Party Tips

I survived. Barely. Frosting is currently permanently mashed into my Chicago apartment’s vintage rug. Twenty screaming kids running through my living room. Total chaos. But my daughter Maya’s birthday was absolutely spectacular. If you are desperately searching for a budget glamping party for 8 year old girls and boys that won’t require a second mortgage,…

Glitter is the herpes of the crafting world, and after my son Leo’s sixth birthday on March 14th last year, my Houston living room looked like a supernova exploded in a glue factory. I stood there, ankles deep in silver Mylar shreds and half-eaten cupcakes, wondering why I ever thought fifteen kindergartners could handle “galaxy…

October 14th, 2025. The Denver air was unusually dry, and I was standing in my dining room holding a mangled piece of printed cardboard. My son Leo was turning 10. You might assume 10-year-olds are entirely past the superhero phase. You would be wrong. Finding a structurally sound, chemically safe pj masks party centerpiece set…

Last July 14, 2025, I stood on the scorching sand of Sauvie Island with a literal gallon of sweat dripping down my back and a realization hitting me like a rogue wave: paper bags and the Pacific Northwest breeze do not mix. My middle son, Leo, who just turned seven, decided that his job as…

My living room floor looked like a pastel explosion had met a 1950s soda fountain on March 14, 2026. Chloe was turning eleven, and she had decided that “vintage kitsch” was the only acceptable vibe for her big day. I sat there in Austin, surrounded by ten pre-teens who were currently debating the merits of…

Twenty-two ten-year-olds in a room smaller than my first apartment is a recipe for a migraine or a miracle. Last Tuesday, we went for the miracle. My classroom in Houston feels like a greenhouse by 2 PM, especially when the AC decides to take a “mental health day.” We were celebrating the end of our…

Sophie’s eighth birthday on October 14, 2024, started with a literal bang when my seven-year-old, Leo, decided that the best way to help with the ballet party decorations for kids was to test the structural integrity of a giant pink balloon. Spoiler: it didn’t hold. My living room in suburban Portland suddenly looked like a…

My living room smelled like latex, stale coffee, and pure, unadulterated panic on August 14, 2024. Leo was turning two, and I had exactly four hours to transform a suburban Portland ranch house into the Serengeti before eighteen toddlers descended upon us. I was standing on a rickety kitchen chair, clutching a half-finished safari party…