Ryan Gosling knew how to make Eva Mendes’s milestone birthday special.
Mendes marked her 50th in March, and a source tells PEOPLE that it was an “amazing” celebration, thanks in part to her longtime partner Gosling, 43.
“She seemed very comfortable turning 50. Ryan constantly tells her she’s beautiful. He made her birthday very special,” says the source.
The couple share two daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 9½, and Amada Lee, 8 this month.
Says the source, “Eva and Ryan are truly such a happy couple. They’re very supportive of each other’s passions. They’re also grateful for the financial freedom their work gives them, and they’re all about family time.”
“They’re great at balancing everything,” adds the source.
The pair’s romance began after they hit it off while starring together in 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines. Gosling gave a shoutout to Mendes in January when he was honored at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
About his career, Gosling said in a speech, “Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children. … I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream.”
In a recent appearance on the Today show, Mendes explained her choice to focus on raising her kids while Gosling continued acting. “It was like a no-brainer,” she said. “I’m so lucky if I could have this time with my children.”
Mendes said while she does still work, she prefers not to act because “acting takes you on location. It takes you away.”
“It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, ‘Okay, he’s going to work and I’m going to work. I’m just going to work here,’ ” she said. “He went and he did his job. He just happens to be really good at his job. And he did it and he came home.”