party plan

Saturday was Stella's birthday party. Seven years old, wow. Eight second grade girls and zero drama, that's called a success. Finger sandwiches and snacks and tea (and punch) were the thing. Oliver and David left for the afternoon, so I got to spend the whole party just focusing on this crazy seven year old energy. One minute they're all shouting "Mitt Romney no! Mitt Romney no!", the next minute they're all pretending they work at McDonald's. True story! 

Here are five little things I did to make the day special. I think Stella will probably remember parts of this party forever, with her being seven now and some pretty funny things happening at her party.

I baked a big dome cake in a metal bowl, frosted it in light pink, and then Oliver and Stella and I decorated it in four dozen mochi. Cake with the ice cream built in. Pretty clever, I have to say.

I took the cake out of the freezer a half hour before serving, but you should never do that. Mochi melts faster than you would think. I would definitely keep it in the freezer right up until you're lighting the candles, if you ever make this yourself.

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Drawing on our experiences at Lovejoy's Tea Room and the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, Stella and I decided on finger sandwiches and snacks. I made smoked salmon cream cheese with cucumbers, egg salad, and cream cheese and jam sandwiches. We had some other little goodies scattered around the table, but the bowl that got the most action was the saltwater taffy. We went through two entire bags of it over four hours. Maybe that explains the thorough thrashing they gave our yard and eventually Stella's bedroom. Little girls are so wild.

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All eight girls got a crack at the punch making. Mimi crushed the ice really well, others poured in the club soda, ginger ale and cherry juice, and Abigail added the raspberries. They were all SO into making this, but about an hour later all anyone wanted to drink was water. I had brewed two different pots of tea, but of course no one actually drank that either!

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I pulled the best party activity ever out of my a** the morning of the party. I'm so proud of it. These ladies are at the perfect age for just going crazy with something like this. I call it YARD BOMB, and you can read about it here.

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We got SO much mileage out of this giant pair of undies! My grandfather bought these for me at his favorite flea market years ago. We had enough costumes to go around when it was time for the dress-up-dance-party-talent-show portion of the party, but one special lady (who is an amazing dancer, by the way) sported the biggest underwear in the world, again burning this party into Stella's memory for the rest of her life. 

We had so much fun! Seven year old girls are crazy and for the most part uninhibited, and also surprisingly destructive! Good times! :)