A Royal Birthday Brunch

As Eva’s second birthday approached, I realized that this was likely my last opportunity to throw an adult party for all of my friends under the guise of a birthday celebration for my child (because next year, at age 3, she will likely have some opinion.) So with that knowledge and the end of the school term looming, Logan and I decided to throw a gala celebration for our little princess.

Invitations went out summoning royal subjects to court for A Birthday Brunch honoring her Majesty and noting that as she will soon be dethroned with the August arrival of her royal kin, this was our last opportunity to send her out in grand fashion. True to the Monarchy the invite also warned as only a darling two year old or the Queen of Hearts herself can that the this was indeed a mandatory decree – attend or ‘Off With Your Heads.’

So The Royal Birthday Brunch ensued with 60 of our friends and classmates featuring everything from caramel pecan and orange cranberry rolls to bacon wrapped roasted potatoes. We ate, we sang, we ‘pinned the crown on the princess’, and played guessing games using Her Highness’s vocabulary. The divine Miss Eva was darling in her pink toole dress and jeweled tiara (which she preferred to wear over her eyes like sunglasses).

She spent the first half of the party holding court from her high chair wielding a jeweled scepter and ‘knighting’ her guests with a not always so gentle tap of her wand on the back of their hands. The second half of the celebration, after the candles had been blown, was spent delicately picking every raspberry off of all 120 petite lemon birthday tarts. She opened her first gift (a darling costume box containing SIX pair of dress up princess shoes with bows, jewels, sparkles and heels) and then began talking a myriad of royal servants to the crown into helping her try on yet another pair of shoes and then wobbly legged modeling them around the patio and in the living room to the delight of her admiring guests.

All Hail Princess Eva!

There's No People Like Show People

For a yearly celebration of women at church, a dinner theater was planned. The original script was a play telling the story of the 10 Virgins. In my pregnant state I was obviously not qualified for a role in the production.

However, after the first rehearsal, it was decided to perform something on the lighter side – sequins, jazz hands, fringe, silliness – and of course I was game. So our director wrote a script titled, ‘Celebrate Life’ loosely connecting her favorite Broadway tunes and rehearsals commenced.

With a cast of about 15, we performed two shows featuring everything from ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas’ wearing tropical fruit on our heads to ‘Accentuate the Positive’ in sleek black outfits with bowler hats.

Clearly the show stopper was ‘You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby’ performed with plenty of sass and feather boas by Brooke (due to deliver in 4 weeks), Katie Anne (due to deliver in 10 weeks) and me (due to deliver in 8 weeks.)

The hot pink lipstick and blue eye shadow took me straight back to dance recitals at Capitol Auditorium year after year and the excitement of having a tote packed with extra bobby pins and hairspray. This, combined with endless fond flashbacks of Boise High musicals made me truly miss the days when I could justify wearing fake eyelashes with regularity.

My sister, Liz, sent me a birthday card several years ago that seems to ring true over and over again. The front said, ‘There’s No People like Show People’ and the inside read, ‘Lets be glad…Show People creep me out.’

A Box of Babies and Bare Skin

Grandma Susan once again hit the jackpot with a personalized Birthday Box full of babies. Each baby was dressed in darling pajamas with a matching hat, wrapped in a blanket, toting a teeny stuffed giraffe, lamb, lion or bear, and holding a delicate little bottle of milk....all of the ingredients for a happy childhood!

We attended Will and Vivi's first birthday luau and had a ball. We went with the disclaimer however, that we had sacrificed clothes that fit for clothes on theme -- 'full tikki attire' it said on the invitation and we were not about to let our 'count on us for costumes' reputation slide simply because our bodies had gotten bigger. Eva was in a 12-18 month hand-me-down island outfit of some sort that looked really quite masculine when stretched over her robust figure. I too had squeezed into the only islandish blouse I could find (which of course was not maternity) and all of the shells and flowers I could muster.

By the time Anne finished her costume modifications, Eva had turned from Miami Vice to Hula Miami Heat.

Mom and Dad in Monterey

Mom and Dad came to help us celebrate Eva's second birthday. We toured campus, our favorite museums and taquerias, had chocolate shakes and key lime pie for breakfast at the Peninsula Creamery, made rhubarb pies and buttermilk chocolate cakes, opened gifts (my favorite - Eva's first tap shoes), BBQ'd, visited family and friends close by and had a wonderful, wonderful time!
We spent a beautiful day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium seeing gorgeous jelly fish, holy mackerel, sharks, penguins, sea lions etc. Watching 'Nemo' just hasn't been the same since.

We then headed from Cannery Row to Carmel by the Sea and stopped at a secret little shop for J. Talbot ties and of course crepes loaded with Nutella, bananas and doused in fresh whipped cream.

Fish Fish and more Fish

Touching star fish, anemones, urchins, sea slugs and more.

Silliness on the pier

Tuna, Sharks and more.