My living room floor looked like a glittery explosion had met a paper shredder on steroids, and for the first time in my life as a Chicago mom, I didn’t reach for the vacuum. It was April 12, 2025. Leo and Maya, my twins, were turning three, and I had exactly $70 in my checking…
I stood in the middle of my kitchen on March 14, 2025, holding a lukewarm cup of coffee and watching ten toddlers attempt to recreate a Colombian miracle in my living room. My niece Sofia was turning two, and my sister had somehow convinced me that a full Casita-themed bash was a great idea for…
My living room looks like a glitter bomb went off in a botanical garden. It is currently Tuesday, and I am still picking dried eucalyptus leaves out of the rug from Lily’s 7th birthday bash last Saturday. Every single 7-year-old girl in suburban Portland apparently needs a fairy birthday crown that looks like it was…
@avadoesparties: Hey GINYOU gang! Hope everyone’s having a less chaotic week than I am. This homeschool mom in Omaha is running on fumes and lukewarm coffee, as usual! My sweet husband, Luke, is turning the big 4-0 next month, and we’re planning a low-key backyard bash. But “low-key” in my brain always spirals into “why…
Snow was still piled high on the curbs of Milwaukee Avenue when I realized Maya’s 8th birthday was exactly three weeks away and my bank account had exactly sixty-four dollars left for the “extras.” Chicago winters are brutal, but trying to explain a scaled-back party to a second-grader who lives for Sanrio is even colder….
Everyone in Austin is currently obsessed with 8-bit nostalgia, and honestly, I am leading the pack with my golden retriever Barnaby in tow. Last October, I found myself elbow-deep in green tissue paper and square cardboard boxes, trying to prove that a pixelated aesthetic isn’t just for the playground. My nephew Jackson was turning six,…
My husband’s 35th birthday was approaching fast last May, and I knew a standard backyard BBQ wouldn’t cut it for a man who spends his weekends tinkering with a vintage 1988 Porsche 944. I wanted something sophisticated but nostalgic, something that felt like a crisp afternoon in Monaco rather than a chaotic Saturday at a…
My kitchen looked like a blue and purple explosion had happened, mostly because I thought a DIY “Slurp Juice” station was a bright idea for my son Leo’s tenth birthday on March 14, 2025. I sat there at 2:00 AM, surrounded by 11 blank party hats and a glue gun that had definitely seen better…
The October wind was howling through the Douglas firs in our backyard in Beaverton, and I was currently three inches deep in silver glitter and blue frosting. My middle son, Leo, had just turned seven, and his “Galactic Supernova” party was approximately two hours from starting. I had seventeen second-graders coming over, but my biggest…
Thirty is a big number for anyone, but for Sarah, my fellow second-grade teacher at Oakwood Elementary here in Houston, it felt like a national holiday. Last March 14, 2025, we decided to throw her a bash that leaned into our daily exhaustion. Since we spend eight hours a day surrounded by 22 children who…
