Ever since her sixth birthday party last August (theme: Fairyland), Amalia has been planning for her
seventh birthday party, which she decided would be a mermaid party. Her Mommy spent months on the internet,
tracking down treasures like mermaid necklaces and mermaid spoons and
personalized mermaid goody bags and a mermaid outfit for each guest. When Amalia’s mermaid costume came in the
mail, she couldn’t wait to try it on.
And she looked so happy!
Amalia insisted on having the party in August (her
birthday’s actually on August 26) even though many of her friends were still out
of town on Sunday, August 16, when six girls arrived, along with parents and a
couple of siblings. Most of them put on
their mermaid outfits at once, and then they got a complete “mermaid makeover”
with face painting by Amalia and Nico’s artistic nanny, Jennie, (who will be
leaving in October, when she has her own baby.)
After the makeover, the girls decorated mermaid mirrors with shells,
played mermaid Bingo and “Pin the Tail on the Mermaid”, and had their Polaroid
photos taken in the photo booth to record the day.
There were snacks on the table—sandwiches and cookies shaped
like shells, seahorses and mermaid tails, veggies, including a hummus and
carrot octopus, and, finally, it was time for the cake, which Mommy and Amalia
had made the night before. (Amalia made
the mermaid on the cake all by herself!)
The mermaid piñata with blue hair was the centerpiece until it was time
to unload her treats by pulling on ribbons (so much nicer than beating them out
of her with a stick!)
The New York birthday party ended, just like last year, with
the young mermaids throwing Yiayia Joanie out of Amalia’s bedroom so they could
open the presents and goodie bags in private.
And then it was time for Amalia’s Massachusetts birthday
party in Grafton, attended by her extended family. On August 26, Amalia woke to a breakfast of
cupcakes topped with a candle. Because
she had spent the entire summer obsessively reading all the Harry Potter books,
she was wearing a nightgown based on Harry and Hermione’s Hogwarts school
uniform. Then her aunt Frosso and family
gave Amalia her favorite birthday gift of all—a Sorting Hat, just like Harry
had at Hogwarts, which sits on your head and selects which house you are
destined for: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. The hat talks and its mouth moves, and Amalia
got chosen for Gryffindor, just like Harry Potter.
Then the rest of us had our chance at the sorting hat, as it
analyzed our nature. Yiayia Joanie got
Ravenclaw—(for students who are arrogant and intelligent.)
Soon Amalia and Nico were down by the pool, waiting for
people to arrive. Amalia checked out the
Emoji piñata.
People came and splashed and swam like mermaids and ate pizza
and Greek salad. The Emoji piñata was
destroyed. Then it was time for the
Mermaid cake and ice cream. The cake
came from my favorite bakery—Yummy Mummy in Westboro. Amalia
had given the baker and designer a detailed memo on what color the frosting
should be—yellow and purple hair, blue for the waves, etc.
Amalia blew out the mermaid tail candle and insisted on
cutting the cake herself.
The celebrating went on all afternoon, but before it was
over, we assembled to take this photograph of us. It
will be a bittersweet memory, because we don’t know when we will all be
together again. Marina and Jeff (at
left) were headed back to San Francisco. Eleni, Emilio and their kids, at right
(with Amalia clutching her beloved book) headed back to New York. And Frosso
and her family, including husband Sy, little Stone and Baby Eleni, as well as
her mom, the Big Eleni, are moving to Sarasota, Florida!
Meanwhile, Amalia is already planning her next year’s
birthday party. Will it be a Harry
Potter theme? Stay tuned!
