The First Birthday Party

It was a rather small affair. We had 8 people (including my husband, my sister and I) and 3 kids (including the very well-behaved birthday girl). We were originally expecting 11, but you know how it is. After a rather lame birthday, the birthday party was awesome. I was so very pleased with the company, the snacks, the cake, the balloons, and that the drink of choice was Guinness.

There is a culture of birthday party craziness in this country that I don't want to get involved in. I know the pressure to have an amazing party will increase each year and by the time the babe is in school, we'll have to be inviting the whole class over. That's why I relished this small gathering because it was so low key and relatively stress-free (my husband and sister even did the food shopping while the babe and I took a nap).

And the party didn't end when the guests left. After a nice little walk around the neighborhood, we had a smashing take out dinner (our favourite, Sushi Taro) and a bottle of champagne I'd been saving for a "special occasion" since our wedding. We topped it off with more cake and some apple cider and rum drinks. I went to bed with that warm happy feeling you get after a really, really nice day (and champagne and rum). Now that was some kind of great birthday!