Every parent in Austin knows that a March birthday is a high-stakes gamble with the Texas wind, but last year I decided to double down on the chaos for my niece Lily’s second birthday. We set up a long table under the sprawling live oaks at Zilker Park, expecting a serene afternoon of finger sandwiches…
Austin in June is essentially a pre-heated oven, but when my best friend Jen told me her son Leo wanted a “Sea Turtle Rescue” theme for his 9th birthday on June 14, 2025, I couldn’t say no. I am a sucker for a good theme. Give me a color palette and a specific animal, and…
My kitchen table currently looks like a glitter bomb went off in a botanical garden, and I have exactly four hours until Sophie’s friends descend upon our backyard in the Portland rain. Being a mom to Leo (4), Sophie (7), and Maya (11) means my life is a series of themed birthdays that usually involve…
The wind in Denver doesn’t care about your aesthetic goals. On March 30, 2024, I stood on our back patio in the Highlands trying to tape down a flimsy sheet of plastic that was supposed to be the centerpiece of Maya’s seventh birthday. It wasn’t working. The plastic was thin, translucent, and smelled like a…
The heavy March sleet hammered against our narrow kitchen window in Chicago while I frantically tried to tape blue streamers to a wall that refused to cooperate. My twins, Leo and Maya, were turning eight on March 12, 2025, and they had specifically requested a “Retro Shark” theme that was basically just an excuse to…
My son Leo turned eleven on March 12, 2024, and I decided, in my infinite single-dad wisdom, to bake “authentic” pirate hardtack for his friends. I spent $14 on high-end organic flour and three hours in my Atlanta kitchen crafting what essentially became square, edible rocks. When I handed them out, a kid named Toby…
The smell of cheap off-gassing plastic is enough to ruin any Saturday morning. I stood in the middle of my living room on March 14, 2026, holding a bag of “discount” latex balloons that smelled like a tire fire in a chemical plant. My son, Leo, was turning 12. You might think 12 is too…
The Texas sun was already beating down on Zilker Park at 9:00 AM on June 14, 2025, and I was covered in a fine mist of iridescent glitter and regret. My niece Chloe was turning six, and she had one non-negotiable demand: every single guest had to look like a “real-life unicorn.” I thought I…
Twelve-year-old girls are a tough crowd to please, especially when they are twins with polar opposite tastes. My daughter Maya wanted “aesthetic Y2K Sanrio vibes” for her birthday, while her twin brother Leo just wanted to make sure there was enough pizza for him and his friends in the basement. Living in Chicago on a…
My living room looked like a primary-colored minefield on March 12, 2024. I was crouched on the rug, nursing a thumb I had just scorched with a hot glue gun, while my twins, Leo and Maya, chased each other through a sea of plastic bricks. We were exactly three days away from their fourth birthday…
