I’m not going to lie: I thought I was pretty cool for serving appetizers at my 31st birthday party last month. I mean, what’s more adult and elegant than giving guests little ham-and-cheese pinwheels to gnaw on while they drink to excess? But, shockingly enough, Charli XCX somehow outdid me at her 32nd birthday fête in Los Angeles on Friday, which drew none other than Lorde in to dance with Charli to their “Girl, So Confusing” remix.
I don’t even know what to focus on first in that Oscar-worthy video snippet, to be honest. Is it Charli’s Brat-green phone case? Her beyond-perfect pantless birthday look? Lorde’s nutso little braids? Rachel Sennott and Molly Gordon dancing next to them? The guy in the crowd who’s clearly being FaceTimed in? Or should we just zoom out to the fact that the Manic Pixie Dream Guy himself, Glen Powell, was there too (well, not necessarily at this specific moment, which seems to have been reserved for the girlies and gays, but at the party more generally)?
As if Powell’s presence weren’t enough, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Finneas, Gracie Abrams, Addison Rae, Tove Lo, Nelly Furtado, Anya Taylor-Joy, and two of the Willis sisters—Scout and Tallulah, to be specific—were also on hand to celebrate the day this world went from being Charli XCX-less to Charli XCX-full, and I certainly hope they brought a vast array of slime green gifts.
Ultimately, though, one specific detail of the birthday party had me astral projecting, and it was the stunning and extremely on-brand cigarette bouquet that singer Rosalía brought Charli for her birthday:
International fame and a hit album are all well and good, but at the end of the day, all you really need are friends who know you well enough to shower you with custom dirtbag-chic floral arrangements. Did Jeremy Allen White help to pick out the blooms, I wonder…?
