An Elmo Breakfast Birthday Party!

My sweet angel turned two last week. I keep pinching myself about it, because it's super emotional to think back over the past two years of his life. But he's so funny, you guys, because he asked for an Elmo birthday party. With an Elmo cake. How does he know to ask about these things?! We weren't going to do a party for him this year, because honestly, we threw a big shindig last year and it was tons of fun (please tell me you remember my hand-made fruit pirate ship) - but also tons of work. And I wanted to just give myself a pass on this one. However, when Everett asked about his birthday party (we've been to several birthday celebrations lately), and said, "want Elmo cake", everything in my mama heart said, "You got it!"

Thank goodness Publix makes a mean Elmo cake. Twenty balloons, a carton of Starbucks coffee, and a bag of Panera bagels later, we were in business. This was a great, eeeeeasy birthday party. We just invited our families over for a 9am breakfast (because we are a big family!), let the kids run through the sprinklers and it was the perfect amount of hoopla and celebration.

Oh, and the birthday boy got to pick a special donut for breakfast. Because apparently you can't eat healthy on your birthday around here...

Cousins table!!! Many thanks to Travis & Liz for gifting us this amazing kid's picnic table.

I was a tiiiiiiny bit nervous about having him blow out the candles. I mean, that fire was close to his face. Thankfully, his cousin Wynn helped him out with the task. And Everett couldn't have cared less, because he was super enamored with the birthday song. He is still asking me to sing it to him, every day when he wakes up. "Bird-day song, mom?"

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to"

People ask me all the time, "Why did you guys move from NYC?? Don't you miss it?" and of course I do. But when I see these photos of my son tumbling in the grass with his cousins and getting loved on by his grandparents and getting affirmed by his aunts and uncles, I am more sure than ever that we made the right choice. Everett is the happiest boy, so loved by everyone around him, and it's such an honor and a hilarious joy to be his mom every day. Happy 2nd birthday to my bright, beautiful boy!

How to Throw a Pirate Birthday Party.

How to Throw a Pirate Birthday Party.
We had such a blast throwing our son's first birthday party with the Pirate Pool Party theme. It was the perfect way to celebrate his vivacious life with our closest friends and family, in a way that was silly and playful. In other words, I was a dweeb and decided to make name cards for every pirate-y element of the party. I would say that it's the stay at home mom in me, but when it comes to celebrating, I just like everything to be over the top. Let me have my crafts and my recipes! LET ME!

1. The Food.
The food is obviously one of the most important elements. Since the party was early afternoon, we served lunch, which included (prepare yourself) Scalleywags (hot dogs and cheeseburgers), Fish and Chips (Goldfish crackers and potato chips), Plundered Pasta (pasta salad), Pirates Booty (duh), Veggie Planks (vegetable tray) and a fruit salad. For the drinks I went simple, with Ocean Grog (bottled water), and the Captain's Brew (beer), with juice boxes for all the kiddos.

2. The Watermelon Pirate Ship.
I came across this when I was pinteresting, and I couldn't resist giving it a try. This watermelon pirate ship was too adorable to pass up! I'll admit, the effort required was vast, and I am so grateful that my mom watched Everett the day before the party so that I could do crazy things like make a pirate ship out of fruits and vegetables (this tutorial was helpful!) But I was so proud that it turned out great! This is definitely the kind of thing you want to make a day ahead of time and then refrigerate overnight. There should be no day-of carving! The supplies needed for this (other than the fruit) were the fruit skewers (like these), some pretty straws (I found mine in the Target dollar section, but these are similar) and this pirate Lego set to really set the scene. These cute blocks were lying around the house and I decided to employ their attractiveness, as well. I also made 4 boxes of blue jello the day beforehand and cut it into squares, then surrounded the ship with "water". I'll admit, that might have been my favorite element of this little project, because it added a special effect.

3. The Cake.
The Publix Bakery has been a long-time cake provider in our family, from before our wedding up until now. My favorite dessert are the petit fors (the orange and vanilla are TO.DIE.FOR) and of course, the strawberry cake was my choice for our wedding. We decided to go with the Little Pirates cake for Everett's bash. Publix has this really special promotion for 1st birthday parties - when you buy a large cake (either 1/4 or 1/2 sheet cake), they will give a free mini cake for the baby's epic cake smash. How great is that? And they decorated his two cakes so well, I almost cried when I saw them. Thank you, Publix! You do it up right!

4. The Decor.
Balloons, streamers, and banners oh my. We posted balloons down by the mailbox and then drew a dotted line up the driveway (using black tape) to create the "treasure map" trail. A red "X marks the spot" was on the front door, where the party goers entered at their own risk :) That's where they dropped off their gift by the Captain's Loot and found their way outside to the food, drinks and poolside fun. Yes, cheesy. YES I KNOW. But the cheesy only added extra sparkle to the fun. Which I was having LOADS OF. I was on a party high the whole day. Laughing in pride at my homemade crafts-turned-decor. I also used a smattering of these, these and these free printables, all thanks to my excessive, late night nutella-induced Pinterest binging. Good times.

4. The Activities.
I am a firm believer in the fact that a birthday party IS the activity. We have a pool so everyone could "walk the plank" (the diving board) and swim to their heart's content! We also had toys out for the babies to play with and more than enough pirate "stuff" for the big kids to go around - eye patches and pirate face masks. But I'm a little bit over the top, so I also put together a photo booth (which, sadly, was never used - a good reminder that a party is enough of an activity!) I learned that when there is a pool, there is little else you need to keep kids happy and busy.

5. The Favors.
We couldn't resist putting out toy water guns and bubbles for all the kiddos to enjoy. While most of the bubbles ended up dumped in the pool (sorry, mom and dad!), I know that everyone really loved playing with these. Unfortunately, I ended up with an excessive amount of left over toy water guns. WHO LEFT THEIR PARTY PRESENT?! Come get your left overs!

6. Have SO MUCH FUN.
This was the most important part of the day. I made sure to take moments and deep breaths and just soak it all in. Not be too stressed about the details working out and just have fun. Enjoy my son and watch his expression change as he was sung to, doted upon, and loved so so well by all the wonderful people who surround him, encourage him, and have helped him grow. It is such a privilege to raise up this healthy, strong, hilarious boy and I am so lucky to be his mom and be part of his story. You only get to celebrate your son's 1st birthday ONCE. I wanted to make it count. I wanted to dress him up like a pirate. It's really too bad that he threw an enormous fit and wouldn't let me.

There's always next year.

In case you're wondering, YES, I pinterested an enormous amount to gather ideas for this party. You can see my board of ideas here. I had SO much fun planning and executing this party. I might not always put this much effort into birthday parties to come (I just re-read that sentence, and that's completely untrue), but I am so glad that Everett's birthday will always be a sweet memory for our family.

Let me know if you decide to throw a pirate-themed party! I would love to see your links and pics :)

Everett's 1st Birthday Party!

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have lots of lovely plans in store for your weekend. It's been a really, REALLY busy week in our camp, with our upcoming move and lots of family events taking place, but I will have lots more to share about all of that on Monday. I wanted to take a moment today to share something super special that happened this past Saturday:

My son turned ONE YEAR OLD.

After sneaking into his room to watch him sleep every night this past week (that's not weird, right?), I am still in disbelief that my itty-bitty baby has developed into the most effervescent, beautiful, strong little boy over the past 365 days. The day of his birthday was especially peculiar for me, with my emotions oscillating between extreme excitement for his future and overwhelming sadness that my baby has outgrown himself day by day. I kept replaying videos of him over the past year, everything from his first grunts to his first smiles, first laugh, first crawl, first solid foods, ahhhh it's getting me all over again.

He is so sweet, so good, so infuriating and funny and fanatic and vibrant - I am overcome with gratitude. I am so lucky to be his mom, I am so lucky that he came into my life and surprised me with his joyful presence. His nocturnal, ever-teething, probably forever nursing (ah!) presence. Before I go completely emo-mommy on all of you, I'll cut myself short of all the reminiscing (since I already did that here) and just cut to the chase.

We threw him a pirate pool party with 45 of his closest friends. You can spot my immediate family members because we all wore pirate bandanas. You can spot me because my hair increasingly swelled with humidity every moment of the party. And you can spot my babe because he wouldn't let me put a bandana on his head; instead we had to settle for him wearing it around his neck like a bib. So he looks kind of like a cowboy while the rest of us experienced some rather excruciating head sweat, all in the name of committing to the theme. Honorable mentions go to my mom, who drew a mustache on with eyeliner.

My family is nuts. In case you needed the disclaimer.

Cousins with the she-pirate.

Super mimi!

My best creation.

Watermelon pirate ship. Perhaps my second best creation.

A special smash cake, all for him!

Happy Birthday, Everett Lee!

You can see the progression. He didn't dig it. Well, he dug in, but he didn't dig it.

Sweet boy. It was just such a big day for him, with all the people around him fussing and making a big deal. He really didn't know what to make of it. And he didn't even try to eat the cake. Which is a shame, because Publix really does make a mean birthday cake. THAT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING.

Sometimes a boy just needs his dad. Especially when everyone is staring at the icing on your face.

My little nephews decided to take up their cross and bury their faces in the cake since Everett didn't quite understand the fun in it. These little guys have my heart.

A dip in the pool, to wash away the crazed cake memory. And that stubborn red frosting...

Boom boom. Heart snatchers, both of them.

We had a special present opening on the porch. With Everett's girlfriend. AKA my future daughter in law.

Everything she picked out was his favorite. Of course. Because she's perfect.

Stacking cups for the win.

To all those matchmaking dads who try to make their babies kiss each other goodbye... GET A LIFE. Okay fine, I might have had the camera poised in hopes of capturing the epic moment. Alas, a kiss never came. #theresstilltime

Happy Happy Day.
And just like that. My boy is one. I am dumfounded, caught up in the fleeting wonder of parenthood and childhood and life. Any advice for this mama of a 1-year old, entering the toddler stage with a busssssssy boy? I'm all ears!

More up here next week on the party planning elements - how I made a pirate ship out of fruit, festive food for kiddos and adults alike, and the awesome photo booth that we kind of forgot to use. Oops.

Happy weekend to you! XOX

Psssst - In honor of his birthday, I am hosting a giveaway with Freshly Picked to gift a pair of babe moccasins (our favorite shoes) to one lucky winner! Do yourself a favor and enter here - it's the best kind of birthday favor, I promise!

Favorite Things Tea Party at the Ritz Carlton!

Favorite Things Tea Party at the Ritz Carlton!

It's no secret that I am a sucker for a good tea party. It's the little girl in me. So when my darling anglophile friend Alyson invited me to a tea party in honor of the new royal baby, how could I resist?? And when I found out it was high tea at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, well, you kind of pull out all the stops to make that kind of affair come to life. Babysitter? CHECK. Good friends? CHECK. Awesome dress from my stylist sister? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Oh, and perhaps a little frou-frou head gear, a la Blair Waldorf. Checkedy check. Gang's all here!

To amplify the fun of high tea, Alyson decided to make this a "favorite things" party, where you bring a gift for each person at the party that is one of your favorite things. $5 limit. You know, one of those fun items that you love picking up at Target, even though you don't really need it. And so everyone goes home with a new favorite thing! It's super fun and girly. LIKE HIGH TEA IN HONOR OF A BABY PRINCESS. I hope that little Princess Charlotte knows that she is being partied for around the world. She's a little angel from Heaven. Loving babies is a relatively new thing for me. Since having my own, you know. And a baby princess?! Well, that's just all the more reason to celebrate babiessssss. Princess babbbiieeesssss.

We three. Wait - four!!

She's the raddest of them all. Look at those pearls. That fascinator. The woman the legend.

Aw macaroons make pregnant friends happy.

I'll have them all, thanks.

How gorgeous is that arm.

I want to put that on my head and be coronated.

With Kate, the gang's all here!

That's my lipstick. I'm officially a grown up.

Pinkies Out!

Okay so tea time. It was decadent. It was fancy. It was fruity. Tasty. Ruffled and spritzed and I might have sipped with my pinkies out. I blame the head gear. And I applaud sweet Alyson, because this girl really knows how to celebrate the great joys of life. And how about Janelle? Is there a hotter pregnant chick around? Well, I know a lot of preggos lately, so I can't choose favorites, but oh Janelle! What a babe, inside and out. The Ritz put on a delicious tea, complete with champagne and strawberries riddled in a bit of Grand Marnier. Yeah, I might have left tea time a little toasted. Those Brits really know how to make imbibing a gallant afternoon affair. The old-fashioned dining room was finished with oak and burgundy leather and crystal chandeliers - all things that make a tea party feel positively princessy. Which was occasion-appropriate, if you know what I mean.

The other great tea times of my life include that time at Fortnum & Mason in London, that time I surprised my sister at The Plaza in New York, that time I was surprised at Alice's Teacup in New York, the time I was ripe with pregnancy at Dr. Bombay's in Atlanta and that time I celebrated Downton Abbey's new season with my insane family.