You can't host a party centered around donuts without making absolutely sure you are serving the very best. So, we did what any good parents would do, and we tested all of the local donut shops in our area. We found a couple of great contenders, but Donut Time in Lebanon was the overall family favorite. The next key element for the party was figuring out how to display the donuts. I had been thinking about donut walls for weeks, but we don't own all of the proper tools to complete it the way I wanted...but thankfully Lowes and my sweet neighbor Brantley came through and helped us to prep the materials so Craig could get to work. After measuring and drawing the layout together, Craig took over and finished a donut wall that turned out better than any that I had imagined. I thought the rest of the party would just fall into place after the focal wall was completed, but I didn't take into account the height of our ceiling and my grand wall looked blah. I had already enlisted Kari's help for all things print and decor, but I texted her and said, "do the words balloon art scare you?" She immediately responded with a Googled picture of what I had in mind saying she was in and excited to try it! The best way I know how to describe my party planning/decorating relationship with Kari is that we always take our individual ideas that start off good and together the idea becomes over the top and amazing. Maybe it's because of our lifelong friendship or maybe our talents just mesh well together or maybe we just feed off each other's crazy, but I can't think of another person I would rather work with to perfect a party!
Carter loved every minute of the prep and was the sweetest child constantly thanking me for her party. Those unprompted "thank you's" from my four year old daughter made every. single. minute. worth it. Charley had the brilliant idea to use the bicycle pump to blow up balloons, and together Charley and Carter blew up tons of the balloons we used on the wall. On the night before the party I didn't feel super great, so food prep was moving pretty slowly. Thankfully Craig sent Chesley a message saying I could use some extra help, and she stayed over until every casserole was made, all dishes were washed and everything was ready for Saturday morning. Have I mentioned I hit the friend and husband jackpot?
Thankfully all the work and all the help paid off, because Carter's Donut Shop was so yummy and so much fun. She put her spin on the outfit and refused to wear "down pants," but her "up pants" and donut shirt turned out pretty cute! For a girl who tends to lean towards spicy over sweet, Carter was all things sweet and sugar celebrating her 4th birthday.
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