It’s All in the Details…or Not

My baby girl turned three over the weekend. Sniff, sniff, hooray! She was princess for a day, and she loved it. After the house was made mostly presentable for a family party (more about that below), we ventured out to the park for a warm-wind-blown picnic. It was so nice to soak up some gentle sun after the long winter months, and the kids enjoyed climbing and playing.

So, about birthdays. I LOVE to drool over the fabulous over-the-top parties that fantastically creative mothers throw for their kids! And every year, I fully intend to plan three of them. But somehow, before I know it, the big day is here and I am entirely unprepared. So I’ve decided to not stress about it. My goal in life is to do the best I can, and let the rest just go. I like the idea of relaxed entertaining over high-stress pursuit of perfection.

In keeping with that habit/philosophy, I shopped for birthday supplies late the night before Miss M’s b-day. (As evidenced by the lack of professional writing on her cake in the picture above…bakery was closed. But I did my best to write her name with sprinkles I had on hand!) Miss J happened to be with me and requested that we purchase crepe paper for streamers to decorate. I declined, saying we’d do something else with supplies we already had at home (does anyone else get annoyed at how much money can go into embellishments that are immediately thrown away?). And forgot about it. Ten minutes before guests arrived, Miss J was in near-meltdown mode at my lack of decorating, so I grabbed some spools of ribbon and quickly came up with this centerpiece. It took three minutes, and was big enough to lend the festive atmosphere I was looking for. A few more ribbons around the room, and strategic placement of the ginormous singing Princess balloon gifted by one of the best grandmothers on the planet, and we were good to go. Phew!