Last week, we celebrated the birthday of my younger daughter, who is growing up way too fast for my taste! She started High School this year and all I can say is: treasure EVERY MOMENT! My older daughter will be leaving for college next year, and I think I am missing her already.

So, at the invitation of Patricia at the most excellent Mrs. Blandings blog, and in honor of women everywhere, young and old(er), I am posting pictures of my daughter's PINK Birthday Dinner Party to help raise awareness about breast cancer. For information about this and how you can help, please click HERE and HERE.

ANYWAY! I had so much fun putting together a more "grown-up" table for my daughter this year. No more "Hello Kitty" or Disney Princess themes. I wanted to surprise her after school with a table that was pretty with a little glamour. I chose pink, black and white for the palette. This was a family dinner party, so I used mostly used things that we already had at home.

I bought these fuchsia pink Cyclamen at Target on sale and put them in a white ironstone tureen for the centerpiece. A simple Hotel Linen tablecloth covers the table.

I have a set of these rectangular plates that I also use as platters. They are perfect for so many things...I wish I had more of them!

For a bit of glamour, I added some mercury glass votive holders. I received these sweet votive holders with silver flowers on them for my own birthday last summer.

I added more mercury glass from my collection of different shapes and sizes. Some new and some old. I always have boxes of extra tall white and ivory tapers on hand. They are my favorite candle....along with votives.

You may remember the white shells I brought back from a trip to Morrow Bay recently. I gathered them up and used them to accent the black napkins on the plates. I added a little fuchsia pink Salvia flower from the garden.

Each plate has a different white shell. If you were hosting a larger party for guests, they would make such a pretty little gift for your guests.

And of course there were presents, all wrapped in black, white and pink!

We had a wonderful time eating my daughter's requested meal of barbecued spare ribs, creamy polenta and spinach salad. And of course, CAKE:

Cheers to all of the wonderful memories with the young women in your life. And to keep them all healthy and safe, I hope you have a chance to check out the websites for the National Cancer Institute and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Put a little PINK in your day!