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In a Barbie World
Did you know that Barbie has a real house in Malibu? A real beach mansion that you can walk around and take pictures in? I didn’t either. It’s pretty cool. It’s not actually Barbie’s real house. It’s a rented beach house that Mattel hired a famous interior decorator (Jonathan Adler) to decorate in honor of Barbie’s 50th birthday. Yep, Barbie is 50. She looks pretty good for fifty.
I don’t know how I got on the invite list to tour the mansion but when I got the email, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Blogging has its perks and this sort of invite is not to be sneezed at. I did feel a twinge of guilt though because I’ve never really been a huge Barbie fan. I never even had a real Barbie doll until I was 14 and then it was only because I had this fantasy that I was going to grow up and be a fashion designer. I made clothes for her and decorated a drawer to look like her house, but I never really played with her.
I do have a daughter now though, so I’m a little more open to all things girly. I also have a crazy pink-loving niece who is a huge Barbie fan, so I said sign me up!
We got all dolled up in our fanciest outfits and set off to party like blonde bombshells. Just kidding. We weren’t invited to that party. (That was the night before.) This party was more of a tour of the house and a tea party in the back yard which is exactly our speed.
It was really cool to see so much Barbie memorabilia that has been collected over the years. From the famous Warhol painting to the scary Project Runway Barbie-hair chandelier to the petticoated chairs and beyond. Everything was blinged out in pink and the letter B—which is cool for me since I’m partial to that letter myself.
I really like the older dolls. I wish I was one of those girls who collected dolls and kept them all nice in their boxes. Le Sigh. I don’t think my rock collection of quartz is ever going to have any value.
My girly-girl niece, SuperChic, was in heaven. She’s been walking in pink plastic high heels since she was two so this was a dream come true for her. If anyone can channel Barbie, it would be Superchic. I think the only thing that disappointed her about the whole event was that Barbie never showed up. She kept asking me if Barbie was going to come to her party and I had to say that sadly, I didn’t think so. That was okay though. SuperChic has enough diva personality to make up for the missing birthday girl.
After the tour we were invited to a tea party in the backyard overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a bit of an overcast day but that didn’t hamper the fun at all. We drank strawberry lemonade and munched on pink macaroons, red velvet cupcakes and berries dipped in whipped cream. Then for dessert (as if we needed anymore sugar) there was a s’mores bar and cylinder vases filled with pink candy to snack on.
(The Barbie shoes were not edible but I was tempted!)
The staff treated us like celebrities. The girls ran around wild and no one complained about them playing with the pink beach balls that decorated the spa and pool or leaving Barbie parts strewn across the living room. It was all very interactive and fun. There was even a make-your-own lip gloss station but I got kind of weirded out about germs and wouldn’t let my girls sample their concoctions. (I know, what a meanie.) I figured there were plenty of other fun things for them to do. They can make their own lip gloss at home someday.
Between the sweet things to eat, the nail-painting station and even a Barbie movie to watch, we had plenty to keep us entertained. It was really a treat. If we weren’t fans of Barbie before we entered the house, we certainly were by the time we left.
Now if only I can get that “I’m a Barbie Girl” song out of my head…
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Happy Birthday Bethany!
Bethany‘s birthday was yesterday and it was super fun, of course. Why wouldn’t it be? Well, let me tell you. Things got off to a bit of a rough start.
I woke up early, with the intention of making a surprise breakfast of chocolate pancakes (i.e., occupy the crack-of-dawn—loving kids while the birthday girl got to sleep in a bit) but then I proceeded to break the Actuallys’ garbage disposal.
“Hey look! I made some foul-smelling bubbling coffee-ground water for you! Happy Birthday!”
I guess a broken garbage disposal isn’t going to ruin somebody’s birthday but I have some history with possessed garbage disposals. I had visions of hand-washing dirty dishes in the bathtub and waiting around all day for a plumber to show up. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
To make matters worse, I think Bug woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Every little thing set her off. Who knew that making pancakes could be such an ordeal? I pretty much wanted to order a do-over and go back to bed.
Then Bethany woke up early. At seven o’clock or something obscene. Bethany is not a morning person. She was not supposed to wake up early. I hadn’t even started the kids on the surprise banner we were going to make. Coffee wasn’t brewing. Everything was going to hell in a handbasket.
Bethany took it in stride of course. Maybe she just wasn’t really awake. She said Troy would fix the garbage disposal later and we went about our business, which meant that Bethany finished making the pancakes and made her own coffee. So much for my birthday surprise.
Then Bethany chipped her favorite mug while she was hand-washing it and we started to think the day was cursed. What next, a car wreck? We had a day full of activities planned but I was beginning to feel like it would be too dangerous to leave the house.
Good thing I don’t really believe in bad luck. Things got MUCH better after lunch. Bethany chose to go to Einstein Bros Bagels (a favorite of hers) and that went over really well with everyone. Bagels for lunch! A green bagel sandwich did much to improve Bug’s mood. Plus, my mom, sister-in-law and nieces joined us there and that meant that all the kids started having fun exponentially.
The cool thing about Bethany’s birthday (or not-so-cool depending on how you look at it) is that much of the fun of the day was for everyone and not just the birthday girl. My personal take on it is that when the kids are happy, everybody is happy but I think Bethany is the type of person who just really likes to share her fun with others.
Bethany and I set up a treasure hunt the night before for the kids and that was a blast beyond our hopes. It probably took us two hours to draw all the clues and hide them around the house but when all four of these kids got together, they blew through the clues like a wildfire. Their glee was contagious. If anyone is looking for something to do with a group of four kids, I can’t recommend a treasure hunt enough. The prizes were silly dollar items from a local import store but you’d think they were hunting for real pirates’ gold based on their enthusiasm.
Next up was cupcake decorating. Guess who made the cupcakes? Bethany. Of course. They were sooooooo good. Lemon cheesecake cupcakes are my absolute new favorite favorite cupcake now. If I ever end up dying of something and someone asks me what I’d like my last meal to be, I will pick lemon cheesecake cupcakes. They were divine.
Unlike Bethany, when my birthday comes around I will be completely selfish and special-request a dozen of them from my number-one cake-baking friend (aka Bethany).
Too bad Bethany isn’t starting up a catering business. She’d be a gazillionaire.
So anyway, the day was super fantastic. I wish Bethany celebrated her birthday every day. I don’t know why I was so worried about the garbage disposal ruining everything. Troy fixed it in about five seconds and everything was fine. All I can say is, all’s well that ends well.
Happy Birthday Lewus, may you have many many many more years of happy birthdays! (Heh, heh. If that isn’t a selfish comment, I don’t know what is.)
