Miss 2

Having survived Miss 1's special first birthday, I had the sudden realisation that I had not shared with you Miss 2.5's 2nd birthday.

Last year B and I needed to be apart (not by choice) but because he was working in WA and I had just had darling Miss 1. His work required him to be in WA for the remainder of 2012 and I had already packed up the house, popped it in storage in Qld and we couldn't really afford to be paying for us to live in two states, so after many conversations, my parents asked me to stay with them and Bryan worked FIFO out of Tasmania. When Miss 2.5 turned 1 we were in WA and had a party with all our friends, it was too far for some family members to travel. When the decision to say in Tasmania with my family had been made, I looked for things to keep me occupied and to distract me from the fact that there was a significant family missing. One of these things was organising Miss 2.5's, 2nd birthday. It was so much fun!!!

I picked a theme and location first. I googled children's birthday parties and did some searching on Pinterest. I also happen to have two amazing pages on Facebook that I liked that always have the most divine inspiration. Whimsy Petite Styling and Party Inspirations. My gorgeous sister worked at a "Fast food restaurant" and was able to book the room. I asked lots of questions about what I was and wasnt allowed to do there (regarding decorations etc) and then got planning.

Once I had found my inspiration, I then began the prop and decoration hunt. There are some brilliant party websites, that if you plan in advance will deliver to your door. Some of my favourites are actually located on the Sunshine Coast (you should have heard the squealing when I discovered the warehouse), so whilst I advocate using local stores (I believe you risk losing them if you don't support them), I understand that sometimes when you are looking for something specific (as I was) you do need the internet. I did discover that the local wholesale florist supplier had some of the things that I needed that I couldn't find anywhere...

Then began the food preparation. As I knew that the venue had food (yes it was unhealthy, but it was a once a year thing), I decided that I wasn't going to be able to redeem myself so I made some sweet treats to counteract the restaurant food.

Just a side note to everyone... make sure you arrive at LEAST half hour before party time because the most stressful thing was having everyone turning up as you were, and hovering while you were setting up... Being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted them to walk in the room and have the "WOW" factor, not be helping me set up. I was grateful for the help, please don't get me wrong, but it wasn't the way I saw things playing out...

The end result though was brilliant... Well at least I thought so...