Peach + Mint (Emma Vance's First Birthday Party!)

(That's the same peony from E.V.'s Gender Reveal!)

I can't believe I've delayed so long in writing this post!

I loooove throwing parties (crafts!), and the second they're over I'm ravenous for the pictures (always from the amazingly talented Carrie Tabb). However, when the last of the trash bags has been taken to the curb, it's as if all of a sudden the adrenaline wears off, it hits me that I'm EXHAUSTED, and I realize that I don't want to think about anything related to the six weeks leading up the party...and then it takes the next six weeks to recover! :) I was re-looking at these images for the billionth time today and thought, "Man, it's about time to share these lovely photos of such a fun time!" So here we are.

Emma Vance's birthday was at the end of June, and her peach-themed party was two days later. Since Amityville (obviously) wasn't a good option to host all of our friends and family, we rented a pavilion at our local park, ordered BBQ from Jim 'n Nicks (yum) and decked the halls with peach and mint. It was HOT-HOT-HOT, and even though that's a "no duh" for summer in the South, I had the misguided idea that I'd actually get to wear my hair down for the party. That lasted about 10 minutes into set-up. We were prepped for the heat with King of Pops (heaven), lots of cold drinks and a giant fan, and although my tissue paper flowers melted in the heat (which I did NOT predict would happen), the summer sun wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be. Overall, everyone hung out, ate and played (with toys and bubbles and each other). We sang "Happy Birthday," E.V. smashed her cake and (I think) everyone enjoyed themselves. It was exactly how I imagined it would be. :)

P.S.: A HUGE thank you to Alli Finlay and Ashley Glover for being my set-up slaves! Only a true friend would let me boss them around and still like me at the end of the day. :) And, oh, a special thank you to Alli who always gets me through those last crazy days (and nights) before all of my events. You rock.

Here's Emma Vance's first birthday party told in pictures:
(Curious for more? You can click here to see them all!)

(FINALLY taking all those monthly pictures was worth it!)

Crawlers & Cruisers area for all of E.V.'s little friends.

Confession: I have an unhealthy obsession with flowers. 

Dessert!

(Remember that re-frosted cake? Worth it. ;) )

Smash cake!

(I made that clay peach--which took a million coats of paint to cover...)

('Atta girl!)

The birthday girl had TWO King of Pops!

We played "toljabee," where you guess which toy (and thus future
career) the baby will choose.

(Of course I thought she'd choose the dog...)

She chose the dog! Future veterinarian!

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Smashing!

(No one warns you about the clean up...)

Mmmm...birthday cake!

Party favors, of course.

post-smashing outfit = a must

While we cleaned up, Carrie and Alli took these AWESOME pictures...thank you!!!

Clean-up is a beautiful thing...literally!