Allison's 2nd Birthday

(As you read on this blog, you will somehow witness how my life got better. In all aspects... You'll see...)

Loreen Allison, oyin or aton, as we fondly call her, turned 2 in October 2009.  Again, I had to work on a small budget for a simple party. More than half of whatever i spent was for the cake. So just imagine how small the budget was for the food and everything.

(2009 and 2010 were the toughest years of my life. Had been through heartbreaking struggles, physically , emotionally and financially.)

Aton was into Blue's Clues when she was at this age. So I got her a blue cake from Red Ribbon, and had blue's clues cutouts put on it for a little Blue's Clues feel:

Mahirap talaga ang buhay noon. I was the only one working. We had meager money. But I wanted my only child to celebrate her birthday at least the same way as I have celebrated mine when I was little. So, pilit na pilit talaga sa budget ang simpleng handang ito:

My cousins, Necy and Joy, and Joseph, and Danda, helped me out with the preparations. 

Necy got us some balloons:

And I bought cheap stuff from SM Dept Store for the game prizes. At that time, they still offer free gift wrapping services even for cheap items. I got some blue's clues cut outs pasted on the tags:

Then necy took care of the games and stuff. The power went out late that afternoon. So we held the games at the frontyard.

This was how simple Aton's 2nd birthday was. 

But hey, i think her 3rd was even simpler.  :(

Loreen Allison Turns 1!

October 2008. I was an excited first-time mom with a lot of vague kiddie party ideas, a little time and a very small budget. This was the first time I had to source for suppliers, and the first time I had to budget for a kid's party. It was not as easy as I thought it was. Iba talaga when you are a first timer. A little reality check then-- Ulai, you only have this amount to spend, this number of days to prepare, and this number of things to meet. 

A week before the Allison's birthday, I was able to reserve a cake from Red Ribbon. At that time, we can still customize the colors and appliques. I was happy with how it turned out-- a cute red and yellow 2-layered fondant cake.

A few days before, I was able to reserve 50 seats at Pizza Hut SM City Dasmarinas and we were able to shop at Divi with the dad. We got candies, party poppers, small toys and a pinata. Two days before the event, I was able to book the clown. And the night before the party, I was able to diy a bolloon tower. :)

All accomplished to my satisfaction. LOL Mababaw lang naman ako eh :)

Venue: Pizza Hut SM City Dasmarinas
Cake#1: Goldilocks
Cake#2: Red Ribbon 

Clowns: Jeca Clowns
Photo and Video: Ninang Danda and Ninong Doits
Balloon Tower: DIY 

Souvenirs:

The pictures were all uploaded in my Multiply account. My bad I was not able to save a back-up :( Here are a few pictures though: