On the day before her eighteenth birthday, Charlotte Hill makes a decision to change. Not wanting to follow in the footsteps of her alcoholic mother, she enlists a sober partner named Michael to help guide her. He challenges her to think of something fun to do to celebrate, and with the help of some friends, she recreates the eighth birthday party she never had. The party is an imaginative romp filled with pirates, gypsies and a fuchsia elephant...the best she's ever had.