Happy birthday Mio!

On Saturday, we threw Mio a birthday party to celebrate her turning one year old. We held it at Dan’s parents’ house because our own place is too small to accommodate all the guests, but it still got packed with almost forty loving friends and family, and we are so thankful to everyone who made it out to celebrate with us, despite the torrential rain earlier that morning. I had started planning this party about a month ago, and the past couple weeks had been all about preparations for it, and despite some stress and a couple anxiety attacks, I’m happy to say that it turned out to be a wonderful party, and even better than I expected! Thank you to our friends who helped with the cooking and grilling during the party, as well as those who swooped in to help with last-minute preparations. We couldn’t have had such a memorable, enjoyable party without you all! πŸ™‚

Because we have over 300 photos to sort through and video footage that still needs to get uploaded, I’m going to split this up into a few blog posts, or else it will take me forever to get them up. (Additionally, I feel no shame in milking the party for as many blog posts as I can get out of it, because I-worked-hard-godammit! :P)  So this first post will highlight the party decor, food, favors, etc., while subsequent posts will focus on the birthday activities. Enjoy!

 

Mio's Birthday Invitation
Invitation for Mio's First Birthday Party

 

Mio's smash cake.
Mio's smash cake that I baked and decorated for her.

 

Homemade bunting and lettering cake topper.
I made the cake topper with the bunting and lettering, too!

 

Party favor mason jar mugs
Custom mason jar mugs that doubled as party favors.

 

We frosted a custom message onto the glasses.
We created a stencil and frosted 48 of these mason jars so that each guest could take one home!

 

Sign for the mason jar favors

 

Complete with a tag and paper straw.
It took Dan and I almost a week to frost the mason jars, but people loved them!

 

Cupcakes with cherry blossom fondant
Cupcakes with cherry blossom fondant

 

More cupcakes!
It was my first time making fondant, but it was fun!

 

Homemade macarons
Homemade macarons... (not the best batch ever, unfortunately.) The pink ones had matcha flavored filling!

 

Cherry blossom brownie bites
Cherry blossom brownie bites

 

Fruit skewers
Fruit skewers. Special thanks to Sam, Wynn, and Megumi for cutting and assembling them last minute!

 

There was no shortage of desserts!
There was no shortage of desserts!

 

I gave these away as favors, too!
Sugar cookies I baked for Mio's birthday. I had a whole bunch more that I packed in 50 little bags as party favors, too!

 

Futomaki and California rolls that Grandma made
Futomaki and California rolls

 

California rolls!
More California rolls! Thank you Grandma and Kimiko-san for making them!

 

Hummus and pita bread platter
Hummus and pita bread platter

 

The birthday girl!
The birthday girl! She was so excited that she skipped her morning nap.

 

Let the party begin!
Let the party begin!

 

hanging decorations
Hanging crinkle fans and pom poms

 

Messages for Mio

 

Our guests arriving

 

Mio with Auntie Tarrin
Mio with one of her favorite aunties, Tarrin!

 

Happy birthday to our sweet daughter!
Happy birthday to our sweet daughter!

 

Mio and Mama

 

Happy birthday, Mio!

 

Everyone dig in!

…and this doesn’t even include the hamburgers and spare ribs that were cooking on the patio. Special thanks to John and Brent for grilling them! πŸ™‚

 

3 month old Izumi-chan
Three month old Izumi-chan joined us for the party.

 

She is so cute!
So adorable! Hard to remember when Mio was this little, even though it was less than a year ago!

 

Sung-kook with Jinwoo, Easton, and Mio
There were plenty of babies to be passed around.

 

…and a couple older kids for the babies to look up to, too.

3 year old Emme

 

2 year old Monika

 

Everyone eating their lunch

 

Mio with Uncle Sung-kook

 

Lunch out on the patio
Friends spilling out onto the patio to eat.

 

Mio with Uncle Ted
Mio with Uncle Ted

 

Lovely sisters Wynn and Sam!
Lovely sisters Wynn and Sam!

 

So much preparation for this big day!

We were reminded of how truly lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives, seeing the outpouring of love at Mio’s birthday party. Stay tuned for more posts in the coming days on the fun activities we had prepared for Mio!