siri's birthday party (the story)

we planned for siri's party to take place at duboce park -- a nearby park that has grassy areas, fun playground for the little ones, and a roped off dog park. the kids could run around the grass, play at the playground, and we would have a picnic of korean bbq, salad, cupcakes, snacks and drinks. i bought party favors with the park in mind: sand pails, mini frisbees, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc. i'm sure you can guess by the use of past tense that not everything went as planned.

jeff and i stayed up rather late on saturday, gathering materials for the following morning (the party was to start at 10am). we couldn't finish everything, and decided that a couple of things had to be left until morning: the cupcakes had to be frosted in the morning before we left for the park, the salad had to be tossed in the morning, and the meat had to be grilled at jenn and todd's before 10am (jenn and todd live close to duboce park and they have an outdoor grill). we went to bed at 1:30 am on saturday. jeff set his alarm for 6:45 am.

jeff and i wake up in the morning to find siri snuggling in between us. the alarm hadn't gone off yet, so i stayed in bed and asked jeff to check his phone. he checked, and exclaimed "it's 7:45!" holy shit. we hustle out of bed and make our way into the kitchen. jeff looks out the window and sees that the ground was wet. okay, it rained last night, but not raining at the moment, right? wrong! shit. what are we supposed to do? we saw blue sky, which meant the rain will stop really soon. but, even if the rain stopped, the grass and playground will be wet. kids won't be doing any playing, and adults are not necessarily excited to bring kids to a wet park. contingency plan: move the party to our place. i sent out an email to everyone who rsvp'd informing them that we have to change the party venue.

now, if you know us, you know our place was in no shape to house a party. plus, we were so busy the night before with preparations, we didn't bother to pick up. shit. we have two hours to clean our place, prepare the food and get ourselves ready before guests start arriving. jeff and i divide the apartment to clean: he focused on the kitchen and living room, and i took charge of the bedrooms. ready, set, go! siri entertained herself for a while, following us around and asking to be held occasionally. at some point, i look out the window and see that our street is blocked off at the bottom of our hill. fuck, there's something going on in our neighborhood. parking is going to be a pain in the ass for our guests. ugh!

an hour into the cleaning, and siri has a major meltdown. we hadn't fed her anything and her morning routine was completely out of whack. i quickly give her some juice, and then she and i jump in the shower while jeff continues cleaning. we get out of the shower, and i mop while jeff cleans the bathroom and changes evie's litter. at 9:45, jeff jumps in the shower. he gets out by 9:50 and helps me dress siri. aunt jenn and uncle todd arrive around 10am, and aunt jenn feeds siri yogurt while jeff and i clean up the kitchen counter and get the food ready. uncle todd frosts the remaining cupcakes, but guests had not arrived yet. at 10:20, jeff texts all the guests in case they didn't check their emails to let them know that the party had been moved to our place. jeff begins to broil the bulgogi and kalbi. i set out the food and cupcakes on the table. the door bell rings at 10:30 with our first guests: siri's best friend emma, and her parents and little sister. they had trouble parking. thanks, castro street fair!

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despite the morning stress, the party went really well. it was small and intimate, and the kids had a great time. siri's princess bed was a hit! the kids just wanted to hang out on the bed the entire time. we're glad the party happened, and even jeff agreed that the party was a good idea. siri was so wound up she didn't take a nap until 3 (her usual nap time is at 12:30 and she gets up around 3), which meant she got up around 6...and, she did not go to bed until 10. all and all, it was a good party. valuable lesson #1: always plan siri's party to be indoors. lesson #2: we can get this place cleaned up under pressure. no excuses to have a messy apartment now, right?