Beautiful Day for a Party

She held court in the backyard as her admirers greeted her; one of our friends said he couldn't help but reach out and gently touch her cheek--for this he was rewarded with a level gaze. This girl is a force to be reckoned with, for sure.
Avi contended with some jealousy but mostly he was psyched to have "all my best friends" at his sister's party.

The cousins!

My one goal for our summer together is to find a music class for these two (and me!) to enjoy.

Grandma and Lilit

Itay, Safta, Saba and Isaac

I worked the day before the party and, well, perhaps envisioned doing too much the night before and the morning of our girl's shindig. This may have been why my carrot cake cupcakes burned to a crisp, their bottoms stuck to the paper baking cups with deep stubborness. After a few swears, I sent Leeor out to buy cupcakes from the store--and yet somehow, the burned beauties made the rounds anyway--turns out more than a few grownups like crispy cupcakes (who knew?). As my very wise sister-in-law predicted as I fretted over details days before the event, "It will be perfect, no matter how it ends up." And it was.
Lilit was a game birthday girl, nap-less with a decent cold pouring out her little nose. She went to bed at 6pm and slept for 12.5 hours.
Our landlord from our San Francisco apartment gave Lilit this dress last Christmas and I feared she'd never wear it. The matching bloomers underneath are nearly as cute as the dress itself and I love the layers of skirt underneath!
Avi had been planning how he would help her blow out her candle and he remained true to his word.

Sweet Lilit turned one. The skies cleared, the sun shone and we ate homemade Latin fare, washed it down with my special Sangria and Avi topped off the evening by stripping down and peeing on the front porch. It was a good party.