Monthly Archives: September 2020

Pandemic Birthday Bash 2020 – The 411

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Six months of being stuck in the house due to the pandemic has passed. There seems to be NO end in sight. 200,000 deaths and counting… People in the US being complete CovIdiots and not adhering to guidelines because their privilege extends so far that it can infringe on the rights of other citizens NOT to contract covid. There are a lot of people who think the pandemic is a “democratic hoax”… some who refuse to wear masks … a whole bunch of imbicil leaders who feel that we can “learn to live” with a plague, while other countries are doing what it takes to eradicate the virus. I digress.

With everything going on in the world, I refuse to hide out in a corner and let time be stolen from me. We only have so many days on Earth as is. I worked diligently to plan the most exciting “pandemic birthday bash” with social distancing that I could plan.

I rented a huge three floor house on the oceanfront complete with an elevator. The home had three huge open air porches on each level so I leased cocktail table and chair/stools, vibrant colored linens for tables and hired a party planner to come pull everything together. A balloon company put up a balloon wall and marquee and my daughter screamed in excitement when she came in and saw it.

My family, who have all been quarantined since March came with the kids so of course the cousin reunion was a blast for the three kids. My daughter’s Godmother flew in and our elderly friend who I have been cooking and shopping for were all able to come. My other friends who are back at work or who have not been quarantined were upset that they did not get an invite. My daughter’s Godfather contracted covid after attending his Aunt’s funeral, so he was not able to come.

I decided to go with an adult menu, as there were only three kids so we ordered a pizza for the kids and the adult menu is below… surf and turf !

Here are some pictures of the party…

More pics from the party and also from the yacht I chartered the next day.

The day after the party, I donated the balloon wall and marquee to the PICU at the hospital. The children were excited to get them !

2020 Birthday Plans for a Tiny Queen – The 411

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baby shark

This year, we were supposed to travel to Ireland and Scotland for five weeks for my baby girl’s birthday, however, covid, being the bitch that she is, halted all of those plans.

Because I am not ever disappoint my child and will move heaven and earth to put a smile on her face and celebrate her in all ways, I decided to rent a gorgeous beach front estate, order Hepa Air filtration systems for every room, have my family and close friend to quarantine for 3 weeks prior to coming, and throw her a socially distanced party.

I asked her what she wanted for her party and showed her several themes and of course she chose Baby Shark !

I went to Pintrest and clicked on everything I could find and put together a portfolio of what I wanted and then hired a party planner.  I have been ordering baby shark items and beach themed decor for months now.  I hired a set designer to make a backdrop/step and repeat for her and we decided to go with the neon pink as the main color and then incorporate all of the other baby shark colors into the decor.  We have neon pink, neon green, neon yellow, and white cloth napkins, clear plates, neon pink silverware, white coral chargers, custom baby shark centerpieces, baby shark custom cookies and sweets, white and neon pink table linens, several cocktail / pub tables that will be strategically placed on the 2nd floor balcony (so that guests can sit two to a table and be spaced apart), a gazillion face masks, shoe covers, custom tees for every guest, welcome toiletry bags for each bedroom, custom thank you boxes and a ton of baby shark themed items that I have ordered from the UK and the USA.  I think I did a bit too much, as I became obsessed, however, it is going to be so adorable !  I forgot to mention that I ordered a balloon marquee to go around the backdrop.   My brother in law owns a catering company so he will be grilling the ribeyes I will sous vide for the dinner portion of the evening.  We will start with appetizers served on individual charcuterie boards and dinner is going to be surf and turf:  lobster bisque, salad, grilled steak, jerk shrimp skewers, baked potato and bread sticks.  I created a specialty Shark Fin Punch that I can not wait for everyone to sip!

My sisters and their families, my daughter’s Godmother from Philly, and my mom are all staying at the house scattered amongst 3 floors.  Coming to the party are my daughter’s honorary godparents, who are our neighbors at the ocean front (and 97 yrs old), and the seniors that I have been cooking for since March so that they can stay away from covid…  They all adore my daughter and they have all been inside, as have we since March.  I love this house because it has three balconies that are the length of the house on each floor so we can place people apart at cocktail tables and we will serve them at their tables.  Where there is a will, there is a way !  lol.  My daughter will be so delighted to get to hang out with her cousins, who are 8 yrs old and 4 yrs old.    Since there are only the 3 kids, we opted to do a more adult menu and have a sweets table with her cake, cupcakes, cookies etc.

The day after the party, we will depart the house at noon to take a drive down to Charleston and I have a surprise in store for my family !  We chartered a private yacht and we will have cocktails, appetizers and boxed lunches on a two hour harbor cruise.  The kids will get to see some dolphins and my family and I will be able to catch up since we have not seen each other at all this year.  I saw one of my sisters for about an hr after we drove 3 hours to meet them half way so that my mom could stop worrying.  Now all three of us will get to hang with my mom and she is so excited.  I only wish my two nephews and my other brother in law could come from CA but it’s too much of a risk.

Planning this party has been a good thing for me because I get to escape the grief of having lost close friends, the latest, this past Friday.  2020 has been very challenging and very rewarding at the same time.  I declared this as my year and it has allowed me to heal in some areas and take leaps of faith that I have been holding back from.  I am grateful !

I will post pictures of set up and of the party to share with you all !