#1 Fancy Nancy Birthday Soiree

It's 10 days after my dear daughter's birthday and I am finally posting pictures. That's 240 hours, or 1440 minutes, or 864,000 seconds. The rationale for being such a slacker is as follows:

We Just Finished Partying!!

This is just the first of 3 posts about Molly's birthday and I haven't even bothered to count the number of pictures that I have downloaded for said posts (okay, I did count...there are 46).

So here we go....

Party #1 was a Fancy Nancy Birthday Soiree. If you are not familiar with Fancy Nancy, she is a little girl (with very plain parents) who is passionate about all things sparkly and fancy, especially her dress up clothes. Sound like anyone we know?

You all know I am not crazy about the whole princess thing. Once again, for all my princess-loving friends, it is nothing personal against princesses. They are fine. It's Molly's ability to handle the whole princess thing. Think crack addict.

So in my infinite wisdom (read: break from reality) I decided that I would talk Molly into a Fancy Nancy party instead of the princess party that she has never asked for but I am sure that she wanted.

 Early on, I start pushing FN. I highlighted the benefits of FN, told her about all of the exciting plans I had for a FN party and took her shopping for a FN outfit.

And I truly thought that this was going to work.

Molly's went along with everything including the shopping spree but would still inquire about wearing her Snow White dress to the party. "Oh no, " I replied. "You are going to wear your FN outfit. That is waaaay better than any princess outfit. Everyone will ooooh la la over it. You will be the bell of the ball."

And I truly thought that this was going to work.

I decorated the house with fancy decorations, spent hours adorning plates with stickers to simulate china, and planned other fancy stuff.

I spent waaaay to much money to have a cake decorated with

fancy accessories just like the FN book:

And I actually thought that this was going to work.

Here is the real Fancy Nancy. Adorable, right?

And here is my Fancy Nancy.

Even more adorable.

Tres chic!  Manifique! Oooh la la!

On with the party.

This is going to be great!

And it was great.

The kids listened to an awe-inspiring recitation

 of the Fancy Nancy story.

 They received fancy hand bags with boas and tiaras.

They decorated tiaras with gems and puffy princess stickers.

Then they went on a scavenger hunt,

looking for fancy jewels to adorn their arms.

They designed stylish cat eye sunglasses

to adorn their beautiful little faces.

They applied tasteful makeup to put their look over the top.

They even participated in a fashion show that would rival

 any haute couture show in Paris or Milan.

Umm, what's that you say? Molly's dressed in Snow White?

 Well, yes she is.

Alas, as much as I tried to sell Fancy Nancy to my daughter,

she wasn't buying it.

 About five minutes into the party it was obvious that

Molly was not having a good time

 (the screams and wails gave it away).

That was my epiphany moment:

I wanted Fancy Nancy but Molly wanted Princess.

And golly gee, it was HER party.

I may be manipulative creative, but I am not dense.

I didn't want to be responsiblefor scarring my daughter for life

 because I wanted a Fancy Nancy party.

 I quickly asked Tony to take her upstairs for a wardrobe change.

Snow White made her debut and

the princess party continued with giggles instead of tears.

The princess tea party:

And the princess gift opening.

 If you have never been to a preschool party

 you have never witnessed the kid creep.

It starts with the birthday girl opening gifts

 with guests at a distance.

After a few gifts have been opened

you notice that a few kids have crept up

to get a closer look at the birthday booty.

And by the end, every single kid is front and center

offering advice,volunteering to assist

or just getting a better look.

It has happened at every.single.kid.party.

 that I have ever attended.

Preschooler rite of passage, I guess.

After gifts, we moved on to the way too expensive cake,

which was delicious, by the way.

Molly is really good at this part of the party!

Molly had a marvelous time celebrating with her best friends--

a very special group of girls

(with very special mommies-love ya gals!).

I even discovered that I am a pretty good party planner,

even if I can't sell the theme to my daughter.