Luke's First Birthday Party

We live in California but all of our family lives in Colorado, so this was a destination dol. It took us the longest time to find the right venue, but luckily a new place was opening and the in-laws knew the owner so we were the first customers to use Seoul Palace. We actually didn't see the place until we arrived in CO but my parents sent pictures of it in progress so we weren't too worried about how it would look. It turned out beautifully and was the perfect size for our party.

Our theme was shades of blue and bunnies, since Luke was born in the year of the rabbit (as were his mom and dad!) and even his nickname while he was in the womb was "tokki." I wanted it to look refined but still casual enough to look like a baby's birthday party.

Welcome table, Photo table, & Doljabi Raffle

We had a welcome table with a guest book and raffle tickets (designed by me) handed out and two more tables with a photo from each month of Luke's first year, the raffle, and wishing tree. The welcome poster and doljabi poster were also designed by me, although I got the rabbit ear icons from a template on a Korean blog. The ceramic number one and blue bunny which held the raffle tickets are from Michaels. The frames were from Target and the wishing tree from Beau-coup.

It was so nice to see all of the weekly pictures from L's first year together and seeing how much he has grown!

Food & Dessert

The dinner buffet was provided by Seoul BBQ which is right next to the venue owned by the same owner (so much amazing food that we don't have pictures of and didn't get to eat much because we were so busy with a cranky baby and the event itself). For desserts, we booked the cake & cupcakes from Happy Cakes trusting Yelp reviews and ordered chocolate covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements. I designed the cupcake toppers myself and found a cute chalkboard frame from World Market to write the different flavors. My cousin went above and beyond what we requested and made six different types of macarons (double chocolate, raspberry, yuzu, green tea with white chocolate, black sesame) for the most popular dessert of the night! They were so delicious and beautiful to look at.

Main Table

The main table was pretty simple with just the cake, go-ims, and fruit arrangements. I wanted the cake to be plain but with a little blue and I made a bunting cake topper which is very popular these days. The letters are from Michaels and the fruit arrangements are the cute Easter bunny arrangements from Edible Arrangements. They went with our theme so well and were a twist on the stacked whole fruit arrangements I saw on others' dol tables. The bunting and tissue paper pompoms were DIY.

We made the "chuk-dol" and rabbit go-ims beforehand and sent them to CO (my husband actually made one of them, can you guess which one? ;) Yep, it's the not-as-pretty-but-effort-that-counts "chuk-dol" one) and made the wave go-im a few days before the party. We used different sized lima  beans and black beans, as well as skittles and pompoms for the bunny's face. I drew the bunny face freehand because I couldn't find a cute enough template. The wave one was made with colored sixlets found at Party City which were expensive but pretty and easy to glue. 

Guest tables

For centerpieces, I went the easy route and did balloons on weights. There are bunnies hanging from the balloons which were a hand-cramp to cut out but very cute as little garlands. I also ordered confetti in shades of blue in the shape of bunnies to scatter on the tables from Etsy.

We made a standing brochure(?)/information card thingie for the guests to read facts about Luke and order of events. We found a template on a Korean blog and I customized the colors, picture, and other things to match our party.

Favors were a variety of dduk (rice cakes) packed in boxes with a cute sticker of Luke on them (designed by me). Obok Dduk did an amazing job packaging the favors for a very reasonable cost.

Throughout the party we played music (a special playlist) and a slideshow of pictures on the TV near the buffet area. This worked out well because while people were waiting in line for food they were able to watch Luke's first year in pictures!

Doljabi

Luke went straight for the pencil!

The party was beautiful and looked almost exactly as I had envisioned it for the few months leading up to it. There was just the right amount of DIY-ing that made me feel really involved in preparing for the party yet didn't have me tearing my hair out in stress. I wish baby had been in a better mood (he was teething) but our whole family enjoyed it and it was fun to celebrate our little one's first birthday with everyone.

List of vendors (in Colorado):

Balloons - Absolute Value

Banner - Little Seouls Party (online)

Event hall - Seoul Palace

Catering - Seoul BBQ

Cake & cupcakes - Happy Cakes

Macarons - Jay Lee (cousin)

Dduk - Obok ddukjib

Posters - printed at Costco

Photographer - Fall Child Photography

February

those sweet eyes are dangerous

someone really likes balloons!

fun on his birthday at the Children's Museum of Denver

a sweet moment between grandpa & grandson

tokki watch: Twelve Months

tokki,

You are one year old! I don't know if I really believe it yet but the time says you are and you've grown from a newborn to infant to toddler. You're taller and stronger but when I hold you in my arms when you nurse, you're still my little baby.

You're observant and curious, persevering and strongheaded, and silly and sweet. Your personality is as bright as your big eyes, which is very bright! You're smart and great at imitating what we do and say (which entertains us like nothing else!) and you understand and communicate with us very well. It makes our job as parents much easier; but then again, you've always been such a content and easygoing baby. I'm grateful for your health and energy and never ending laughter, it lights up my life.

Appa & I have been blessed beyond measure with you in our lives. I love that I can look back on our first year as parents with so many precious memories and also look forward to many more fun memories we will make together as you get older. And right now, each day with you is just perfect. I love you to the moon and back WooHyun.

~Umma

A day out in Little Tokyo

From last Saturday...

Upgraded car seat!

Kobe corn dog with spicy curry ketchup

Uni & mushroom pasta - DELICIOUS.

Curry loco moco

Mr. Bright Eyes checking out passerbys through the window

Cafe Dulce

Pretty night light from Little Tokyo

Blogging seems to be the last thing on my mind these days. My days are busy and full from loving on my son and husband. From planning my son's first birthday party. From finishing up chores after putting my baby down to sleep. From choosing to sleep early instead of mindlessly clicking through social network sites and pins. From keeping up appearances when really, who's reading?

But I'll be back to share about tokki's first birthday party in a couple of weeks...

Time flies!

tokki watch: Eleven Months

Baby tokki,

You are 11 months old! There are so many things I want to record and remember as you've been learning new skills and growing so quickly this past month.

First of all, you've gained more weight and your double chin back because you are eating solid foods instead of just playing with them. You were quite heavy before but now you're really giving Mommy & Daddy's arms a workout. But you haven't cut back on nursing, in fact, you've been nursing nonstop as you've been growing three new teeth at once! And you clearly let me know when you want some mam-ma (nursing) time by pulling at my shirt. Your smile gets cuter and cuter with the addition of each new tooth. 6 total now :)

Ooh, the most exciting is that you're a walker now! Just a few days ago you started walking beyond a few steps at a time so steady and balanced. There are still falls and you prefer crawling when you're in a hurry but the rate at which you improve day by day is amazing! You look so proud of yourself after walking a distance, it seems to reflect how proud we are of you.

Your hand-eye coordination has improved so much since you've been feeding yourself. You choose to pick up your food or spoon to your mouth at mealtimes and won't let us do it for you! (I can also see bits of strong-headedness during the day when you clearly let us know when you don't like something or want something, especially when we take things away that aren't for you to play with. Also has to do with the potty break we're taking because you're so busy playing!) The coordination also plays a part in how well you've been playing with your toys which require you to pick up and drop the toys in specific places; you learn how to play new games quickly which makes it so much fun to watch and interact with you. It brings a smile to my face every time you imitate what I do, like making the sound of the car moving while you roll the car "booooooong!"

You can share and you randomly give me kisses throughout the day. Your gestures of affection make my heart burst with love over and over again. These days Mommy is tired from staying up later to plan your birthday party but you also give me times of rest as you play happily by yourself as I sit near you and just watch. I look forward to meal times as we sit together at the table and we can share our meals. We pray together, we read together, we are familiar in our routines together as a family.

You're my lovable little sidekick and Appa & I love you so very much.
Time to start counting down to your first birthday! Yay!