Last year after my kids slumber party I was so burned out and exhausted that I swore that it was a one time thing.  Well, fast forward a year, and all they wanted to do for their birthday was to have another slumber party!

This time I had help of my friend Christine of Christine Paul Events who is an amazingly talented (and pretty famous!) NYC event planner.  She met with the girls, who showed up to their ‘consult’ with their chromebooks and lots of ideas, took their vision and made it a reality.  And I have to say that this party turned out better than I ever could’ve imagined – not that I ever doubted Christine’s magic!

I knew that I did NOT want to do it at our house – I could not handle a day of cleaning up after a day (and quite possibly a sleepless night) of partying.   So Christine did her research and found a perfect venue – Woodcliff Lake Hilton – with an in-door pool (and who does not like to swim in the middle of the winter!) and ‘parlor’ rooms, that worked out great for our slumber party.  She thought and planned everything to the last detail – I thought I was a type A person but I realized I was nothing compared to her:)  And after over a month of planning, hours of shopping (some items came backs as far as the UK!) and setting up (with help of two dear friends!) the day was finally here!

There was a beautifully decorated tea party table:

complete with flower bouquets in teapots and tea sandwiches with ‘Be Tempted’ and ‘Take One’ and ‘How Scrumptious’ labels:

‘drink me’ bottles and fine china tea set gift favors,

flower crowns and bunny headbands for the girls to wear at the party and to take home:

There was strawberry milk:

and an ice-cream sundae bar:

two birthday cakes:

and different popcorn (for the movie portion of the party) with bags in Mia and Alexa’s favorite colors:

There were hours and hours and hours of research (mostly by Christine), of shopping and prepping, but the look of amazement of the girls faces and as they walked in and took it all in, while A Very Happy Unbirthday To You song was playing, made it all worth it:

There was ribbon cutting:

potion drinking:

and pink lemonade tea cups clinking:

And then there was swimming (lots and lots of it):

followed by a dessert extravaganza:

wish making:

and blowing out of candles:

and of course a party would not be complete without popcorn and a movie:

My second favorite part of the party (the first being seeing my kids faces  full of amazement) was changing into my PJs, getting room service and watching a movie with a dear friend who volunteered to help me chaperone this event:

My dreams of the girls sleeping past 8 AM did not materialize – they were up bright and early playing games and watching shows.  At that point I was so weak and tired that I gave in and fed them breakfast of cupcakes and cake – please don’t judge!

And by 10 AM all of the kids were picked up by their parents and I collapsed on a couch at home and promised myself that for next year’s party I will keep it simple and do a dinner and a movie with a few of their friends.  We will see if that happens…:)