the bug's first birthday

We have been to our fair share of first birthday parties. Some were over-the-top and stressful. Some were relaxed. Many were in between.

I love to throw a good party, especially baby showers and wedding showers. I like these parties particularly because you get to plan dozens of little details and then everyone shows up and the party is about someone else.

I think my dream job would be to plan parties for people and then leave five minutes before the guests arrive. I would even give the host an apron and tousle her hair a little so it looked like she planned the whole party. I have even saved links to awesome kids party stuff that I imagined here, here, here, here, and here. And look! invitations here and here.

I appreciate the details and the sentiments but the thought of talking to thirty people at your own house while you’re keeping an eye on your perfect cookie tray to make sure you shouldn’t replenish with round two of snacks yet, and trying to make sure a toddler doesn’t try to scale a floorlamp or trip over the back door threshold, and where is the birthday girl, anyway? all that…sounds exhausting.

So, we set out for a birthday bash outside at a third-party location. My only decor was a half dozen helium balloons that I purchased on a whim the day before. They had lost all helium by party time.

Our goals were:

1. To be able to invite a lot of people
2. To have a low-stress celebration
3. To keep our costs reasonable

Check, check, and check! We headed to Central Market, an upscale grocery store with a park, playground and tons of outdoor seating. Jon and I arrived about 15 minutes early, bought equal parts beer, bottled water, and cupcakes, and pushed some tables together outside while all four grandparents dressed and transported the birthday girl to the fiesta.

The invitation (emailed):

The birthday girl:

The venue:

The food (Erika’s photo):

The obligatory cake-eating (first is Erika’s photo):

The friends (last two are Erika’s photos):

The thank yous (mailed):

This event was made possible by Texas weather, where you can have an outdoor party in January and it’s 70 degrees.

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