons, and I’m proud of how much I’ve grown. My favorite part of each birthday is the beautiful cards I receive from my friends and family, and it was so wonderful to read that they were proud of me too. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about how I’m as close to I was being born as I am to 50 now, and I just can’t grasp how that could be possible.

I know I said it before and I hate being repetitive, but I just feel so lucky. This was the first birthday I wasn’t riddled with social anxiety or working myself up in any way, I just felt so free. I’m so thankful for everyone who made this so special, from the Equinox greeter who told me happy birthday when I was using the Soho bathroom after lunch, to my amazing friends and family.

The last month has been a whirlwind, and summer is only starting. My friends and I are off to camp this week for the fourth of July, so I have a third very exciting blog post in a row coming up. Life is good.