Owen's Birthday Party

Wow, we had such a fun time celebrating Owen's birthday.  It's hard to believe our little man is two, but we're so proud of how sweet and funny he is.  He's a joy to be around, we are really enjoying every day with him.  We loved throwing a big party for him knowing that he would have so much fun.  He was so excited all week about the party, the cake, the people coming over.  It was great to see the anticipation.

Without further ado, the photos and details:

We managed to cram 20 people into our little two bedroom place.  It was tight but worked out just fine.  Neighbors and friends joined us for the afternoon and we snacked on light appetizers before cutting into the cake and cookies.

 We used the same felt banners that we made for his party last year.  We plan to use these until they wear out!  I just think they are so cute.  We also used the same paper lanterns.  I really like the color scheme and love how it can work with lots of different "themes".  Fun!

I had fun setting up the food table and integrating small touches of the animal theme without being obnoxious about it.  We only picked up a few decor pieces (for super cheap) so altogether it was a very minimalist party but certainly doesn't look that way :)  Less is more, right?

 We stocked up on fun drinks and had some beer and wine available as well.  I made a special party hat for Owen (that I then forgot to put on him).  For the food we had a spread of various vegan snacks: chips and salsa, guacamole, vegan queso, crudite, cream cheese rollups.  The idea was to keep it very simple and light since it was an afternoon party.

There weren't too many little babes but a few older kiddos so we had some animal blowers and temporary tattoos for them to play with.  Really, though, they just enjoyed playing with the toys Owen received.  Fair enough!

Owen got some wonderful art supplies, clothing, toys, books, and a trike (from us) for his birthday.  He loved it all and wanted to open everything immediately, of course :)

The cake was a vanilla and chocolate layer cake with chocolate buttercream.  I made sugar cookies in the shape of animals and put them around the cake to incorporate the theme.  (I was going to go for a tiered cake but decided I didn't want it to cave in on itself since I didn't have the stands for it... Next year!)

We had some people stay long after the bulk of the party was "over", which was so fun.  We enjoyed just hanging out and letting the last few kids play until they were exhausted.

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On his actual birthday, we ate brunch at our favorite vegan brunch buffet, followed by lunch with "Uncle Joe and Uncle Greg" at one of our favorite lunch spots.  We headed to OMSI for an hour- we cut it short since Owen had the sniffles and needed to get home to rest.  All in all, a very fun weekend spent with some of our (and Owen's) favorite people.  I think Owen thoroughly enjoyed his birthday weekend, which is really what matters :)

Birthday whirlwind

I'm 26 now.  Meh, it's just another year.  It was a fun one, though!  As I reflect back on my 25th year it's pretty bittersweet.  It's easy for me to sum it all up based on the last 2 months and say "it was awful" but in reality it was my best year yet.  Parenting Owen this last year has been so fun (much more so than the first year of incessant sleeplessness), and we moved to our favorite city.  We've already been here 7 months and I still can't believe that this is home!  I am so happy with how all of that worked out, not to mention the unbelievable 7-day roadtrip across the country to get here.  Amazing.  I would drive cross-country a million times over.  It was just awesome.

Still, there was a lot of sadness, illness, and general yuck during the last two months and I'm hoping that 26 will be devoid of tragedy.  Please?

Anyway, enough about my 25th year; the birthday festivities are what is really important ;-)  Kraig took a 3-day weekend so on Friday we started out with breakfast at Hash.  We can only order one thing there (mushroom hash) but it is so good.  It's also within walking distance so we don't mind the limited vegan menu.

Owen took a nap while I finished frosting my cake, then it was time for vegan food cart!  I have been dying to try Homegrown Smoker ever since I heard about it, but the hours are limited.  Finally, Kraig had a weekday lunch off and we were able to go!  It was SO worth the wait.  We got just about everything on the menu....  Seriously.

Mine:  SloSmoMoFo:  smoky soy curls (taste and texture of chicken, no lie) with memphis bourbon BBQ sauce and cole slaw.  Side of sweet potato fries.

Kraig's:  Son of a Cheezey Dawg- smoke chipotle "sausage" with no-cheeze sauce, side of MacNoCheese

Just for fun:  Side plate of cole slaw, stewed greens, baked beans, and macnocheese.

The macaroni?  Outstanding.  Smokey and "cheezey".  So, so, so good.  Owen loved it too (despite his aversion- when vegetarian- to boxed mac and cheese.  So the lesson here is that vegan mac and "cheese" is tastier than boxed mac and cheese.  You heard it here first.)

Next we went on a puppy playdate with Alice and Einstein at Stumptown Coffee.

Followed by preparation for my birthday party!  Our neighbors had a party for me, and it was so much fun.  We brought the birthday cake and everyone else provided dinner.  Kraig also made some mixed drinks (pom martinis) for the neighbors.  We enjoyed dinner and then tore into the cake.  Before I get to the cake, allow me to point out how animated I am when I am excited:

Owen was singing Happy Birthday to me... music to my ears!

Um, yeah.

Look at that cake!

Delicious lemon cake with raspberry filling and lemon buttercream (all vegan, of course).  IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!  Some said it was the best cake I've made, which says a lot.  (I make great cakes, what can I say?  At least I'm good at something!!)

Aaannnndddd beautiful family photo, since they are few and far between-

It's not perfect, but it'll do!


I opened gifts and we played Wii until Owen was too fargone to stay up much later.

It was such a fun time, as it always is when we spend time with our neighbors.  I was particularly struck by how they all have me pinned after only 7 months and got perfect gifts for me:  yoga membership, gift cards to Bob's Red Mill and Jade (our fave Sellwood restaurant), crazy socks, wine, potted flowers in antique pots.... I feel so loved!

Thank you all for a wonderful birthday!