We love themed parties.

I love the whole party process, up to the actual party itself.

This year was so much harder to plan than any other. Why? Amber was going to be thirteen and didn’t want a themed party. She wanted a grown-up party around the colors black and gray. Sophisticated and not babyish.

“No themed party this year, Mama.”

Then she kept asking over and over what I was “doing for (her) party, but no theme, right?”

Do you know how hard it is to plan a party around black and gray?

It’s depressing and boring and no fun.

Finally lightening struck and I called Sue and Brenda and shared my secret.

Paris.

I imagined cupcakes with Eiffel Tower toppers, crisp white table cloths with glass vases and simple flower arrangements, truffles and eclairs. Sadly, this was about as far as my train of thought could get me. I just didn’t know what to do for invitations or anything for the kids to “do” besides hang out.

One phone call changed all of that.

We finally had direction. I was still struggling for inspiration and finding things in a small town is nearly impossible. When I spied the Martha Stewart Living May 2011 issue I was all set.

Brenda whipped up some incredibly awesome passports to go with the invitations and then the fun began.

We had stations where each girl would get their passport stamped after completing a project.

The first stop was the jewelry factory. They made sleep masks. (We were originally going to give them white tees, paint, and scissors and say go for it, but time and budget just didn’t allow it.) Had makeovers. (We limited the make-up to eye shadow and nail polish.) Grabbed hair accessories (headbands and barrettes we glued flowers to the night before) and scarves and prepared for a photo shoot.

Then it was inside for a stop at the bakery.

A quick “shopping spree” for the birthday girl.

With an hour left I sent the girls upstairs to hang-out and be teenagers. I know they had a good time. I thought the ceiling was going to collapse from all the jumping. We could hear Lady Gaga and Chariots of Fire downstairs mixed with bouts of giggling and squealing.

There were things I didn’t get done, like the lemon cookies, truffles, eclairs, and pastries, but the girls didn’t seem to care.

I even bought a (used) copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s to play during the party, I know it takes place in New York but Audrey Hepburn is sophisticated and beautiful and it just felt right. Of course we didn’t actually play it because someone put in Ratatouille, but oh well.

Amber had her laptop set up and her Paris playlist all queued up. (Thanks again Brenda!).

All in all it was a perfectly Paris-y birthday.

Amber was telling us a story about a kid who found a Big toe and his mom put it in their stew for supper. Later that night the owner of the toe came looking for it. (Insert random scary ending.)

Suki asked how many of them ate the toe.

Shawn said all of them,and they ate it with a little jam.

Amber, with a completely straight face said, you can’t have toe jam with only one toe.

And then I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.