Covid started in the middle of March last year and we were able to have one last birthday party out as a group. That was Grandma Karen's 79th birthday party at Izzy's. Covid caused Izzy's to go out of business and now the property is for sale. I've been trying to find a way to make people's birthday parties more fun because we haven't been able to eat at restaurants as a group.
Last fall, Erika had this great idea to have a Hello Kitty themed birthday party for Doug. I usually ask people what kind of birthday party they want such as the theme and food but Erika took it upon herself to make that choice for Doug. Haha. We spent the next couple months trying to find Hello Kitty decorations. I thought it would be easy because Hello Kitty is popular but not as popular as I originally thought. It was hard finding decorations. Erika managed to find some paper plates with Hello Kitty on it and that was about it for a while. I checked Walmart, various Dollar Tree's, Hobby Lobby and couldn't find anything. I was getting frustrated.
A few weeks before we were going to have his birthday, I remembered there was a Party City in Olympia so after work one day I drove out there to find a birthday gift and to see if the party store had some Hello Kitty decorations. I went to TJ Maxx to see if they had anything good to get Doug as a gift. Lately, I've been finding some really good things there. I browsed for a while and came across some discounted Seahawks sweatshirts, Combine Authentic ones. Since these are last season, they are heavily discounted so I got one for Doug and decided to get one for myself since they were $16 each. How can you not for that price?
I drove over to Party City and found the Hello Kitty section, yes...they have a Hello Kitty section, along with other themed cartoon, holiday and occasion sections. I didn't really want to spend a whole lot which is why I was hoping Walmart or the dollar store would have something like that. I found some wall decorations and some plastic table cloths. I checked the balloons to see if they had any but they had a large one and didn't want to spend $12 on a ridiculously large Hello Kitty balloon. I paid for my items and headed home. I have some colored balloons we could use at home as an accent. We were all set for Doug's Hello Kitty themed birthday party.
The weekend of Doug's birthday approached and he decided he didn't want a birthday party this year because of the fear of Covid and Jenn didn't want to do anything. She originally wanted to host his party and make food but wishful thinking and we should have known better. We canceled his party for that weekend and then Mom got mad so we threw together one for the end of the month. We already had the decorations so all we needed to do is to figure out a menu and invite everyone.
Mom told me we should have pork chops, mashed potatoes/gravy and green beans. I decided to make cupcakes for dessert, since I had a box of Funfetti and some icing in the panty and made them on Saturday just so they could be done. I went to the store the Friday before and bought everything. Surprisingly, everything was relatively cheap for feeding about nine people. We called everyone and told them the new plan for Sunday night. I moved all the tables and chairs into the dining room, decorated and made the food. Ben helped me out a lot getting everything ready to go before 6:00 p.m.
All the food was done just about on time when everyone arrived. We ate food, chatted and was complimented on the way I made the fresh green beans. Ever since we've had the free Hello Fresh meals that we got through Josh and Heather and one of the meals included fresh green beans roasted in the oven. We've never gone back.
Just about all the food was eaten which was good because I didn't really want a lot of leftovers. We cleared our plates and ate cupcakes while Doug opened his gifts. He appreciated his party and liked his gifts.
Because it was Sunday night, we cut it short so people could get home and get ready for the new work week. Everyone thanked me for the food, decorations and being able to throw this together basically at the last minute. Everyone went home and Ben and I cleaned up, put the chairs and tables away, got showers in and got ready for our work week.
Happy 35th Birthday Doug!
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