The Big 3-0

It's no secret that our thirtieth birthday is just around the corner.  Considering that our birthdays are only two weeks apart, there's no real sense in trying to "surprise" each other or have a separate celebration for this one - too much strain on the friends and family.

So, now the questions is: "What should we do for our 30th birthday!?!??!"

For months and months (maybe even a full year) when people ask what we're planning for our 30th (because apparently we MUST be planning something!), DH would jokingly say: "Bon Jovi and Smash Mouth."


We hear we might actually have a chance at getting Smash Mouth to play at our party.


If we wanted them to.

Which we don't. 


But ever since Bon Jovi announced that he'd rather play at the Consol on February 11th instead of our birthday party in late January, we've had to figure out a plan B.

Because Smash Mouth is NOT our plan B.


So I need some feedback - what should we do?  Here are the current ideas that we're throwing around.


Option 1: Small gathering at our house.  We can park about 12 cars in our driveway, as long as no one needs to leave.  As long as people carpooled, we could probably get at least 30 people here, if not more.

Option 2: Big gathering at our house.  We'd had to work out the logistics of where people would park and how they would get to the house, but we have a lot of space in our house and so the idea of throwing a big party at our place isn't totally out of the ballpark.  On the flipside though, do I really want to plan a big party at our house?  Planning, set up, clean up... ugh.  Could be a pain. 

Option 3: Rent a cheap venue and throw a big bash. Some place with plenty of parking. Invite as many people as we want. We'd provide some adult beverages and perhaps get some appetizers but nothing overly fancy.

Option 4: Reserve a room at a restaurant or bar, invite anyone who wants to come and do a "pay your own way" sort of deal, for food, drink, etc.

Thoughts?? Other ideas??? Please vote for your favorite option in the comments section below - this is only two months away so we need to start planning!