Our little baby Ara turned ONE on March 25! I was so excited to cohost her 1st Birthday party in California with my cousin, Angela and her little girl, Natalie.  Angela and I were born four months apart and were inseparable growing up together. We loved the Babysitter’s Club books and hated piano lessons. We would spend the night at each others houses and stay up late playing, eating Oreos, whispering, giggling, and sharing secrets and dreams. She was and is my first best friend.

Angela was the first to become a mom and I watched her take on motherhood with her trademark humor and sweetness. A couple years later, we found out we were both expecting at the same time. Natalie and Ara were born one week apart. It was set! Our daughters were destined to be super cousins, just like their moms.

Living here in SLC, I had a hard time deciding whether to have a party for Ara in California (where a lot of friends and family are), or Utah. In the end, Nick and I decided to do both because it is such a special milestone. Angela suggested we cohost a party and the ideas came together pretty quickly once a theme was decided. Our husbands, bless them, just went with the flow. Enter the superhero/supergirl party theme for the girls’ 1st birthday! It was a play off of being super cousins, but we loved the idea of having an empowering theme for our daughters at an early age. The grandmothers (our moms) were eager to help and went to Party City to pick up supplies and favors. They kept calling Angela to ask what exactly a superhero was (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Big Hero 6?) and had a hard time finding things that didn’t scream “boy.” Next time, they asked, can’t we pick a more feminine party theme? Like princess or Minnie Mouse? Or at least something pink and pastel? 😉

I’m so thankful to be living in this age. Pinterest, online shopping, and texting makes long distance planning so much easier!! The party was a blast. Angela and Lee generously hosted everyone at their house and we were able to take advantage of their big backyard. Favorite details were the bounce house (always a hit!), the girls’ personalized capes and cape station, the cityline backdrop my mom made, the yummy desserts, and the fun signage that played up the overall retro superhero theme. WHAM! POW! Who run the world? GIRLS!!

Immense thanks to Angela’s dad, my Uncle Cung Tran for taking a lot of the photos!