P Turns 3

Today was P's birthday party. It was planned literally months ago and I was looking forward to seeing Juliana and her family . It's been a very long time! She had the party at artBEAST in Sacramento. It's a really cool place, but unfortunately for me it's primarily parallel parking around that area. Yes, it is embarrassing but I don't know how to accurately parallel park and the idea stresses me out. Needless to say I circled the building 3 times to find a spot I could pull into and not have anyone park behind me. Basically, one part of the street per block that I'm able to park in...

Well, I finally arrived (late, again, even though I had plenty of time) and got checked in. There were lots of different stations to check out but Evelyn was feeling too shy with all the new people and kids(she's actually met them all before, but it has been a long time)  to leave my leg. She finally discovered some interest at the button gluing table (no other kids there) so we sat down and I pulled out my camera. As I went to take my first picture it happened: I ran out of memory. I emptied all my SD cards last night and apparently I forgot to put it back into my camera when I finished. I was about to be so mad and crushed when I remembered seeing another SD card in my wallet awhile back. I'm really not sure why I put it in there in the first place (if I remember correctly I think it was in my pocket and I didn't want to loose it) but I remember when I found it that I consciously chose to not take it out just in case I ever found myself in this predicament. Two points for me and my brilliance!

Evelyn discovered a few more stations before it was time to go upstairs for cake and crown making. She was so polite and proper with her food. She picked a seat at the end of the long table away from all the kids (to be fair she was one of the first ones to sit down, it's not like she tried to be separate) and sat properly waiting for food. She patiently waiting for cake to be passed out and didn't rush the cake pot, she asked politely for crackers, and even ate all her bunnies before she started on her cake pop. Funny thing about her cake pop, she sat there and licked it forever (in my world) before I finally encouraged her enough to try and actually bite it.

When she finished all her food, and P had opened all her presents, we headed downstairs to leave. As I'm saying my goodbyes Evelyn discovered the painting wall. She loves getting paint on the brush and rubbing it on the wall, much more than she did putting it on paper. I let her paint for a little while, but I was still trying to get her ready to go. It never fails, she's shy when we get there and warms up 2 hours later- right about the time we need to leave.

It's fair to say that getting to the party was extremely stressful for me (sorry I took it out on you Cliff, I was wrong). Before I left the house that morning Cliff had joked that it was right were I was last night so it should be easy to get to (for me it was not) and I could even get some cake when I was done. I wasn't going to do that, I didn't need the calories, but as I drove past it (literally 1 block away) I flipped around the block and parked again. The sleeping man on the tarp was still by the tree, he moved since last night so I knew he wasn't dead, as Evelyn and I walked past and up to Ricks.

The choices were almost all new since last night. I had such a difficult time picking something. Lemon bars, Chocolate OD, Chocolate Strawberry Tortes, Chocolate Raspberry Tarts... it all looked amazing.  Evelyn wanted an eclair for herself so bad, she saw another little girl ask for it and decided she wanted it too. I finally settled on Creme Brulee since it's light and not as rich-or intense- as the Chocolate Over Dose I was drooling over, and a chocolate mint mousse torte to take home to Cliff.

Evelyn was very patient for a child who was ready for her nap and  stuffed with crackers and cake. I gave her a spoon of her own but as it turns out, she doesn't care for vanilla pudding. Shame for her, more for me. While I finished my dessert she admired all the cakes in the case behind her asking what each of them was. I'm not completely cruel, when her and I got home Cliff shared his slice with her.