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!
Invitation for Mio's First Birthday Party
Mio's smash cake that I baked and decorated for her.
I made the cake topper with the bunting and lettering, too!
Custom mason jar mugs that doubled as party favors.
We created a stencil and frosted 48 of these mason jars so that each guest could take one home!
It took Dan and I almost a week to frost the mason jars, but people loved them!
Cupcakes with cherry blossom fondant
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!
Cherry blossom brownie bites
Fruit skewers. Special thanks to Sam, Wynn, and Megumi for cutting and assembling them last minute!
There was no shortage of desserts!
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
More California rolls! Thank you Grandma and Kimiko-san for making them!
Hummus and pita bread platter
The birthday girl! She was so excited that she skipped her morning nap.
Let the party begin!
Hanging crinkle fans and pom poms
Mio with one of her favorite aunties, Tarrin! Happy birthday to our sweet daughter!
…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! 🙂
Three month old Izumi-chan joined us for the party.
So adorable! Hard to remember when Mio was this little, even though it was less than a year ago!
There were plenty of babies to be passed around.
…and a couple older kids for the babies to look up to, too.
Friends spilling out onto the patio to eat.
Mio with Uncle Ted
Lovely sisters Wynn and Sam!
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!
I’m finally caught up on uploading photos from the past month, and I had to post some adorable photos from some playdates that Mio had with her baby girlfriends, both here in California as well as during our visit to Virginia! Scroll down for some cuteness overload….
Here is Mio at her friend Sofia’s! Sofia is four months older than Mio, and such a sweet and bubbly talker! She’s Mio’s only girl friend in the area, and so we love hanging out together. This was from our playdate right before we left for Virginia in December. Thank you Sonya for all the great photos!
Looking into the drum: "What's in there?"
Mio loves hanging out with Sof!
Looking out the window together... so sweet!
Sofia giving Mio a hug!
More hugging! This is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen.
While we were in Virginia, Mio met baby Clara for the first time. Clara’s Mommy and I went to high school together, and we happen to have the same exact birthday! (We were both Christmas babies!) Clara is exactly four months younger than Mio, but she is the same height!
I love this picture of Becca and Clara
Me trying to keep Mio under control...
Clara has the most beautiful blue eyes!
Thanks for having us over!
Mio also got to play with Anna for a second time — they had met when they were only 8 and 11 weeks old back when we visited in June. It was so fun catching up with Pat and Theo, and seeing how much each other’s babies had grown. I hope that Mio and Anna can be close friends as they grow up, since they’re so close in age! 🙂
Mio and Anna... only three weeks apart! They're so cute together.
Mio got to play in Anna's Jumperoo while Anna was asleep.
Letting out a yawn.
"I put my hands up in the air sometimes..."
Mio cruising around, peeking over at Pat and Anna.
Both Mio and Anna love Winnie the Pooh.
Pat holding Mio.
Pat and I with our baby girls!
Sweet little Anna. She's going to be a beauty!
Isn't Pat the most beautiful mother ever? She looks great!
Mio had a lot of fun hanging out with Anna! Can't wait until the next time we can hang out!
We had a couple other playdates scheduled while we were in Virginia, but I forgot to take pictures when we went to visit my friend Erri’s kids, and then Mio got sick right before we were supposed to hang out with a bunch of our friends over in Maryland, so we couldn’t make it. I love that Mio has so many friends around the same age back on the East Coast… we miss it already!
On Christmas Eve, we went to lunch with a bunch of my girlfriends from college — we went to Bon Chon Chicken in Centreville. I’d heard of how great Bon Chon was from all my friends in Virginia and had to try it! True to its reputation, the chicken wings were some of the best I ever had! Great flavor but not too greasy! (I ate mostly the soy garlic flavor ones because the hot ones were too spicy for me… although Dan was all about the spicy ones!) It was great catching up with familiar friends… felt like I got transported back to the good old college days! 🙂
Delicious ddukbokki! (The chicken was so good, I forgot to take a picture of it...)
Mio is all smiles!
The girls surprised me with a birthday cake! Red velvet… so delicious!
Mio is dying to dig her hands into the cake...
It was great seeing everyone and catching up! Thank you everyone for the delicious birthday cake!
Later in the afternoon, Miyoung and Mike came by to visit us at my parents’ house. Miyoung and I had a great time having a couple hours of girl talk while our hubbies played video games together and Mio napped.
Miyoung brought by these lovely macarons… they were almost too pretty to eat!
Look at all the colors!
I love macarons!
They were so delicious... between me, Dan, and my sister, we killed them all before the day was over.
Some more random pre-Christmas photos…
Mio playing with a magnifying glass. This just might be my favorite picture of the year.
Huge box of chocolates from a family friend to our family. The box is bigger than Mio.
Mio gets to spend her first Christmas in Virginia! What will Santa bring...?
My friend Miyoung and her husband Mike were visiting San Francisco this weekend — they came all the way from New Jersey! I’ve known Miyoung since she moved to Virginia when we were in middle school, and we have been friends for over fifteen years! It feels like yesterday that we were both still in junior high, chatting for hours over the phone and having sleepovers watching The Joy Luck Club. We have both have grown up so much since, and are now both married! (I couldn’t make it to her wedding this May because I had just had Mio, but from the photos, she was the most gorgeous bride ever!) I always have fun when I’m with Miyoung, and it was nice to see her again and catch up — I’ve missed her so! Here are some photos from when a bunch of us friends went to lunch together on Sunday.
Mio and Jinwoo decided they wanted some playtime on the table after we were done eating.
Jinwoo is almost 11 months old. What a cutie!
My little chubster wondering what's going on.
Mio meets Miyoung for the first time!
Missed you, Miyoung!
John getting some Daddy practice with baby Jinwoo before his own baby arrives in December!
Miyoung's husband Mike with Jinwoo.
Jinwoo was quite the hit with the guys.
Jinwoo looks so tiny!
Jinwoo with his Mommy Kayo! Oh the cuteness...
Jinwoo reaching out to Mio. He is the first fellow baby friend she ever met!
After lunch, Miyoung and Mike came over to our place, and Miyoung and I caught up for a few hours while our hubbies bonded playing video games together, and concluded the day with dinner. We so appreciated Miyoung and Mike spending the day with us, especially since we live on opposite sides of the country now. I miss you already, Miyoung! ♥
Our friend Stephanie was visiting the Bay Area this past weekend, and Mio and I got to have dinner and catch up with her on Sunday evening before she caught her flight back to DC. Thanks for making time to come see us, Steph! 🙂
Here is Mio in the adorable Paul Frank outfit that Stephanie got fir her! We love it. ♥
