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 !