Cupcakes & Cocktails

Whew! What a weekend! We all have party "hangovers" in one form or another, and we have officially decided to shut down the Doublestein Hosting Machine until the winter holidays, at least. Where to begin?

Saturday dawned clear and cool - perfect for our outdoor events. I ran the lake with Sarah in the morning, then did frantic party-planning right up until the minute before everyone arrived (frosting 50 cupcakes, making ONE LAST TRIP to D&W, hanging balloons, cleaning the bathroom . . .). How do party preparations always expand to exactly fill the amount of time you have until the party begins? Anyway, by the time the party rolled around, it was 70-ish, sunny, and perfect cosmopolitan-drinking weather. The neighbors strolled over, the friends and relatives arrived, and cupcakes and beverages were happily consumed by all. At one point, there were approximately 20 children under the age of 7 in our front yard and yet, magically, nobody got in a fight or had a tantrum or went home crying. A little birthday miracle.

After the Cupcakes & Cocktails concluded, we had grandpas and grandmas plus Trevor, Lisa, and Berit stay to eat pizza and open presents. Annie, who had enthusiastically yelled out, "Thanks! I love it!" during our very silly practice session earlier in the week, could barely make eye contact or utter a "thank you" when she was finally opening her presents. Maybe she was overwhelmed, but it was making me crazy. Favorite gifts received include a Groovy Girl doll, an art easel, puzzles, books, a beautiful 3-pearl necklace, and some great dress-up jewlery. We saved the big one for last: a pink and purple Disney Princess scooter. She had to hop on it immediately and go scooting up and down the sidewalk. The neighbors, who were gathered en masse across the street, came running out to watch Annie's scooting debut, and Lucy absolutely had to run home and get hers so they could scoot together for a moment. So precious.

She was so tuckered out that we hardly had to convince her to get into bed. She loved that all her best friends came to play with her for an hour or so; I loved having some of the people nearest and dearest to me gather to enjoy a gorgeous afternoon. All in all, a decent 3rd/30th birthday party. The house may never recover from all the various wrapping paper, but that's another story.

Today, Jason's parents generously offered to take us out to brunch (I think they could sense my desperation when faced with the prospect of cooking a giant meal after getting everyone ready for church and cleaning up the house). Jemma was hilarious at the restaurant - she just kept shoveling the food in her mouth and making a huge, huge mess on the floor - and the waiters had to keep coming over to smile at her. She loved the attention. Annie was a little lady wearing a cute corduroy jacket and some of her birthday jewelry. She, of course, is pleased with any meal in a restaurant where the waffle with whipped cream can be followed by some equally sugary desert. Jaso and I got to take a walk together while the girls napped afterwards, and then we all spent some quality time together at the park before dinner. A lovely day.

And now that the sugar and alcohol are slowly leaving our systems, we're really trying to get ready for her first official day of preschool tomorrow. She's nervous, I'm nervous, and it's just a big question mark in my brain. I might cry, I might celebrate - who knows? I do know I won't sleep a wink tonight.