LO's 1st birthday party...a success!

i wasn't sure how to throw a birthday party for 1 year old. i stumbled across so many amazing ideas. wow! the amount of creativity, time, and money that can go into one of these blows my mind. i'm a procrastinator, at best, so, i knew the party we were going to have was going to be all about simplicity.

friends, family, frills, and food was on the to-do list.

invitations:
well, i'd let the invitation website to the work and save some trees and have them sent via email.

the decorations:
h-a-p-p-y b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y signs and streamers
colorful paper lanterns
red plastic table clothes
1 fabulous handmade poster (compliments of aunt d)

entertainment:
puppet story time and mr. rabbit as the surprise guest (thanks to the local nature center)

food:
tortilla and pita chips
spinach artichoke dip
hummus
salsa
guacamole
queso
fruit tray
vegetable tray
olives
2 store bought cakes (carrot and vanilla)
beer, soda, and juice

why it went off without a hitch...my lovely, beautiful, gracious, brilliant mother-in-law. she came in town the night before, and when i began to freak out she reminded me of what it was all about...my little boy!

i was once a gourmand. okay, i'll cut the crap, i was a food snob. i would have never, never served chips and store bought dip for a party.  and store bought cake, well, that's sacrilege! i'll have you know, i had a small-time cupcake catering gig...before it was the cool thing.

but all that has changed. i'll admit that for a second i was a little embarrassed about serving the "classic" party food. oh, and i did have a mini meltdown when i realized that making 60 cupcakes was ambitious to put it lightly. that's when my mother-in-law floated down on a cloud and sprinkled fairy dust everywhere. it took a lot of fairy dust, but i soon realized that it's really not a big deal to serve store bought cake. anyway, it was pretty good!

so what if we bought all of the food! no one even noticed or cared. they were so happy to see LO in all of his 1 year old glory.

i'll leave my talent in the kitchen for every other night of the week...not just that one day.

and, in case your wondering where the photos are, we don't have any. everyone was so busy having so much fun, we forgot take photos.

my only advise is if you're going to hire a photographer, don't trust the portfolio and ask for references. my photographer sent me 7 photos. he said those were "the good ones". they aren't the worst i've seen, but geez, he called himself a photographer! so, for your entertainment, please enjoy!

i promise he smiled

the photographer just didn't capture it

not terrible, but not good

who's hand is that?

blurry finger

notice, i'm chuggin' a beer in the background

still chuggin' and daddy is so proud!