Three for Three

When Oskar was born Martin and I had a lengthy discussion about birthday parties and what we expected for our kids. We decided to hold off on big parties until they asked for one and we should live by the rule of one friend invited for each year we were celebrating. So for the past two years we have celebrated Oskar’s birthday at the Lake with just the family (including Oma and Opa) and a small gathering for cocktail, appetizers and dinner on the deck. But this year, after attending a few birthday celebrations, Oskar informed us he wanted a party and he wanted chocolate cake. This year was also the first year that Oma and Opa wouldn’t be there (we were to see them two weeks later in Germany, where we would celebrate a belated birthday). So this year we officially celebrated Oskar turning three with three separate birthday parties: at the Lake, in Germany and in SF.

Cocktails and dinner on the deck at the Lake was rained out on the planned Sunday, postponing the party until Monday, his actual birthday, for huevos rancheros. As a side note, Germans are super strict about not celebrating birthdays until the actual day, so the delay of the dinner was actually a good thing and avoided the awkward “come over for cocktails, appetizers and dinner but to “not” celebrate Oskar’s birthday”.

The German celebration lasted all of the 20 minutes it took for Oskar to open up his presents.

And between the two family celebrations we went big with a kids party in San Francisco. With the general rule to invite all of your classmates to your party, the “one friend per year” rule Martin and I had previously discussed and agreed on went out the window and with it the flood gates opened... 20 plus kids and 30 plus adults, a trip to Costco and a large last minute order from Amazon later, we officially celebrated Oskar with coffee, croissants, muffins, mimosas and chocolate cake at our local playground. 

It was a blowout and I think Oskar was happy with the results.

A Sunday Play Date

This past weekend we had Oskar’s friend Max and his parents over for a play date. By all accounts it was a huge success: the four adults got to enjoy a beer and glass of wine in the living room, Oskar and Max had a ball in Oskar’s bedroom, Alva loved the chaos of it all and Oskar has already asked to have Max over again.

I mean, if this picture doesn’t represent a good time, then I don’t know what would:

On a Budget

For the first time in my entire life, I put myself on a budget. And so far it isn’t going so well. Two months in and I have gone over my monthly allowance by 100% each month.

To back things up, come to find out life is expensive and kids aren’t cheap. After doing our taxes this year Martin and I couldn’t reconcile the amount stated per the government and our feelings of poverty. I know I know, we are hardly “scrapping by”. We own two apartments in San Francisco and are almost done building our vacation cottage on the coast. But still, a little fiscal responsibility isn’t necessarily a bad thing…

For someone as Type A as me (and an accountant), you would think this budget thing would come naturally to me. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I am only hoping it just takes a little time and a little practice… like starting to exercise; it starts off slow and painfully, but overtime you get used to it.  And let’s be honest, this is a muscle I haven’t used in the past 25 years, if ever. 

While I have been over-budget each time, I like to think the overall process is working... it has stopped me from at least two impulse purchases and the daily amazon shipments have all but stopped.

June 30 Update. This month, after tracking expenses for four months and overspending by double the budget each of the previous months I am happy to report that I officially did not exceed my allowance for the month!!! And I found the key to making it happen; travel two weeks in the month... those expenses are part of a different budget.

Lets Doodle It Las Vegas

The Denver Girls were long overdue for a girl’s weekend. It had been close to two years to be exact since we last got together for a weekend in wine country and since then we had added 8 babies and an engagement to the group. But unlike our last trips, where the location was decided based on a girl hosting at her house, there was no clear direction on who would take the reins to organize. Add those 8 babies to the mix and it is surprising we were actually able to get anything planned.

A quick google search later and we had our answer; we were going to plan the trip by consensus and we were going to use a tool called Doodle to do so. Through pooling and majority rules, we were able to narrow down the weekend (April 12) and location (Las Vegas) in less than 5 hours. Over the course of the next month, through the assistance of Doodle, we decided on hotel price points, casino options, room arrangements, dinner reservations, vibe for each night, daybeds at the pool and most importantly the “theme” for Saturday night. It was almost too easy.

After much anticipation and a few Doodle-less decisions later the weekend finally arrived. And leveraging premade reservations, Splitwise and Venmo we were able to let go of logistics (a nice break for the moms of the group) and do what these ladies do best: be their fabulous selves. I mean I could barely keep up...

Pedicures, Spray Tans, DryBars, fake eyelashes, traveling make up mirrors, outfits for days, jewelry for weeks, statement earrings to pair with your bathing suit, designer purses, designer sunglasses, sequins, stilettos. I was, and always am with this group, out of my element. The last time I wore heels was three years ago and my most recent splurge purchase was a radiator for Timber cove rather than a purse. I also picked a bad month to put myself on a budget. But I was there and giving it all I had:

We relaxed in our upgraded two bedroom suite Friday afternoon while some girls got their hair done, then put on the army paint and headed out for the night.

Drinks at the newly opened Vanderpumps, where they made over 30 people wait in line to be seated at an empty bar with terrible service.  Definitely underwhelmed. 

Dinner Friday night at Catch in the Aria.  I was able to show off my menu ordering skills along with my skinny legs. 

 

My date for the night... it seemed fitting since I just finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

After dinner we walked through Aria to ParkMGM for drinks and dancing at On The Record.  While in Aria we made a stop at the tables where I taught the girls how to play craps and we managed to get "sponsors" to allow us to keep playing after we lost all of our money.

On the Record turned out to be a huge hot, smokey mess, but it redeemed itself with private Karaoke rooms... I left the girls and made friends with the South Koreans in one of the rooms to escape the smoke and sing a few songs.  I think my new friends were okay when I took the microphone and sang five songs back to back... I will never know. 

Pool time at the Nomad... we were bumped from our comped cabana thanks to Victoria Secret models and Brody Jenner, but the day beds were awesome.  And you can't deny this punch bowl wasn't epic..

A quick stop at the super secret Ghost Donkey bar in the Cosmopolitan before the activities of Saturday night.

Gold for days... but no pictures of us all wearing it, nor of our dinner at STK or of the girls dancing at Bellagio

But here I am, after an early night in... While the girls headed to Hyde, I went back to the hotel room at 11pm. I got organize for the following morning and tucked myself into bed for a decadent “full night” of sleep.