Party Time

We had a wonderful time at Anna's first birthday party this weekend. Despite the stress of the last two weeks and my questioning whether it was a good idea to have a party at all, it ended up being perfect. We had so much fun doing what we love- cooking out and hanging out. Some wonderful friends were kind enough to host the party and take care of the grilling, and another surprised us with an amazing birthday cake that was a piece of art. With a perfect size of 20 people and great weather, it couldn't have been a better way to celebrate Anna's first year.

The day before I took care of most of the cooking. Considering what's been going on lately, we kept it super simple with the food. I felt proud that I still managed to make everything we did have homemade. I even had time to bake Anna her own little 'cake'. Since she needs everything dairy and egg free, I thought it would be easier to make something separate for her. I turned this great vegan apple bread recipe that I have into muffins, and then made some dairy free frosting (it tasted just like the real thing).



I made a quick banner with Anna's monthly pictures. Here's a close up of the pictures:

The beautiful cake. Pictures don't do it justice.

 


The Birthday Girl taking it all in. She gets real serious.

 



In case you wanted a close up of my enormous nostril-flare, here ya go.




I love this pic, even with the black eye :)



Here's a video of us bringing out Anna's cupcake. She is totally clueless:




I finished the night off by going to see the Hunger Games. I can't remember the last time I paid full price to see a movie. It's been years. I still haven't decided how I feel about the adaptation. It was definitley true to the book which was  nice, and I thought it was a good movie but I can't help but feel that it didn't inspire me very much. There wasn't enough time for good character development and I left feeling like it was utterly missing something. The special effects weren't up to snuff, and the costumes were disappointing. Had I watched it without reading the books, I think I would have been a bit confused in a few parts, too. I did like Peeta's portrayal a lot. Since he was my favorite in the book, I was happy with how his character played out. I also like the portrayal of the Capitol and the Districts, and seeing the point of view of the Gamemakers during the games. That was a nice touch. Overall how do I feel about it? Eh. I need to see it again to decide.