Thursday, August 14, 2008,
**2 personal banners for my daughter's bday...**Happy Bday, Sumiko!
Hey everyone. Sorry for not being up-to-date on this blog recently but, it’s been a pretty hectic month for me, considering my last hiatus due to my mother visiting the middle-ending part of July.
Now, it’s my daughter’s preparations for her bday party coming this Sunday, Aug.17. She’ll be turning 5 and it’s an Ariel theme this year. She just loves anything to do with Ariel now and this morning (Mon.) I just came from the Party City store to buy Ariel-themed party stuff for decorations, paper goods, etc.
Gosh, every year I get all excited for her party but at the same time, I never look forward to the financial aspect of it. lol Girl bday parties sure cost a fortune, don’t it? lol :P In a way, boys have it good since there aren’t much boy-themed parties with party companies like how all the hype is on girls these days. Boys can go cheap if they want to. ^_^ Between the ages of 3-5, all boys care about are toys, friends, and having fun. Well, girls too but, there’s just so much more pressure on a girl to have something nice instead of a boy.
I’ve rented space (the entire place, actually) at an indoor playground called Playtown right down the street from where we live. It’s fully equipped with a jump for the kids, a crawl-type playground thing with tunnels and the like, as well as a playhouse for girls to ‘play house’ in, and even a little infant area for babies. There are long benches/tables too for the families to seat and for private parties (like ours), you also get a small room to put the food, cake, etc. in. There’s a microwave oven for use, as well as a refrigerator for drinks. The entire place is also fenced off with a gate so infants and little ones can’t go out and it’s also air conditioned for hot summers. It’s really great and for toddlers and slightly older kids like my daughter’s age, it’s perfect for renting out space for bday parties. Everyone needs to wear socks so, so much for buying myself a nice outfit. lol :P We’re going cheap and casual this year. lolol In years past, I’ve spent way too much money on parties. So, this year we thought we’d go cheap and not cater any food. In Hawaii and Asian-style, we always tend to cater food for everyone for birthday’s and parties. I thought, ‘no more this year’ and I’d much rather save money for stuff she needs with school and her bday gift. I’m not having goodie bags for the kids since we’re going different.
I’ve asked a representative of a company called Noah’s Ark Workshop where you can have someone come to your party and bring stuffed animals to stuff themselves. It’s a pretty neat concept, and it’s very similar to Build-A-Bear Workshop. The only difference is, you don’t have to go to the store to do the stuffing, but they come to your event (or home), and you let the kids stuff it themselves. (with parental guidance of course) I figured it sounded like a lot of fun so, thought I’d try something unique and different. We’re paying for all the animals so it’ll cost us some but, it’s worth it seeing the look on the child’s face light up with excitement and happiness. And, since we’re not catering food, even more so we’re able to do this. If I had to give out goodie bags with goodies in them, forget it. I’d never be able to pull this stuffed animal thing off. lolol I’m pretty much set with everything except for purchasing/ordering the bday cake and buying her gift.
Finally found her gift…it’s a Leapster 2 gaming system w/a ‘Pet Shop’ game that came w/the set. It’s pink/purple in color. Too bad I wanted the Wallie game but, oh well. That one came w/a blue-green colored system (looked like for boys). I wanted the pink/purple colored one for her so, I guess I’ll just have to buy her the Wallie game later. lol I found it at Costco, a wholesale warehouse store today. And then, I also found her a Disney Princess activity art set too. I couldn’t resist and it was kinda reasonably priced since it was wholesale, not retail. So, it’s much cheaper than paying outside. I hope she’ll like them both. Can’t wait for her to open her gifts on Sunday at home.
Now all I need left for her party is ordering her cake from the supermarket (and buying the veggie and fruit platters, as well as the chips for the dips). Yeah, I still have yet to order her cake! *sigh* Ohgod…and pretty soon it’s Sunday already. So much to do, so little time. Good thing we’re not catering food this year. Too much hassles since we only have a 2 hr. limit time at the place she’s having it at. She wants an Ariel cake. Hopefully, the grocery store bakery has something to do with an Ariel theme. *crosses fingers*
I won’t be coming on here again this week so, please bare with me. It’s just been so busy with me preparing for my daughter’s bday stuff so, hope you all understand. *sorry* Will be back Monday…promise~ (and with a new entry again…this time, of Takki and other things)
(my most fav. one of all...*kawaiiiiiiii~*)
Ok…well, let me put 2 banners on here to show. Plez don’t take them! (they’re for my daughter) And thank you, Rasha, for making them for her. *aawwwwww* Tell me what you all think…^_^ (I wanna learn how to make my own stuff like this too someday…^_^)
*Reiko*
2:53 PM
