the red carpet

There were three party dresses. Yep THREE! Obviously she only wore one and perhaps has a sneaky change in to another sneaky outfit change during her party.

So the reason I bought 3 dresses? Well, I prematurely bought one about 8 months ago when I was certain I was having a Toadstool theme party! Its super cute with gnomes and toadstools on it but then I decided Japanese theme was so much more relevant and fun! Then I found this amazing Rock your Baby dress and estimated she would be a size 0...haha Tallulah is so petit and I tried this dress on her about a month ago (the dress had been in her wardrobe for like 4 months!) and it was swimming on her....! Oh no!

Then I found this amazing little kimono wrap dress on etsy which was so reasonably priced and is made by a lady in Queensland and I fell in love with it and Tallulah looked so darn cute in it. I got some super cute ruffled black bloomers and because it was a wee chilly I put a white long sleeved top underneath! I even bought patent red mary-jane shoe WHICH I FORGOT TO PUT ON HER...haha didn't matter but seriously I drove to a far away shop to get them!

After we cut the cake I changed her into a this hilarious onesie I made with some felt and a hot glue gun....she became a life size sushi roll! Complete with a wasabi and ginger headband which surprisingly stayed on her head for about half an hour! She looked so cute!

I love her little Japanese dress and love that its handmade and will most definitely tuck it away when she out grows it! She looked perfect...naw my baby is one, can not believe it!

p.s. Outfit photos are so hard to capture when one has a rather 'spirited' baby!

paatii: japanese for party

On Sunday morning I got up early and finished off the last of the food and we piled everything into the car to go bags a spot in Hyde Park to set up The Party! It was not without some tantrums and drama queen antics (from me not Tallulah...poor Ross!) but we chose a great spot near a beautiful tree perfect to hang lanterns and decorations off! We laid big rugs on the floor and set up some chairs with some helium balloon!

As I mentioned before we decided on a Japanese theme for Tallulah's party! So I went with a white and red theme and cooked things like sushi rolls, edamame cups, sandwiches which looked like sushi, soba noodle cups, sweet sushi (my fave!), hello kitty cupcakes and many more delish treats! We even had japanese beer! We decorate the tree with these super cute polka dot and waffle lanterns I found on ebay. I found the Happy Birthday bunting at Typo. I kind of went to town with buying cute cupcake patty-pans, straws and cupcake stands. Haha it was really fun!

My mum helped me plant little succulents for party favours which were a really fun alternative to a lolly bag. I think the kiddos are still a little young to be chowing down lollies but thats not to say that lots of the kids including Tallulah got their first taste of chocolate, fairy bread and birthday cake!

Talking about cakes we decided on a Miffy cake which was rainbow inside (the only photo I forgot to get!! I'm hoping one of the guests will send me one!). So I was so unprepared about how long a kids cake took to do....haha and ours was kind of simple but took AGES! Geez! But it was received with ooooh and aaaaahs when it was cut which is just what we wanted!

We had a bubble machine which was a hit with the kids and a photobooth which was a hit with the adults. The photobooth was probably my most favourite thing as it was so nice to capture the fun mood of the party! The photobooth was also the cheapest thing to do. I bought some fabric and strung it up between two trees and then printed off moustaches and funny lips and stuck them on sticks. I also bought some funny glasses and made some signs! Looking through them this morning I found myself chuckling. Good fun.

It was really nice to get together with all of our different social circles and celebrate this amazing little person who has changed our lives and bought so much fun and laughter. Tallulah had THE best time. She was a little social butterfly hugging and playing with everyone she didn't stop! It was also nice having all Tallulah's little kiddo friends come and play they really made the party fun fun fun!

After everyone left Ross and I sat around with my mum and his parents and had a beer and gave ourselves a little gold star for throwing the most awesome first birthday!

Next post The Dress!

squirrelling

You would have to be living under a rock to not know about all the crazy toy sales that are going on at the moment. Insane! Ross & I are not the biggest fan of all those plastic-y, gaudy coloured, light-flashing toys but you know what? kids love them. I still would prefer to buy Tallulah quality wooden toys or buy handmade but I also think its nice to have a variety of toys so she can enjoy them all!

Some of the ladies in my mother's group were pretty much frothing at the mouth and bought trolley-fulls of toys- but I didn't really fall in love with much...but I decided to buy a few things for Christmas/Birthdays!

So I bought a Fisher-Price telephone for $9 as I'm pretty sure I had one when I was little. I like the vintage looking face and she enjoys playing with the dial. I bought a Fisher-Price singing teapot set for $19 (half price!) which is actually adorable and Tallulah's face was all types of excitement when I showed it to her in the shop. So I think I will give this to her for her Birthday. I bought this blow up pool with 50 coloured balls for $12 which I think is pretty fun and will great for summer so this is a Christmas present. Thats it! I think I did alright!

My Mum bought Tallulah the trike above for her first birthday- she is one lucky lady! This trike is going to be SO much fun for us too- lots of walks around Hyde Park! I like that it converts to being a independent trike later when she is older enough! I think the rest of my present-buying will be done at my favourite gift stores (thats you Store, Ware, Pigeonhole & Zero to Ten) and online at Etsy! I have spied this doll by Goodbye Blue Monday which I'm pretty sure I am going to get Lula for her birthday...its simply perfect! Weeeeee I get excited just thinking about birthdays/parties/Christmas!