Forty deserves a party, not a production. A backyard cookout with the grill going, a cooler of beer and the neighbors wandering over is exactly the right size, and this invitation says so from the first look: a kettle grill on red brick, tongs and a spatula leaning against it, a checkered napkin, rosemary in pots and a frame of vines heavy with tomatoes.
Below the painted headline go his name, the date and the address, in the same warm brown as the big letters.
For the day itself, keep the menu to things that come off a grill and go on a bun, put the drinks in a tub of ice where people can reach them, and let the birthday man cook if that is what makes him happy. Tell guests to bring a chair.
