I’ve been feeling lukewarm about birthday parties for my kids this year. I’ll only occasionally one to throw over-the-top fetes–sometimes simple is best so with my daughter turning 11, I hinted maybe it was time to forgo the big bash. She was horrified. It turns out you need to give a kid at least a year’s advanced notice because they spend the entire 364 days plotting it.

I finally relented with a casual spa / PJ/  ebelskiver party and she invited 10 of her closest friends.  If you haven’t been around tweens, there is a lot of giggling and silliness. The facials hadn’t even started yet and already, her friend (on the left) was covered in whipped cream.

The Spa

We crafted our own natural facial recipes and the girls had a blast giving each other face and shoulder massages before our summer pedicures. Related: I threatened Hadley’s little brother and friend that if they didn’t stop bugging the girls, they’d have to give them all foot massages. Not coincidentally we didn’t see them for the rest of the party.

With the boys out of the picture, we relaxed and focused on breathing techniques as Enya crooned in the background. Though I’ve known most of these girls since they were babies, I could not identify them in a line-up.

Nor would I want to.

My daughter somehow worked it to have two friends massaging her at the same time.

I guess that’s how you roll when you’re the birthday girl.

The Explosive Fail

We made a sub-par attempt at a Diet Coke  explosion in the middle of the road (who knew you had to dump all the Mentos in ASAP?)

I’m sure our neighbors thought was a fantastic way to wake up on the first official day of summer.

And some trampoline time.

It looks like a seance but it was some game about their future boyfriends. Heaven help us all.

The Best Birthday Surprise

A huge package had arrived the day before on our doorstep with a cryptic note:

Dear Hadley,

Don’t open until your party.

Love, J.B.

J.B.? Who was J.B.? For 24 hours, Hadley agonized over its contents, huddling with her friends once they arrived at the party. Could it be a secret admirer? An amazing gift that would be the envy of them all?

None of the above. It was a special “gift” I found at ARC Thrift Store and decided to have fun with it. I wrapped it in a beautiful bag, found six boxes in successive sizes and wrapped each in duct tape, to produce one huge present.

She saved it for the very last and her friends were bursting with excitement. “I’m sure it’s gotta be a cell phone,” her friend Kasey proposed. Rest assured, I work in social media and my kids will be the last of their friends to get one.

Suspense grew and finally, she had the final box and the big reveal of just what she’d always wanted: (Drumroll, please)

A Justin Bieber T-shirt. 

The room erupted as hilarious Hadley raced around the corner and dumped it in the toilet.

Being the nice mom that I am, I later rescued the rock star, laundered him up squeaky clean and surprised her yet with “J.B.” a.k.a. Justin Bieber on her pillow that night.

Me thinks he will be the gift that keeps on giving (and reappearing) for years to come.

I was recently invited to AILLEA, a new boutique that provides 100 percent safe, non-toxic beauty products  so I decided to make an afternoon of it. It was a week before Hadley’s birthday and I asked her if she wanted to have a mom-daughter makeover. As a girl on the cusp of wearing make-up–and in dire need of some skincare advice–she was thrilled. How often do we have a day of pampering?

I was expecting to have a mini-makeover and be done with it but  the owner Kathryn opened my eyes to just how harmful and full of parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, endocrine disruptors and other toxic chemicals our make-up and lotions truly are. Talk about a wake-up call!!

AILLEA is located the hippest part of downtown, Larimer Square, and when we walked out of the store that Friday afternoon, we noticed Lincoln had setup a booth.

“Would you like to test-drive the new Lincoln MKZ?”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch. We want people to experience our new luxury model, fill out a brief survey and we’ll give you a $25 VISA gift card.”

Post-makeover test drive. Notice our glowing skin?

Since we were “yes” girls, we hopped in that Lincoln faster that you can say “Matthew McConaughey” (who drives them in the commercials). It was a simple spin around the block and $25 later, we wondered what we should do with the money. Hadley has never been to the Cheesecake Factory so we blew our spoils there with a ginormous piece of Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and paid it forward with a huge tip for our awesome waitress. Best. Girls. Day. Ever.

Our spoils from Aillea

And it was only just beginning! It was our stake’s annual father-son camp-out for the Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration so Bode and Jamie were heading to the mountains with their buddies. Hadley and I started Girls Day Part II by hiking Matthews Winters with my besties Lisa, Jenn and their daughters.
I had to include that last unflattering shot of Jenn and me because we share the same disturbing expression.

We grabbed dinner at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and somehow the talk turned to scary movies. Hadley has never seen one and has been moderately obsessed with “Watcher in the Woods,” a movie that haunted me for years as a kid but is a good “first scary movie” for kids. We decided it was time. Jenn and Sadie (our neighbors) changed into their PJs and met us in our dark basement for Girls Night Part III.

Were they scared? A bit. But Hadley mostly made fun of me for being freaked out by it.

I see Poltergeist in her future. Then again, I’m not watching that again.