Olivia's Second Birthday!

As promised here's a recap of Olivia's Second Birthday Party!

When I informed parents to bring their kids' swimsuits for a "water fun" little did I know that we would be dealing with much more water than the slip n' slide and baby pools I had in mind. The sky opened up and it rained like a monsoon but guess what--we still had a GREAT time. We have the BEST friends who still showed up for our little girl's day--with their kids in tow. Love them.

Besides rain turned out to be the small glitch--and an empty gas tank (whoopsi) for the grill left Charm City Daddy cooking up turkey burgers and hot dogs in the kitchen instead. CCD and I agreed that of all of the parties we've had in our home it probably ranked as the second most fun of all time---with our first New Year's Eve party taking top honors. Both were simple, small and unpretentious with just the right mix of people.

Olivia is such a great little hostess too. She returned the "Happy Birthday" wishes to each and everyone that wished her a happy birthday--lol--it was everyone's birthday! At one point, during the rain storm, she invited all of the children ranging in age from 8 years to 19 months up to the third floor of our house which gets awesome acoustics for a full out screaming match and game of "tagyou'reit!" I shut that down after 5 minutes. Everyone complied but the birthday girl who was removed kicking and screaming.

It is nice to have experienced parents around as well--helping me relax about the rain issue and transition the children from activity to activity. A new friend of mine brought her 4 kids (ages 2-8) and it was awesome--like a built in party. I was so thankful and happy to see all of them--and they are such great, well-behaved--adorable kids.  At one point, her two year-old son was actually talking to Olivia's cake, "Caillou, I love you! I love you Caillou!"

I could go on forever...here's the party in pictures!

 

 

 

T-minus Two Weeks Til Two

My, my, my how times have changed. My only daughter and first born is turning 2 in two weeks and you haven't heard a peep from me, nor have I planned ANYTHING!

I don't know if I'm being neglectful and procrastinating, or if I was just going overboard last year for the first birthday party--but clearly there is a center--and I'm not operating in it.

We're going low-key this year. I always say that and then my husband's crazy ideas blow the budget--let's cater in some lobster mac or get a petting zoo!!  But THIS YEAR I really mean it. We're only inviting close family and friends. No petting zoo---just the usual zoo of 2 year-olds (and over/under) will be crazy enough.

With a tighter timeline, we had no choice but do e-invitations this year. BUT being the paper lover that I am, I just couldn't bring myself to use evites and went with Paperless Post. You get the look and presentation of a paper invitation without the cost, press time, and postage. Love that. Plus you get 25 free stamps and 10 points to when you sign up--making O's birthday invitation FREE to send.

Here's the simple invite.

One thing is for sure. I am NOT making cupcakes again this year. I was up all night last year trying to perfect icing and baking them. NO thank you. The cake will be purchased and daddy says he has it all taken care of--uh oh.

Another lesson I learned is that I will create a theme around my shopping trip---at the Dollar Store. Can I get an Amen? It's SO hard to determine a theme and look for things ON SALE that fit your theme--although I was fortunate last year. I  mean let's face it I will have to buy most everything b/c I am last minute and there is zero time for crafts for a working mom of two.

With that out of the way, I can focus on something fun like a nice gift for O. What does your toddler love? Any good gift ideas for a 2-year-old?

Of course--I'll keep you posted on results.

The First Birthday Party

It has actually taken me one week to fully rest and recover to even be able to do this recap. Yowzah.

Although my wonderful mama (Charm City Grandma) is a champ and started helping me get ready for the party several weeks in advance, we were both overwhelmed and exhausted the day before and the day of the party. The next thing we knew people started showing up and we hadn't set up the food, tables, and we were still in our work clothes. In about 30 minutes, with the help of a few of my good friends that arrived early (I have the BEST friends), the place set up and we did our quick changes into decent attire. Here's the main spread in the dining room...

Pictured: My homemade cupcakes, pig-in-the blankets, DIY tissue poms (leopard), and a hot dog/hamburger spread.

I was still running around most of the time making sure the essentials were out, so the pictures are lacking with hardly any close ups--sorry about that. I was the crazy first-time, first birthday mom trying to do it all and telling myself you have to put in the hard work for at least one of your kid's parties with all of the homemade mom touches. It is your rightful baptism as a mom. I told myself this, so that I won't feel guilty about taking the easy road next time.  You know like taking the kids to the zoo or Chuck E. Cheese and you let the staff do all the work---yeah---like that. But my fondest childhood birthday memories were the ones at home that my mom organized and I can't help wanting to do the same for my family.

I also found a very reasonable petting zoo for a steal! I am so proud. The animals were a hit and the operators were professional and very permissive with the children. I highly recommend if you live in the area. We had goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, and bunnies.

I am also proud of the adorable felt animal party hats my mom and I found at Michael's craft store on clearance for $2.99! The hats were appreciated by adults and kids alike.

Are you looking for what I promised to reveal that I actually sewed myself? Well, I ended up just assisting (cut, pinned and partially sewed) my mom in the construction of a table runner which cannot be seen in any photo. Except for the one close up I took of my imperfectly perfect cupcakes. Look for the green jungle looking runnner! 

Also here's another DIY tissue pom I made..zebra!

Also the tablecloths for the the outdoor tables were made by good old Charm City Grandma. We hope to use them for years to come as my mom made a a similar set of tablecloths with cloth napkins for my older sister when we were kids and they appeared at all of our birthday parties.

We sang happy birthday twice b/c daddy was lingering around the house and I realized this and had to stop everyone mid-song and wait for daddy to come into the room to witness the magic/confusion of Olivia enjoying hearing everyone in the room sing her name. 

And finally, what the first birthday is all about...eating the cake! Olivia wasted no time at all and devoured half of a giant cupcake I made before daddy confiscated it. 

So we started here...

Then daddy tried to keep it from getting too out of hand...

But it didn't take long before it got to here (complete with icing in hair).

 

Olivia actually had to take a nap that extended through the first hour of the party b/c of all of the excitement of visiting cousins and people setting up before the party.

For me it was a power-packed three hours. One thing I've learned about myself as a hostess, I'm terrible at delegating tasks b/c I want to retain all control until the last-minute when I give up caring or finally realize there are many things that others can and want to help with. I never get to socialize as much as I would like when I host parties and I am going to make a better effort to do less during my parties so I can enjoy myself more. Charm City Daddy always enjoys himself. Other than that--I wouldn't change a thing. Yay! So glad we survived! Happy Birthday Olivia!

Let's Catch Up

Here's what's going down in our little corner of Charm City...

First, I am happy to announce that I have a fellow dill pickle lover.  I've never been more proud.

O gave us a preview of how potentially helpful she could be around the house one day. I couldn't deter her from the mop, so I gave up and showed her how to use it.

We rocked full out afro puffs for the first time this week.

O store-tested the IKEA bed I picked out for her new room. She liked it. Now if I could just get her to lay or sit on it. I'm so afraid that the toddler bed switch (when it arrives down the road) will be the first glitch in our perfect record of sleep and sleep training.  We've been so blessed in that department. Praying and positive thinking only!

Party planning is coming along and after last week's post about my lack of craftiness, I broke out the sewing machine this week. With the help of my mom I actually MADE something for O's birthday party (to be revealed later--and don't get your hopes up).  As seen here, Olivia is an "unbeatable" shopping partner.

"Hey mom,  tell that creepy lady to stop staring. I am not actually for sale."

After hearing the stories from Nanny Julia about how Olivia loves her twice-weekly library visits, I had to see it for myself. It was my favorite 30 minutes of this week.

And last but not least, the birthday goodie bags are complete and sorted by the varying ages and genders of the little party attendees.

Glad to be done with this anxiety-inducing task---now I've got to muster the courage for the other thing that's been giving me heartburn---the thought of making the birthday cupcakes! Ah! I'm not going to wimp out and order some delicious designer ones though. I'm going to power through! After all this is the stuff that moms are made of.  Riiight?

First Birthday Planning...

is coming along nicely.

My plan to keep it low key, and low budget is still on course as Charm City Daddy is not involved in the planning. When I asked CCD what we should do to make the party special he suggested...petting zoo!  Then I looked up the cost of a petting zoo and realized it costs what I wanted to pay for the entire party. Cha-Ching! I don't think Olivia needs 2 ponies at her first birthday party--we need something to strive for later. Plus, she'd be happy just to see a dog (*tear, *tear). If I can barter the animal people down to small bunnies, chicks, ducks, guinea pics and baby animals only--I think I can get the price down. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Thanks to some very talented Etsy artists,  to date I've spent hardly anything on decor, custom invites, custom bag tags, custom and assorted cupcake toppers, cupcake wrappers, paper goods, and props like a cupcake stand I can reuse. Here's some of what we've got so far...

1. Tissue for Pom Poms
2. Animal Garland (2)
3. Animal Napkins
4. Animal Toppers (will be used for hors d'oeuvres)
5. Cupcake Stand
6. Cupcake Wrappers
(not pictured but purchased: custom invites, custom bag tags, and custom cupcake toppers).

Now that I see everything together, I'm thinking it needs some girlie touches.  I have to work on that with fresh flowers, and using ribbons to hang the pom poms or something.

Still to do: 

• Brainstorm kids' games/entertainment: One down (ball pit!), many more to go.
• Determine gift bag/favors
• Cupcakes- make 'em? or order 'em? 
• Determine a kid and adult-friendly menu
• Make a photo DVD of CCB's first year to play on repeat in the living room.
• Figure out outdoor seating situation

We are exactly 30 days away today! Ahhhh!

Birthdays and Bedrooms on the Brain

image care of TomKat Studio

With less than 80 days until Olivia's first birthday, I can't stop thinking about how we will celebrate this first year of her life.  Although she slept through most of it, we had a great time hosting her baby clambake--except for the wet weather.

Nonetheless I have visions of a smaller, intimate, detailed event for our closest friends and family (like less than 15 people, hopefully). I've been enjoying party inspiration and ideas from Kim at  TomKat Studio blog as well as Martha Stewart.

TANGENT: Speaking of Martha--I can't be the only working mama (or SAHM for that matter) with a love-hate relationship with Martha Stewart. Sometimes I feel like Martha's pure GENIUS---even when I know she has had masterminds like Eddie Ross  (and I love me some Eddie!!) working his creative magic behind the scenes.At other times, I can't believe that woman has built an empire teaching us things as simple as how to load a dishwasher!  Okay, I'm hatin'. Hateration over. Love those tissue paper poms, girrrrrl!

 another Tom Kat Studio image. Do you also wish you could hire her?

Also on my mind is Olivia's next bedroom. When we decided to start our family, the plan was to always keep the small bedroom by our master bedroom as the nursery. That's why I decorated it mostly gender neutral--so we could just rotate the babies through in keeping with Charm City Daddy's Grand Master Baby Manufacturing Plan to get me to birth FOUR babies. (sigh) Hey, one down...

Anyway, Olivia's 'toddler to tween' room is next on my plate and since her nursery was a bit bold and gender neutral I want to give the new room some softer, girly touches. And yes...more inspiration from Martha Stewart--DAMN her! 

both images care of Martha Stewart Living

 Stay tuned for another roller coaster ride of low-budget, piecemeal interior design a la Charm City Mama. I will post  the 'before' pictures soon of the room under attack for this project. This one should be interesting.

Planning a "Baby" Clambake

That's right. We're planning a post-baby party honoring Olivia's arrival.

Many of our friends couldn't make the shower or cannot wait to meet Olivia, so we decided (before she was even born) that we would have a little party after she arrived to introduce her to the world. Now we're trying to get her Christening to be scheduled for the same weekend so that family can be present, but it's been tricky. Hopefully it works out.

Because themes are fun to work around we decided to go along with a Clambake theme--quintessential New England which of course has Charm City Daddy written all over it.

The Clambake themed invitations went out a month ago and the RSVP's are coming in.

Here's how the party planning is going so far:

• 20 x 30 framed tent rental BOOKED!
  
• live band BOOKED!
  
• dj BOOKED!
  
• dance floor rental RESERVED!
• caterer BOOKED!
  
• cocktail, dinner table rentals SCHEDULED!
• make a Sam's Club run - to be completed this week.
  
• lantern centerpieces PURCHASED!
• floral arrangements - to be completed this week.
  
• linen rentals RESERVED!
  
• get noise variance from Baltimore City for band noise-WAITING ON GOV'T! BOO!
  
• organize basement- DONE!
  
• upgrade electric in outside of garage for band power DONE!
  
• patch plaster and paint in living room - to be completed this week
  

Did you notice how that list started veering off into the major repair side? That's beauty of living in a 82-year old house. You get to lump in major/mini renovation projects and upgrades with your party planning budgets! We added recessed lighting in the living room just before the baby got here and hadn't had a chance to get the plaster patched and painted--until now.

The party should be fun. I'm going with a red, yellow, and navy color scheme for the linen and flowers.

I've added more of these IKEA lanterns to my arsenal, which are proving to be party staples for me.

I've also selected some fun cocktail selections too...

• Weed & Water w/ Lemon ( Sweet Tea Vodka, a dash of water, lemon)
• Sex on the Beach
  
• My favorite Maryland Vineyard's wine
  
• An assortment of New England beers including Sam Adams & Magic Hat
  

The caterer just went over the menu with us on Saturday and it looks incredible. We're talking raw oyster bar, jumbo shrimp cocktail, cornbread, lobster mac and cheese, clam appetizer shooters, and more...

I'll be sure to take lost of pictures to share!