Pinkalicious.

Although it may sound crazy, I'll admit that even before Ella was born (once we found out we were having a girl), I started envisioning what her first birthday party would be like.  For the last few months I have been getting inspired, planning, and organizing for this party...and loving every minute of it.  Timing wise, it worked out great to have the summer off to devote my creative energy into something I loved doing!  When I first started looking for inspiration for her party, I knew I wanted it to be pink, have something to do with cupcakes, and ideally be based on a kid's book (maybe that's the first grade teacher in me?)...thus a Pinkalicious party was born.  While reading the book Pinkalicious to Ella (a book given to her by a friend at one of my showers), it all of a sudden hit me that this would be the perfect book to base her party on.  It's girly, pink, is based on cupcakes, and is such a cute story!  For those of you who haven't read the story, it's about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink!  She loves her new pink color and even refers to herself as pinkerELLA (perfect for Ella's name on the party invite).  She ends up developing a case of pinkititis, which is only curable by eating all green food.

We set the tone for the pink party with this invitation...

We rented a pavilion at Grass Lawn Park (our favorite park in Redmond!) and enjoyed a sunny day with our close friends and family to celebrate Ella.  A huge thank you to my wonderful husband, my parents, David and Emily, Cody's mom, and Beau, for coming early to help us get everything set up! Thank you to Gwen and Alison for snapping so many great photos too! Fair warning - I'm fairly certain this is going to be my longest post ever.  I had a hard time narrowing pictures down, so decided to include LOTS of them.

 The food and decor...

Dessert table

 

Oreo truffles

 Cupcake pops with stand handmade by Cody!

 Cupcakes made by my former first grader, Emma, who is now in middle school and has her own cupcake business! They were fabulous :).

 Ella's "smash cake"

Lunch table

Kids' lunch boxes and "pinkalicious" water

Center pieces at tables

 Monthly pictures

Favors: cupcake sugar cookies made by my mom and pink trail mix for the kiddos

Cupcake cookies complete with edible sparkles!

Party time...

The birthday girl

 My mom and I had fun making her tutu and hair clip!

 Ella and me with Kate and the littlest guest, Nora (3 months)

 Baby play time

 Ella eating lunch with her grandmas

 Uncle Beau

Kisses from Uncle Tom

 Tom, Sheena, David, and Emily

First taste of birthday cake...

She was literally covered from head to toe in frosting, but after a quick dip in the sink and a change of clothes she was ready to party some more

Friends and family...

Ella adoring Blake (who I had as a first grader and is now a big middle schooler!)

 Grandpa Howell with his pink Ella hat :)

Grandparents and great Grandparents

 Grandma Lamens

 Uncle Tom and Uncle David

 Great Aunt Gwen

Neighbor buddies Nora and Finn

Ella loving Emily's hat

 Alison, Brooke and Matt with the babes

Yes, her party may have been a little much for a one year old :).  Will she remember it? No.  Will I do another party like this next year?  Probably not.  Did I love every minute of planning and getting ready for her party? Absolutely!  Although I'm not sure Cody would agree as he was roped into helping with a lot of my "do-it-yourself" projects ;).  All in all,  I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Hopefully Ella will love looking back at pictures of her first birthday party, thus the reason for lots and lots of pictures!  Happy Birthday Ella!