TheTwin's 1st Birthday Party

Happy 1st Birthday!

My twin's first Birthday party was the first time I hosted a party post-babies and the first time I was responsible for feeding 30 plus people an actual meal. It was a lot different from the parties in my early twenties where a keg and few crock pots full of cocktail wieners and meatballs were sufficient! Needless to say I learned a lot that day about hosting large dinner parties. And the two most important things I learned that day were:

1. You can never have too much food because it goes fast!
2. Thank goodness for family! My mother-in-law saved me that day by quickly whipping up four more homemade Greek dishes when she realized the food I had was not going to be enough for everyone we had coming to the party. This woman is amazing and a fabulous cook!

Babysitting....cooking......whatever we need, this dear lady is there for us!

The menu and decor were Mediterranean themed and simple; blue and white plates, cups, napkins, and lots of white votive candles. Blue and white Birthday hats and banners were also hung up and scattered around the house. Because what one year old is really going to care if they have a children's themed party or not?! Although, once the boys turned two, the children's party themes have been in full effect!

However, this first Birthday party was to celebrate the boys turning one in the company of family and friends,old and new. My mother-in-law from New York was there and primarily in charge of making the food (see above paragraph). My best friends for years and our new friends from church and the neighborhood were all there to celebrate.

The spread was a variety of delicious, homemade Mediterranean inspired dishes such as Greek salad, pastichio (baked pasta, meat, and cheese), tiropita, spanakopita (spinach pie), dolmathes (meat and rice rolled up in grape leaves), fried eggplant, hummus, tzatziki sauce, fresh baked bread, souvlaki, potatoes seasoned with lemon, and stuffed mushrooms. We also served Greek wines and coffee.            

Beautiful sunflowers as our centerpiece

 For dessert, my mother made the shark watermelon complete with Swedish fish inside the mouth! My mother-in-law also added a few dozen homemade goodies such as delicious baklava and I made the "cupcake cake". I got the idea for the "cupcake cake" from the book Hello, Cupcake! Written by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson. In the book they have the cupcakes stacked on top of each other to look like actual cake, however, I thought that would be too messy with all the little ones so I used a three tier dessert stand. The candles were carefully constructed by my brother-in-law and good friend Elise. They did this twenty minutes before the party was set to begin since I was clearly not ready and on the verge of a nervous breakdown! The candles were made out of Chocolate Pirouette Rolled Waffers from Pepperidge Farm with banana Runts as the flame and orange icing to hold them together.

 The Birthday boys each had their own yellow cake with chocolate frosting and fell in love with sugar that day. Since one of my guys wasn't feeling well we did a re-do on his Birthday cake the next day when he was feeling better and he may have had the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. Until the day he discovered construction vehicles and planes that is!

After dessert the boys opened their gifts and played with their friends until it was time for everyone to leave. It was a great day and thankfully turned out to be a successful party!

My little guy loving his cake

The clean-up crew the following day!

And the great thing about having half of your family living in another state is that you get to have TWO parties! That's right these loved little guys also had another Birthday celebration in New York at Calabria's with our Greek family and friends. I didn't need to plan this party, my in-laws took care of that. The room was full of family, friends, laughter, good food, wine, balloons, and two very happy little twin boys!

Can you tell who the guest of honor is?

When there were 3

Previous to the year 2008, we were a family of three. That's right, I said three! This is Raisen, my faithful companion since I adopted her from our local Humane Society my senior year of high school.

After I met my husband, she quickly became his faithful companion too. In fact, when she was nine years old, she contracted a virus that almost killed her. My loving and generous husband dipped into to his bank account to help pay for the outrageous amount of medical bills this little fluff ball rang up. Thankfully she survived and is currently nestled next to me purring away. 

So what does this have to do with Mrs. Party Planner? (Other than the fact that she is part of my family, that is). Well once we knew she was going to be okay, I hosted a "Raisen Recovery" Party! Our little guest of honor was showered with cat toys, food, and treats from family and friends. It was also 4th of July weekend so our spread consisted of grilled chicken, steaks, and burgers, fruit kabobs, a mango summer salad, Greek salad, homemade potato salad, and deviled eggs. Iced tea, beer, and cranberry martinis were also served. And to top it all off was the "cat litter" cake! Yes, as gross as that may sound, it was quite a hit!

Not to worry, the cat litter pan and scooper were brand new and washed out well before the "cake" was assembled. I would leave the recipe, but my guess is that most of you will not be trying this anytime soon! However, if you are as crazy as I am and want to try it, the recipe is fairly simple. It is yellow cake, with a little green food coloring (to add that extra gross factor of real cat litter). Then add the Tootsie Rolls, which you will need to microwave for a few seconds.  Hint: It's best to serve your guests many martinis prior if you want them to actually eat this!

And what a proper guest of honor, she even sent out personalized thank you cards to those that attended her party......

Welcome!

I am a wife, mom and social worker who loves to live life to the fullest. I try not to take anything I have been given for granted and enjoy celebrating life's special moments. Looking back, I think it all began with Halloween. One of my favorite holidays! I remember furiously planning our family Halloween party at age ten. I then moved on to annual adult costume parties in my early twenties, and now I host over a dozen kids and their parents with  Halloween food, drinks, games, and fun!

Those parties were infectious because now I love to celebrate just about anything that comes along! Birthdays, ugly sweater parties, carnivals, back yard barbeques, and children's themed play dates are just a few of the other events I enjoy planning and hosting. Decorating the house (inside and out), cooking, and any type of creative play with my kids also makes my day!

In fact, things have gotten so "out of control" that I picked up the alias, "Mrs. Party Planner" from family and friends. The party theme, menu, decor, games, and every last detail are created and carried out by me or whichever family member or friend is "lucky enough" to be chosen. Think I'm joking? Just ask my husband who willingly gets up at 7am to clean bathrooms or cheerfully grill 15 pounds of food. Ask my mom, who has devoted many afternoons to making dozens of chocolate, gummy-worm-infested "dirt cups" or cheesy, gnarly "witches fingers"! Ask my two sisters who supply pots of chili, prizes for games, and yummy hors d'oeuvres. Ask my brother-in-law who has hauled 5ft. carnival booths back and forth. Or, my other brother-in-law and friend Elise who carefully constructed a dozen candy candles for my twins 1st Birthday cupcake display! I do love my parties, and I do take full control over them, however, none of them would have been a success if not for the presence and support of my wonderful family!

And the last thing that keeps me celebrating? My adorable three year old twin sons. They love it when their home is filled with friends, they love talking about how much fun they had when it is all over,and they love looking at the pictures we took and asking for another party.."exactly like that one"! So not to worry my little munchins, Mommy has about half a dozen parties already planned for this coming year! Stay tuned.....