Party of Five
I’m the queen of Monday morning quarterbacking when it comes to throwing parties and birthdays in general.
I should have baked a cake that didn’t require turning thirty carrots into three dozen cupcakes.
I should have done a better job of making sure Gigi didn’t find out about her new bike.
I should have bought her a 16″ bike instead of an 18″ bike, even if it meant it wasn’t in her favorite color.
I should have bought Lulu a bike too.
I should have served more than snacks.
Veggies and Sabra hummus
Organic corn chips and homemade Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa
Fruit plate
Insanely delicious, top-secret vegan Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
I definitely should have made a double batch of those cookies.
I should have paid the incredibly talented face-painting artist more.
I should have asked permission from the other parents to show you their kids. Sorry.
I should have insisted no gifts.
Or at least no gifts that require batteries and amplify sound.
I should have made a cake shaped like a unicorn or a ballerina, or at least ponied up for some ice cream of some sort.
I should have stuck to the plan: practiced law for five years, taken a short maternity leave and then headed back to work.
Come to think of it, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Will you share your salsa recipe? I have never made homemade salsa and yours looks yummy. I like it a little thin and not super chunky.
Sorry, hon. I’ve got to save some of my recipes for the book!
Wow, the face painter is very talented! Those cupcakes look delicious, but I’d snub them for a sweet AND savory cookie– YUM! Looks like everyone had a great time. Great photos!
Jenn
I love the colour of your lipstick!
Why is the combination of salty & sweet flavors always soooo perfect?! I bet those cookies are as good as you say–they LOOK amazing.
Andd you are just the cutest mama everrr. I love all the butterfly decorations! Come cater my next bday party?
Gigi and Lulu are the cutest!!! So are their names.
Can I come to your next party? Everything looks so yummy and healthy! And that face painter – whoa, can she paint my face??
Aw aren’t childhood birthday parties the best? I remember mine well, looks like the girls had fun!
Dang woman, you are definitely a yummy hot sexy mama. But I think you already know that right?!
the face painting is superb..wow!
and so are all those cupcakes and sprinkles.
and love the new mama and seasoned mama photos of you and Gigi. Wow. 5 years. I bet when you think back, you cant even imagine life pre Gigi. I am only into things 3.5 yrs, and already, can’t imagine life any other way!
Happy Bday little Gigi!!!!
That looks like a wonderful party! The cupcakes look amazing. And you and the girls look gorgeous
Happy birthday to GiGi! They are so adorable. I love the butterflies on the spread, too!
this is adorable. it’s 6:20 am and i have tears in my eyes. the love you have for your family is shown through all that you do for them. you are a fantastic mom!
What a great birthday re-cap!!!! Gigi looks like she had an amazing birthday party, she has an amazing mommy and family so I know she did!!!
Love the face painting, Im sure all the kids were thrilled about that!!!! Oh and I would of so bought the pink helmet too, even if it was a little big, the girl has to have her pink : )
love the cupcakes! They look amazing and so pretty!!!!
The pic of you and Gigi at the end is beautiful! I hope you print that and frame it! I really admire you, and you being a stay at home mom now instead of practicing law is the best thing ever, your kids are very lucky!!!! I know how important it is to be there for them, and if you can be there and not work, life is good!! Being a mom is the hardest job in the world, and you rock at it!!
Happy Birthday Gigi!
It looks like she had a wonderful celebration.
Incredible face painting!! Wow- I’d be sad to have to wash that off.
Fun lookin party. Good job mama pea
Such happy pictures, Mama Pea, I’m glad you all had a good time
And the food looks amazing ma’am!
Looks like you threw a fantastic party! Gigi and Lulu are so lucky to have you for a mom! The final 2 photos got me… watching babies grow will do it to me every time.
Aww. With those little ones at home, who could make room for a hint of regret?
Amazing bday party! And did you bake all the cuppy cakes yourself? You are a rockstar.
Looks like a fun party. I bet Gigi and the other guests loved having the face artist there. Everything looked great.
I love that you entice the kids to the veggies with some butterflies! That’s a great tip to any parent.
Everything looks amazing and I am sure Gigi couldn’t have imagined a better day!
You look so beautiful and your daughter is just as gorgeous!
Aw it looks like the girls had so much fun! The salted cookies look beyond beyond delicious :0) Anddd I may or may not own Gigi’s fuzzy pink crown … I think it was for senior hat day 4 years ago – apparently I have great fuzzy pink crown taste :0)
Awwww…Happy Birthday Gigi!!! Everything you do is so thoughtful and perfect…she is going to love these memories forever!!!
I can’t WAIT for your cookbook! In the meantime, I’m cooking my way through EDBV…yummmmm!!!
So sweet. I love your closing line. Gigi and Lulu are so lucky to have you as their mom!
I think the only thing you should change is classifying that cookie recipe as “top secret!”
You always look flawless in your photos, what a gorgeous pic of you and Gigi! I don’t know if I would change a thing about that party, that food spread looks divine.
Looks like you did a great job on the party. You and your girls are stunning!
Wow…that face painter is very talented. Everything looked wonderful and don’t worry….she’ll grow into that bike in the blink of an eye.
it must be awesome to be a stay at home mom…what a blessing!
My birthday is in a month and a week….just sayin’
Those cupcakes are phenom and salted chocolate chip cookies are so tasty! Looks like someone had a fabulous birthday!! Well done, Mama Pea, well done!
I think the real question is when do they start training for a cycling race?
This is such a cute post!! The party looks like it went great. I love all the cute decorations and the amazing looking food, especially those cupcakes…they were so beautiful! (As are Lulu and Gigi)
Awwww…that second-to-last picture gave me goosebumps
Looks like an AWESOME party! The cupcakes are so pretty!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And look at Gigi’s face..she LOVED those cupcakes!!! She’s glowing!
ADORABLE. fabulous party, food, everything. mama pea…you truly are the bestest.
WOW.. the face painter was amazing!!! good idea on that!!! (note to self.. find an artist friend before Liv’s next birthday.. lol)
Happy birthday to Gigi : )
Love it all! The party, the food, the face painting, the pictures, the girls, and you ~ all amazing.
Wow…I would have been SO lucky to enjoy a birthday like that!
Those cupcakes look beautiful…and WOW…that face painter did a GREAT job. Holy..looks professional!
P.s I love anything to do with seasalt+chocolate
What a wonderful party!! Maybe I will hire you for my 26th bash
Happy Birthday Gigi, so sorry we couldn’t make it to the party! Seriously MP, we didn’t even pass your house until 7. UGH. I could have used one of those chocolate chip cookies right about then.
YaY birthday! Everything looks amazing!
Those cupcakes and cookies look amazing! Can’t wait until the book comes out
Looks like the perfect party to me. Love that last photo of you and Gigi- you’re both beautiful.
Drooling over the chocolate chip cookies with sea salt. Love a good savory/sweet combo…can’t wait for your cookbook!
Happy birthday to Gigi! And although Gigi has grown so much from that little tiny baby, I swear you haven’t aged a day! Seriously! I mean, I know you were probably tired the day the first picture of you and Gigi was taken… but I swear you look younger in the second picture!
Sounds like a wonderful party!
Yum- when do we get the carrot cake recipe? I want to bake some cc cupcakes for my love asap!
Happy Birthday again to Gigi!
Sabrina, you can find my carrot cake recipe here. I just tripled it to make 36 cupcakes. 35 got eaten and even my slightly crotchety construction worker uncle was raving.
happy birthday to gigi! <3
LOVE the picture of you two at the end- such a beautiful family
i can’t wait to get my hands on that cookie recipe.. sea salt + chocolate is one of my favorite combos
xoxo
are you in the process of making a recipe book? i would love the recipe of your cookies–they look delicious!
Grace, I’m writing a “cookbook plus.” You can read the details about it here.
Awww Happy 5th Birthday Gigi. This looks like a positively amazing 5 year old birthday party!
You had me worried for a 1/2 minute when you said you should have just taken a short maternity leave and then gone right back to work….until you said you wouldn’t have changed a thing. It’s so obvious on your blog that you are a great Mom…your girls are very lucky to have you!
Aww, happy birthday to Gigi! This brings back so many memories of my 5th birthday — and I want to tell you how thankful you are that you didn’t have a pinata OR pin the tail on the donkey. Many accidents waiting to happen. ALSO: I bet those cookies are going to be amazing and I can’t wait for the book. I accidentally added too much salt to some double chocolate cookies one day and the result was surprisingly amazing.
share your cookie recipe?!
beautiful as always!
They will be in the cookbook, Mal!
What a beautiful birthday celebration. Looks to me like you did everything right
You throw quite the partay! I wish I were five again that’s for sure. Love the face planted doll in the bike basket
i feel like i say this in every comment, but you are your girls are SO beautiful! and i wouldn’t have changed a thing about that party either…in fact, my birthday’s coming up in September…you know, just in case you wanted to know…
I would have bought the book anyway, but the cookie recipe is motivation enough!
sweet/salty/chocolately…heaven! My birthday is Sept. 10…just sayin’
Aww! What a wonderful reminder of the important things in life. Gigi and Lulu are lucky indeed!
You are a supermom. DON’T ever change a thing!
Ah, those cookies look just like the ones I “mistakenly” made when I added sea salt to vegan chocolate chip cookie dough . . . and then realized sea salt is THE way to go. They were so good, and I raved about them so much on my blog, that friends were emailing me telling me they were even adding sea salt to their slice and bake cookies! Heee, heeee!
I can’t wait to try your version. I bet the chocolate chunks with the sea salt is D-E-vine!
Awww, happy birthday Gigi! Looks like you made the perfect decisions!
You were getting me down until the end! Everthing looked fabulous- especially those cupcakes. Homemade is always worth the effort. Your kids are lucky to have such a smart, talented mother!
So lovely. Happy Birthday, Gigi! <3
YAY!! Your blog’s back up!!! Anyway, what a great birthday party!! That is awesome that you had such a talented face painter come to the party!! I bet Gigi and her guests were thrilled!!!!!!
I love that you made everything for the party… so much more special than if you’d bought it all from the store. You are my hero!! 
get in my belly! (said to those cookies; wow they look amazing!)
Wonderful job on the b-day party!
am i too old for a face painter at my 27th birthday?
That looks so good. You did a great job!
Happy Birthday Gigi!
That face painter was amazing!! And we have the same pink Carter’s tutu
I love the last line
life is unpredictable, but that makes it what it is
Beautiful.
What a wonderful party!!! LOVE IT ALL!!!!
The title of the post says Party of Five…did I miss something? oh wait was the face painter the fifth person? I’m slow haha
Gigi turned FIVE!
I also had Matthew Fox on the brain.
sucha great post!! wow that was one talented face painter!!! i was always so bad at face painting, my hearts would even look like blobs!
happy birthday to gigi!
Whatta great party!!
That looks like the perfect birthday party for a little girl. I would have *loved* the face painting and cupcakes. What a blast!
The last pic of you and your girl is so sweet. Love this post!
Awwwwwwwwwwwww, Mama Pea!
That was the sweetest post I´ve ever read!
Gigi is the luckiest little girl in the world wide world
Happy birthday to her!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
Awwwww, what an awesome party!!!
The b day girl looks mighty satisfied to me!
And the pics at the end made me cry…
Happy Birthday Gigi!!!
ah, what a great party you threw for your little one! she and you look beautiful!
Mama Pea you are the best mom, seriously – beautiful on the inside and out! I agree with Heather…I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the party. Can I hire you in the future?
Geez I’m such a moron…I forgot to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIGI!!! I can’t believe she’s 5!
It’s so not fair that you were gorgeous even after giving birth.
I totally thought you were going to announce you were pregnant in this post, tee hee.
The facepainting woman did amazing work.
All the snacks looks fabuous!!
Love the pic of you and Gigi when she was born………how sweet!!
Looks like a great birthday! All the food and desserts looks amazing
You did a great job!! Love all the pictures too.
I wonder if there’s anything that a good face painting job can’t fix. Sad? Don’t have the toy you want? Fighting in the classroom? Come here and let me paint a rainbow/tiger/fairy on your face. Works every time.
Looks like a lovely party. And a girl can always use another hot pink tutu.
What a wonderful picture of you two!! =) No, no regrets…except for the secret cookies.
adorable. the cupcakes look amazing, i love the idea of rainbow sprinkles. you look like a redhead in that first pic of you! i didn’t know that.
beautiful pictures.
Love the pictures! I wish you could throw me a birthday party, looks awesome!
those cookies look AMAZING! wish the recipe wasn’t top secret!
you are amazing.
The cupcakes and butterfly theme are beautiful! Happy birthday to gigi!