Party Checklist, Past and Present

(photo by gwenwasley)

Yesterday we went to the grocery store to buy food for Lucy's 1st birthday party (and for my mom to eat while she's staying with us). Our cart was very full of lots of things we don't usually buy. As I was loading things onto the conveyor belt at the register, I thought about telling the cashier "We're having a party!" because I'm a friendly sort around members of the service industry, and I rarely miss an opportunity to talk about how wonderful my daughter is -- in this case, the wonderfulness of her turning one year old.

But then I thought, "She probably doesn't care." But then after that I thought, "She would think that is weird. It doesn't look like we're having a party, unless it's a new-age hippie juicing party."

Here's what any given average American lower-middle class person would have in their low-key, family-and-a-few-friends birthday party grocery store cart:
*1 box cake mix
*1 can frosting
*4 2-liters of pop
*2-3 bags of potato chips
*1 jar queso
*1 jar french onion dip
*1 party-sized bag of frozen chicken wings
*1 2-lb bag of M&Ms


Here's what was on our list and in our cart:
*1 bag gala apples
*4 oranges
*1 small watermelon
*1 bag baby carrots
*2 heads broccoli
*2 cucumbers
*16 oz sour cream
*1 can coconut milk
*raw honey
*60% cocoa chocolate chips
*coconut four
*white beans
*herbal fruit tea bags
*raw almonds and walnuts

Partay.

But really! Doesn't that sound pleasant? It sounds pleasant to me. And I have absolutely no qualms about feeding any of those things to my almost-1-year-old. I know what everything is. It's just so... clean. Fresh. Spring-like.

I can't wait!