bunting

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! 🙂

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)Â 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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hanging decorations — Hanging crinkle fans and pom poms

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

…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! 🙂

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.

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

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!

Mio’s First Birthday Party: Part I