Mermaids! Fairies! and Princesses! Oh My!

Birthday parties are one of my favorite events to perform at. Because the number of guests is limited, I get to spend individual time with each child (or adult!) and get to know them. Usually I'm comfortably sitting on a couch or chair, inside a temperature controlled location, and I get a piece of birthday cake. The kids love watching me eat cake, and no, it's not because I'm a fat mermaid. I always say that I've never had cake before, since we don't have it in the ocean. So usually I make a small scene of excited faces and exclaiming that the texture is like eating a sponge. And sometimes I poke at the ice cream or frosting, and put a dot on my nose.

This most recent party that I did I actually went with my mother. I didn't have a regular mertender as my husband has been with his mom in the hospital this week. My mom dressed up as a darling Fairy Queen. Complete with glitter hair, brilliantly designed wings, and plenty of pixie dust. Her costume was designed years ago for a Halloween party, and the seamstress did her wings brilliantly. They are able to fold and compress when she sits, giving them the appearance of being real, because they move with her. The unfortunate part of this party is I've been having some bronchial problems related to allergies this week (and probably residual from being sick last week)....and I have laryngitis. I was able to push my voice at the party to talk to the kids, but I wasn't able to be quite as outlandish as I normally am, and I couldn't sing. And now, sitting at my desk with a mug of tea, my voice is almost completely gone. I need to dye my hair red (and I guess lose like 100 pounds, since I'm shaped nothing like her) and be Ariel, because a bronchial-sea-witch has stolen my voice. To quote Ursula, "No more talking, singing, zip."

But it was still a delightful party. Let me start with the funniest parts of the party.The home that I was entertaining at was a split level. Which means that I had to dress on one level, greet guests on another, and sing happy birthday on the third level. Stair climbing and mermaids are not exactly a perfect fit, but I did have my workout for the day! You can imagine this mermaid, scooting around in a computer chair, hopping across the carpet, army crawling and bum scooting up the stairs....you get the image. I think my mom might have had a heart attack. It was delightful to meet and interact with all the darling little princesses that arrived at the party. They took such good care of my tail (spraying it with water) and even explained to me the intricacies of a fork (which is not for use in your hair apparently). And I was reprimanded by the birthday girl for wanting to eat her fish. It just looked so delicious sitting up there on the shelf. She would furrow her brow, slap my fluke, and say "Bad Mermaid! You can't eat the fish!"

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from the party before I go back to searching for my lost voice!