The Internet is a dangerous thing. You can look online to get ideas for everything from DIY home projects to cooking to party planning and it all seems so simple. So doable. Then you plan about fifty different tasks for a simple 3-year-old birthday party that are “quick and easy” and the next thing you know you have a huge undertaking.
That’s what happened with Meghan’s 3rd birthday party. I had so much fun browsing all the cool party-planning blogs and getting ideas for a do-it-yourself birthday party. In my mind, I could do it all. In reality, it was much more work than anticipated and sometimes my visions exceeded the time I had and my talent level in terms of craftiness. 🙂
That would explain my scarce postings last week and the skipping altogether of a pregnancy update. {I promise a double update this week.} Thanks for bearing with me I hope you’ll enjoy just one more birthday post before we get back to our regular recipe business.
In the end, it was a magnificent birthday party and worth every bit of effort I (and Tim and my in-laws!) put into it. Meghan’s genuine excitement and pure joy during every moment of the party made me melt.
The moments when I got to watch her animated face when bouncing in the moonwalk and her eyes dance as I brought out her birthday cake were priceless. She deserved to be a princess for a day.
You know I can’t talk about her birthday party without mentioning the food. I’ll start with the best part, dessert.
I made the healthy banana chocolate chunk cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting I posted about a while back. It was a hit. I also made Mama Pea’s healthier-than-normal cake pops, which were also delicious. {I de-veganized them by using organic, pastured butter instead of margarine and white chocolate chips with milk. Sorry, Mama Pea.}
Appetizers included fresh fruit kabobs, cheese and Kashi crackers, and caprese bites.
For the littles, there were also Annie’s organic bunny crackers, which Meghan has learned to love via play dates where they’ve been served.
For dinner, the adults enjoyed a salad bar with a choice of grilled chicken or grilled flank steak. I wanted to include some roasted chickpeas for a non-meat option, but I ran out of time.
Who was I kidding, anyway? I live in Ohio and there wasn’t one vegetarian at the party.
I also didn’t have time to make all homemade salad dressings, so I bought some bottles of the most natural varieties I could find.
The kiddos were treated to Meghan’s favorite food: peanut butter and jelly. In the shape of princess crowns, of course.
The food went over really well and even though I stressed over what to serve, everything turned out nicely. It’s hard to plan a birthday party when you want to be true to yourself and keep it healthy, while still having food everyone enjoys. From everyone’s feedback, I think I managed to strike a perfect balance.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a nap.
What a fun party! Esp love the pic of Meghan with her cake 🙂 Thanks also for the link for the more natural version of cake pops… my kids would love ’em!
Happy Birthday, Meghan! It looks like she had a great party and you (and your family) did a wonderful job. You are so lucky to have each other.
awww….looks like so much fun!!! I love planning all the fun birthday parties too!!! AND YES, they are a lot of work and somehow each year they seem to get more and more out of control!!! LOL
Planning, putting together, and running an event takes WORK. It looks like you did a great job with everything. That’s a party I would want to go to (and it looks like your princess truly felt like a princess on her big day). Great job, Mom!
Oh, I remember the days of toddler birthday parties. Totally exhausting but worth it! Your comment about stressing over what to serve struck a cord with me. I too try to balance being true to my healthy self and serving what people will want to eat. Looks like you did a great job of that! My teenage daughters friends tease me a bit about the lack of junk food we have on hand. But secretly, they love that I care enough to have healthy choices for them. They especially like the organic popcorn I make.
Oh my goodness!!! Her party is TOO adorable. And….I just realized I have got to get started planning M’s. It’s 3 weeks from Saturday. Eep!
It’ll sneak up on you! 🙂
It looks like it was such a beautiful party! Congrats, Mama, you can tell how happy Meghan is by her pictures. I really love the pb&j sandwiches cut into crowns. What a cute idea! Enjoy your rest….you deserve it.
This is SUCH a cute party!! It looks like you really thought of everything– you have one lucky little girl!
Great job on the party! I absolutely love that cake recipe and want to make that. And I love that you dressed it up with a tiara – who needs neon yellow and electric blue frosting when you have a sparkly crown? 🙂 Much much healthier and I love that everyone enjoyed it.
Great pic of the four of you! 🙂
My cake decorating skills are, to say the least, not good, so the tiara was my best bet. 🙂
What an amazing picture of Meghan when she sees her cake! 😀
I can imagine that you’ve been a busy lady with all of your preparations and Meghan looks completely overjoyed. Yay!
All your hard work is evident in the photos! What a great party! I especially love the PB&Js cut into crowns. I too have been guilty of getting sucked into all the great party ideas available on the internet. It always sounds like so much fun, but the amount of time and effort necessary to do it all is crazy. You did an awesome job though, and it looks like Meghan especially loved it.
Yea for parties!! 🙂 This is super cute!! And the look on her face when she sees that bday cake is priceless!!
And your family is adorable! you are one hot mama!!
What a beautiful party! 🙂 She is a lucky duck to have that much love in her life! ….I can tell how hard you worked and it totally paid off! That twinkle in her eye jumps right out!
Great Job, Maryea! Meghan is looking like she was the princess for the day, success!
What a great party! Meghan is one lucky girl 🙂
Looks like a great party! You did an awesome job. Sorry we couldn’t make it…I could have been your token vegetarian ;).
P.S. I bought Emma the same dress that Meghan was wearing.
If you were going to be there I would have made the chickpeas for sure!
You have good taste in toddler clothes. 🙂
Wow, that was one great party! Beautiful cake, decorations and food! I bet Meghan had a wonderful day!
You look so cute in the last picture, love your outfit. I so want to wear my boots, it just needs to cool off a little more!
Looks like a load of fun! I’m impressed with everything you did! You deserve a nice nap. 🙂
How adorable!!!! Great job, mama! She might not remember this in ten years, but she will look back on the pictures and thank you for it. I don’t remember my 3rd Birthday party, but my mom saved me videos that I can look back an laugh at! Love it!