Dana's 30th Surprise

One of my closest friends had a big surprise 30th birthday party in Long Island over Labor Day weekend. Her mother and family had been planning it for months and there was no way I was going to miss this day for her. Oscar took the day off of work so I could leave in the morning and have plenty of time if traffic issues arose (which of course they did). I got to Dana's mom's house around 4pm and met some more of Dana's family who were there to get ready, then we were off to pick up the favors and go set up the reception room. The favors were really adorable, they were little Dana baby picture bobble heads on jars of 80s themed candy (the party was 80s themed). We got to work getting all the tables set with snap bracelets, hackey sacks, bouncy balls, My Little Ponies, and fiber optic lights. It was so great.

The guests started arriving and the DJ was setting up and the food was starting to get ready. All we had to do was wait for the birthday girl to arrive. We had all talked to her through out the week and she definitely had no idea what was happening Friday night! I was so nervous I could barely stand it. I got to get a little bit of video of the reveal, but then my battery died and it ended...but you can see the stages of realization on her face. It was priceless.

Dana was really shocked and she had a great night. We danced the night away and then I ended up staying at her place and we stayed up chatting until 3am! It was a blast and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Dana is like a sister to me and I just love her to pieces.

Our Neighbor's Quinceanera

On the 20th we were invited to attend our neighbor's quincenera, click there to read about it on Wikipedia. This was the first one for Oscar and I and we were really excited to see one. In the Latin culture the girl's 15th birthday is very special and a large celebration is planned to welcome her into womanhood. The girl wears a beautiful gown and has several female attendants and male attendants, think bridal party. There are traditional dances and lots of celebrations.

We met these neighbors through their daughter Luani, Luli and Fiona spotted her outside one day and have been playmates since. This picture is Luani and the girls.

The girls were so excited for many weeks and spent much time picking out their dresses and the perfect accessories. They tended to be the only people on the dance floor (except when the traditional dances were taking place). Even though it was only them, they really took over the whole place. They are VERY physical in their dancing and any one trying to cross the dance floor had to be on offense to stay out of their way. It was rather hilarious and I laughed most of the night. And yes I do take responsibility for passing on my wicked awesome dance skills!

Annie's Birthday Party

Well Annie's party was 2 weeks ago, but I'm getting around to the post now! It was a spectacular birthday party, and Luli had so much fun. The party was at the Conservatory Ballet. All the girls got to dress up in princess dresses, and Annie wore a special birthday girl princess dress. And the boys dressed as knights in capes. There was an adorable room painted like an enchanted forest with tables that had tablecloths and cloth napkins for all the kids. The birthday girl had her own special chair and table! The kids had a fun ballet class followed by pizza and cake in the enchanted forest room, then back for more dancing. Luli had a great time learning some ballet moves, acting like a princess and playing with all her school friends.

For the present I hit up the sewing machine and made Annie a skirt with matching hair ties. The skirt material is nursery rhyme themed, with humpty dumpty, little boy blue, etc. on it. I fell in love with this material when I saw my friend Kathy had made her daughter's the same skirt from it, and then my craft store actually had the same material! I'm pretty happy with how the skirt came out, and the hair ties came out nice for my first time making them! I hope Annie enjoys them.

Happy Birthday Allison!

This afternoon the girls and I went to Allison's second birthday party! Allison is the daughter of one of my walking friends. It's been so much fun to watch Allison grow and become so vocal and so fun...big change from the days she'd sleep the whole walk away. Allison loves cupcakes, so accordingly her birthday was cupcake themed. Mommy made her a cupcake shirt (so cute!), pin the candle on the cupcake, a cupcake shaped cake, and lots of cupcakes. We had a great time and the girls were thrilled to play with Allison, and play fun games.

We started off with a cupcake craft. The kids stuffed a cupcake tin with fluff (cupcake) and then decorated. It was a great craft, anytime we can use glitter it's a good time!

Pin the candle on the cupcake was a great themed take on pin the tail on the donkey. The kids loved picking out their candles and sticking them on the board. The little kids didn't have to blindfold, and Luli got her's closest so she got a big flower, which she hasn't let go of!

Then we were off to singing happy birthday and eating cupcakes

Abhi's Birthday Party

On Saturday July 26th, we were invited to Abhi's very first birthday party! We had a great time playing in the park and diving into cupcakes. Fiona looked like a birthday Incredible Hulk because of the green icing, which appeared the next day in an unusual place (if you catch my drift).

Saturday was also Fiona's actual birthday. This is funny because as I was walking with the girls to meet Oscar at Starbucks I ran into my neighbor Erica and her mom, who then asked how old the girls were now. I said "Luli is 3.5 and Fiona is, OH, OH MY GOD, Today is her birthday!" I had to then explain that I'm not terrible, we'd already celebrated so my mind wasn't on parties or other such celebrations...woops!