Imagine getting to celebrate your 70th birthday and the 40th anniversary of your blockbuster debut novel in one night.

Sandra Cisneros did just that on Dec. 20th at Camino Silvestre and Nectar, Calle Correo #43.

And there was cake! Well, cupcakes. Delicious cupcakes. And paper party hats and singing, too.

The book is “The House on Mango Street,” the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Mexican-American girl coming of age in Chicago. Everyman’s Library has just come out with a 40th anniversary edition – which was another reason to celebrate.

Camino Silvestre’s founders Jim McKeever and Alfredo Garcia-Lucio served as masters of ceremony, congenial hosts, bakers of cupcakes and makers of hats, and all-around party planners.

They have cause for celebration, too: their popular shop of curios, plants, and hummingbird feeders, Camino Silvestre (Zacateros #46), marked its 14th year only one week earlier. And their recently re-opened restaurant Nectar has gotten off to a roaring good start.

Jim and Alfredo both took a moment to reflect on the joyful friendship they have shared with the author and how it got off to a roaring start when Sandra dropped in regularly for tea and asked them to stock her books in their store. Something they have been delighted to do for years.

As for Sandra, what better way to celebrate her birthday than an exuberant and emotional reading of a couple of chapters from “Mango Street” and some of her newest poetry? It was all re-read with as much feeling and intensity in Spanish.

With sparklers, newspaper party hats, a couple of rounds of “Happy Birthday,” and Alfredo’s mago-flavored cupcakes the night ended on a giddy celebratory note.

But the party never ends. Next month Jim and Alfredo are hosting a fund-raiser party at their home in the campo for Sandra Cisneros. They will celebrate her upcoming opera based on “The House on Mango Street” with excerpts sung by a guest soprano to live piano accompaniment. 

Jim McKeever and Alfredo Garcia-Lucio will also be among headliners for the annual PEN Presents Winter Series of lectures at Mesones 71, in Centro. On Tuesday, February 18, they will talk about “Passionate Gardening: From garden to table to healthy living in San Miguel.”

There will be a variety of talks over six Tuesdays in January and February. Information and tickets ($350 pesos/$20 usd) can be found at www.sanmiguelpen.com.