Yesterday we threw a party. Not just any party, a FIRST birthday party.

Before I was a mom, I truly never thought I was going to be the type who goes "all out" for a 1st birthday party. Wellllll, turns out I am. And you know what? I own it. I think 18 hours of labor, 365 days of #momming, and 24/7 care for a little human calls for one big celebration. Celebrate we did.

Before I go into the party deets, let me give you a little bit of background info.

Last year at this time, I was a little over 9 months pregnant. Our condo was the cleanest it has ever been. My nails were freshly painted a new color everyday. I had read a plethora of books. Basically, I had too much time on my hands waiting for this little girl to make her world debut. During my "nesting" period the unpredictable Pittsburgh weather was chilly, yet no snow in sight. Up until Friday, January 22 that is. The Steel City was Snowmageddon. We're not talking a few flurries, my Pittsburgh peeps will understand this.

My husband came home from work that Friday the 22nd covered in snowflakes. A perfect reason to start a fire and Netflix the night away. We could see the snow falling heavier and heavier outside, and I do remember thinking to myself "If baby girl decides to come now we will be screwed driving to the hospital".

Yep, you guessed it. That night I started having serious contractions so Danny and I grabbed our overpacked, pre-packed (first time parent probs) hospital ready bag and off we went into the tundra.

That next day on Saturday, January 23 5:26pm our little sweetie Eva Alyse was born. I can still remember it so vividly. It is an unexplainable thing to those who have not yet experienced the overwhelming joy and awe of becoming a parent. We just can not get enough of our little Evie.

Ok, I'm done with the emotional momma stuff. Let's talk shop.

Because Eva was born in the January 2016 snowstorm, I wanted to incorporate that into her birthday party somehow. Hence, Eva's Winter ONEderland.

I am a sucker for a pink and gold color combo - that's the girly girl in me. We incorporated a color scheme of pink, blush, gold, silver, ivory and rose gold. We were in luck when it came to the decor of this party, a local craft store was discounting most of their Christmas goodies so we cleared them out taking any winter-esque/sparkly/glittery related decor item we knew would look amazing paired with our theme.

For balloons, table cloths, eating ware as well as other party necessities we went to one of our favorite party supplying websites; ShopSweetLulu. They have absolutely everything under the sun when it comes to throwing a snazzy shin-dig.

The centerpieces we wanted to keep fairly simple. We used mason jars and filled them with pink, blush and gold bits of crinkled confetti paper then arranged sparkly, winter white faux branches in them with a gold glitter accent. To complete the centerpieces we added foiled gold and ivory tissue paper molded around the mason jar, then we added a pink fluorescent confetti circled around the entire piece.

My very favorite part of Eva's Winter ONEderland was the desert table. OBVIOUSLY. Mediterra Bakehouse was the lovely creator of Eva's smash cake and the cake for our guests. They did a lovely job of keeping the sweet, dainty feel I was going for and keeping with the ONEderland theme. Not to mention how delicious the buttercream icing and burnt almond batter was! Yum, yum, yum.

Cupcakes were baked by my bestie and business partner, Toni. She's always been a cupcake connoisseur, baking delicious treats yet always coming out with a creative style more charming than the last - for Evie's cupcakes she topped each with beautiful blush pink frosting and either a sparkly white snowflake or a glittery gold "1" with the cutest little pink tulle bow. She's like Betty Crocker, but better. They were a fan favorite for sure.

The French macaroons were from one of our absolute favorite bakeries when it comes to macaroons; Bartram House Bakery. Pink and ivory of course! Got to stick with the theme. Those are their raspberry buttercream and white chocolate ganache flavors. They were such an elegant little touch to the desert table.

Eva's Winter ONEderland was certainly sweet but definitely made even sweeter with the loved ones who celebrated with us - I feel so overwhelmed with love and happiness when I think about all of the amazing people in my life, who now are in my baby girl's life. All the heart flutters.

A & L Events would love to be apart of your special little guy or gal's first birthday - there's not a lot we love more than babies and cake. Beside brides and cake, of course. :)

xx,