Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Mazzy’s birthday may be this Monday, but that will have to wait, because we are not finished talking about her little sister’s birthday yet. Yes, it was two weeks ago, but sometimes my blog doesn’t move at the speed of life.

Is everyone ready for the breakfast extravaganza that was Harlow’s first birthday? Because there were CRONUTS involved, so this is SERIOUS.

Okay. Now, before everyone starts saying things like, “I would never make that much fuss over a one-year-old’s birthday!”, please remember one of my best friends is Seri Kertzner from Little Miss Party and this has been her gift to me for two years running (see Mazzy’s third birthday extravaganza last year).

Seri loves the opportunity to create a party for my kids and I just go along for the ride. I don’t think it’s lost on her that she gets some Mommy Shorts promotion out of the deal. (Use Little Miss Party for your parties! She’s FANTASTIC!!!!)

A few weeks prior to the big day, Seri and I had lunch.

“What do you want to do for Harlow’s first birthday?” Seri asked.

“I don’t know. I think the important thing to ask is— what do YOU want to do for Harlow’s first birthday?”

“Where do you want to have it?”

I told her I wanted to do something small in my apartment. Something on the early side. With as little people as possible. I was thinking about serving pancakes. “They’re easy, inexpensive and everybody loves pancakes.”

“OH MY GOD!!!! A PANCAKE PARTY WITH BABIES ALL WEARING PAJAMAS!!!!!”

This is how Seri talks. She’s very excitable.

“Sure. A pancake and pajama party. Let’s do it.”

Then Seri followed up with some VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.

“What color do you want the cake?”

“Pink.”

“Do you want alcohol at this party?”

“Yes.”

“How about peach bellinis?”

“Great.”

“Do you have a mini muffin tin so we can bake little frittatas?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to serve coffee?”

“Definitely.”

“What do you think about having an activity table set up in Mazzy’s room for the preschoolers?”

“Perfect.”

“What four sugar cereals would you like for the cereal bar?”

“HOLD UP. This needs some serious consideration.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Ummmmmm………………………………………………………… Okay, I got it! Fruit Loops, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs!”

“Excellent choices. What do you think about Bantam Bagels?”

“What’s a Bantam Bagel?”

“It’s the bagel version of a munchkin, with cream cheese or butter filling.”

“Love it.”

“What’s your favorite cupcake from Butter Lane?”

“Salted caramel with the popcorn on top. Obviously.”

Then I asked Seri a very important question of my own.

“CAN WE HAVE CRONUTS??????!!!!!!!”

If you don’t know about Cronuts, they are all the rage in NYC. People arrive at the SOHO bakery where they are made at 4am to make sure they get one of the few available that day. People sell them on the black market. I’m not even joking. I’ve been dying to try one to see what all the hype is about for months.

Seri said she would look into it. That evening, she forwarded me the most hilarious email ever.

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Yes, for only $1900 ($76 per cronut), you too can give your one-year-old and her two best friends a trendy pastry they won’t even remember by the end of the day!

This, my friends, is why people think New Yorkers are CRAZY.

I was about to resign myself to living a Cronut-free life forever, when Seri discovered they sell imitation Cronuts at a neighborhood bakery called Chickalicious Dessert Club. They are $5 a piece but Chickalicious said they would donate six to our cause.

Spreading the word of $5 Imposter Cronuts being just as delicious as the $76 original being a VERY IMPORTANT CAUSE.

Okay, now that you’ve got the planning down, let’s fast foward…

Check out the spread!

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

I know— RIDICULOUS. Here are the Imposter Cronuts in all their sticky flaky sugary glory.

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

There was one person there who claimed he had eaten a real Cronut and said the Chickalicious Cronuts were actually better. See? I just saved you $1900.

Look at our homemade frittatas! Mike made them!

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

And those peach bellinis you heard so much about…

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Wait! WHERE ARE THE PANCAKES???? Here they are, silly…

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

In little stacks with sparkly gold flags on them, OBVIOUSLY.

Seri put the Ban Tam bagels on little sticks and they were a huge hit. Actually with the bagel munchkin pops and the Imposter Cronuts and the Lucky Charms and the Butter Lane salted caramel cupcakes, nobody really touched the pancakes.

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Did I mention we were all wearing pajamas? It was supposed to just be the kids but then a few days prior, Mike made an important announcement.

Mike: I’M WEARING PAJAMAS TO THE PARTY.

Me: What? But, I don’t own any pajamas suitable for public viewing!

Mike: Not my problem.

A few years ago, I bought my husband a pair of pajama pants for a holiday present. He’d never worn pajama pants before and it took him a few months before he actually put them on. But soon, he was a changed man. Mike changes into his pajama bottoms almost immediately after he walks in the door every night and apparently, he’s been dreaming of displaying his “leisure attire” on his second daughter’s first birthday for quite some time.

The night after Mike’s announcement, I bought a new pair of pajamas for the party. THEN, on the day of the party, Seri showed up in a freakin onesie and handed my husband a navy one-piece of his own.

Mike could not put that thing on fast enough, he was so excited.

Truth be told, my husband looks kinda sexy in a one-piece, doesn’t he?

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I’m more about the button down men’s style pajamas myself. Especially around company. Who else was there wearing pajamas, you ask?

Well, the birthday girl, of course.

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Don’t make fun of her fluffy bunny slippers. The girl will CUT YOU.

Big sis was there too.

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Along with some friends.

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Grammy was there in animal print PJs…

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Not to be confused with velvet-clad Grandma…

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Poppy made an appearance…

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And the rarely photographed Dr. B was there with my adorable nephew Jack, who is busy working on his evil glare for 2014.

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Here is the birthday girl looking anything but evil…

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And, of course THE CAKE…

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The cake was from Magnolia, who is really great for last minute cakes. I’ve used them in a pinch twice now.

Then we all stuffed our faces.

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When everyone wasn’t eating, the kids were playing at the activity table. Activities consisted of stringing fruit loops on lanyards and decorating party hats with stickers. Simple and no mess.

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When that got boring, they climbed into Harlow’s crib…

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And then climbed all over Mike…

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Wondering who took these gorgeous photos? That would be Raquel Bianca, of “Monday Morning” series fame.

The actual cake smash went just about as well as Mazzy’s first birthday cake smash. Which means— not very. I wanted Harlow to go to town, but instead, she licked her finger a couple times, humored us with a smile and was done.

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Requisite family shot:

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Guess whose face I swapped out for a better face from another shot in the photo above?

And finally, if you’ve stuck around this long, you are in for a treat. Since so many people have said, “Gee, I wish I had a kickass party planner for a friend…”, today, Little Miss Party is giving out a customized “Party in a Box”, handcrafted and personally put together by her, with the theme of your choosing (up to $150 value) sent to anywhere in the US or Canada.

FYI- Seri is from Canada so she really wanted to make sure the Canadians weren’t left out.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

1) You must be a Mommy Shorts facebook fan to enter. Then answer the following two questions in the comment section below: a) Whose face did I swap out in the requisite family photo above? b) What theme would you want your “Party in a Box”?

2) For a second entry, follow @mommyshorts on Pinterest, find the graphic below on this board and repin it. Then leave a comment below saying you did so.

Pancake and Pajama party— awesome photos and party ideas for a 1st birthday party. Click through for party decorations and food ideas!

Winner will be selected from those who answered “the face” question correctly and will be announced on Friday, Dec 13th.

Good luck!

 

UPDATE: Congratulations to Sarah for guessing MIKE as the photoshopped face! And here’s what she had to say about her ideal birthday party theme: “As much as I’d love a pink and glittery party, much like your pancake party…I’d have to go with a gender neutral theme of “vintage circus in a box” type party!”

I hope you love your circus themed Little Miss Party in a Box! Please email me at ilana@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize!