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Inside Jennifer Garner’s Down-Home 39th Birthday BBQ

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One year to go before 40!

Jennifer Garner celebrated her 39th birthday on Sunday with a low-key, outdoor barbecue at the Pacific Palisades, Calif. pad she shares with hubby Ben Affleck and their two girls Violet, 5, and Seraphina, 2,

Related: PHOTOS: Jen Garner's life as a supermom!

Before the bash got underway, however, the Arthur actress pampered herself with a spa treatment that morning at the Peninsula Hotel.

By early afternoon, about 30 guests, most of them with kids of their own — including Affleck's BFF Matt Damon — had arrived at the family's home bearing gift boxes from Barney's, Neiman Marcus and elsewhere.

Related: PHOTOS: Adorable pics of Violet and Seraphina

The kid-friendly, catered menu emphasized Southern comfort food staples: grilled corn, mac 'n cheese and barbecue shrimp. See more photos from Jen's birthday bash.

"There were lots of kids running around and laughter heard all the way from the street," a source tells Us Weekly.

Even with busy film schedules and two daughters underfoot, Garner has said that she and Affleck (they married in 2005) still find time for romance.

Related: PHOTOS: See what Jen looked like as a kid

"You steal the time. You steal a date, you steal a kiss, you steal a whisper. You sit next to each other on the couch with computers on your laps. After the kids are asleep you…well, you know," the actress told Parade last year.

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