Big 3 — Dominique Sensabaugh

“Today is the oldest you have been and the youngest you will ever be again. Make the most of it!”

Journei is a gorgeous young queen inside and out. Her infectious personality lights up any room, and her tenacity keeps us on our toes. I love celebrating Journei and all of my baby's birthdays each year. It brings me joy to recognize their milestones and honor how special they are to this world.

Beautiful Photo by Brandon Grate Photography

This year, we decided to forgo a traditional birthday party and mark up their passports by taking the kids to a new country to celebrate another year of life.

As I packed our bags to celebrate her 4th birthday, I could not help but reflect on what a fantastic experience her 3rd birthday party was for our family.

Journei is no stranger to elaborate birthday celebrations, primarily because of the isolation I experienced during her first birthday, which occurred during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. I remember how sad I felt, not being surrounded by friends and family to celebrate her first year of life. So I secretly made a pact with her to "bring it" for each of her birthday celebrations in the future. You can read about her EPIC 2nd birthday celebration at Playland HERE.

I wanted to incorporate her love for Barbie, unicorns, rainbows, and glitter for her pool party. Her favorite color is, in the words of a creative three-year-old, "rainbow, sparkles, glitter, pink." So the theme of this party was a conglomerate of her favorite things and featured all shades of pink and hues of glitter.

Thanks to her Aunt Sharelle, the Founder and Creative Director of Harlan Haus, a Boutique Balloon Design & Party Planning Firm, Journei posed with her friends and family inside an 8 ft custom Barbie Box adorned with a lavish pink balloon garland that screamed "party time."

Constructing the Barbie Box

Constructing this 8-ft standing masterpiece with foam core and cardboard as the base material was challenging. Although Sharelle and I are creative geniuses, we are not licensed contractors, so building this structure forced us entirely out of our comfort zone. Therefore, before construction commenced, we consulted with Journei's other brilliant Auntie, Dr. France Jackson, an accomplished Industrial Engineer and an expert on user interface systems. France encouraged us to create a blueprint and a prototype of the box in a small format to easily manipulate the dimensions and decipher placement on a small scale before building a mammoth structure.

We created a 2D and 3D model from cardboard with our blueprint. A week before the party, we built the shell of the box and allowed the structure to rest, standing up with no balloons or decor to ensure it would not collapse before adding additional weight. Forty-eight hours before the party, Marri and Journei decided to "remodel" the box, meaning they tore it up playing hide and seek. Because our initial structure was flimsy, the box almost came tumbling to the ground after their fourth round of hide and seek; Sharelle and I joined hands in prayer, ordered a venti latte, took a tequila shot, and rebuilt the structure overnight. My father In law helped us reinforce the Barbie box to the stairwell and wall with fishing wire. At 2 AM the morning of the party, with the help of a little heavy-duty duck tape, and elbow grease, our box was standing tall.

Developing an idea from conception to reality will forever be one of my favorite creative tasks. I am grateful for Sharelle and her similar love of crafting and creating. As we placed balloons and adornments on the Barbie Box, we beamed with pride from ear to ear, knowing we had made a beautiful photo moment that wouldn't collapse on the heads of Journei's tiny guests.

The SWEETS

A party without cake is just a dry gathering. As a mom who limits her kid's daily sugar intake, they are even more excited to consume sugar in high doses when they find out we are having or going to a birthday party. I love to purchase from different vendors to provide an assortment of treats to my guest, and many of my vendors are minority or female owned, which I love to support on Social Media and in real life.

For this party, I incorporated Journei's love for rainbows and unicorns through the design and placement of the desserts. With colorful and cute custom cookies outlined in the shape of rainbows, hearts, unicorns, and giants 3's, her guest loved every cookie.

Journei’s Auntie Britt, who currently resides in Greensboro, NC, brought us the most colorful and scrumptious popcorn from another female-owned company, Something Barowed Events, to enjoy. This sweet treat was so delicious and was a real crowd-pleaser, especially for the adults.

For her cake, one of my close friends, Creative Mastermind, glam queen/super mom Michelle Quick, helped Journei decorate a simple borderless 8-inch white cake with edible butterflies. Toddlers love to help and feel included, and not only did the cake turn out gorgeous, but Chef Journei also had a blast decorating her birthday cake.

The Decor

Fresh Florals-Although this was a kid's party, it was refreshing to add beautiful fresh florals at the tablescape, bar, and food spread from acclaimed Charlotte florist Livi Love Flowers. Her whimsical and bright arrangements effortlessly elevated the bar, seating area, and dessert station. These florals also serve as an elegant props for the Barbie box.

Balloons, Balloons, and more Balloons - A kid's party is a where you can never have too many balloons. Sharelle and I made a rainbow-shaped balloon arch over the dessert table. We adorned the Barbie Box with over 250 balloons and used giant standing unicorn mylar balloons to add a little flair throughout the party. The balloon assortments complimented the pink and purple tablecloths and tied together the conglomerate theme, or as Journei would say, "rainbow, sparkles, glitter, pink." so beautifully.

La Comida & La Bebida

I love to offer adult beverages and cocktails at a kid's party; it allows the adults to let their hair down and partake in the festivities. We utilized the indoor/outdoor bar to serve lovely and delicious libations. Here is a DSLB Pro Party Tip, If you are serving alcohol to adults 21 years of age and older at a children's party, here are my suggestions to enhance safety:

Hire a professional bartender-this not only ensures that alcohol consumption is limited to those of proper age and distribution is monitored at all times, but it also ensures that parents can't over-pour.
Offer two or three specialty cocktails featuring different types of alcohol. This will prevent analysis paralysis from your guest when selecting which type of beverage to consume, and it also allows you to implement thematic elements into your libations.
Never serve or display alcoholic beverages near the beverage station for the kids. Please keep the two separate and preferably on opposite sides of the room.

Food is one of the essential elements of an event. As a parent with four littles, when we are invited to a birthday party, I struggle to arrive on time with a gift, let alone ensure each of my kids is fed. My kids don't care about eating at a party as long as they can run around with their friends and eat cake. As for myself and many other hungry parents, a fantastic spread is God sent. Journei loves Nana's cooking, so it was only suitable to have Nana prepare her famous brunch spread consisting of decadent grilled salmon, chicken wings, shrimp and grits, fluffy golden brown waffles with fresh peaches and butter, and a charcuterie board.

Just Keep Swimming

As a kid, I always dreamed of growing up with a swimming pool in my backyard. Finally, this dream came true as an adult; we have a spacious pool and backyard to entertain-the inner child in me is grateful.

With pool parties, the host is responsible for ensuring their guest's safety. Because of this, we hired a professional lifeguard dedicated to solely watching the kids in the pool, allowing parents to feel more at ease with their kids swimming.

The Party Extras

Bounce House: Who loves a bounce house more, the adults or the kids? When sourcing a bounce house for my events, I like using a female-owned company called The White Bounce House. Their inventory is super cool and modern, their customer service is highly professional, and their houses are thoroughly cleaned for your event. We stationed the giant castle-shaped bounce house next to the pool, which allowed the kids to jump from the bounce house to the pool and back.

Glitter Tattoos and Face Paint: Ms. Mel of Face Paint Charlotte is one of my favorite vendors for kid-friendly festivities. She and her daughter are amazing artists, and her glitter tattoos/face paint are always a hit; best of all, she is kind, patient, and loving toward the kids.

I never sleep the night before every party, and I am anxious about everything that must be completed to make the party seamless, but it is always worth it. T eir joyful smiles when they see the decor, eat cake, and celebrate with their friends and family will forever be worth every ounce of exhaustion.

I truly believe my children are a gift from God. So each year, as they grow older, I will reflect on how celebrating their birthdays brought so much joy, and I will sit back and accumulate these priceless memories beaming with pride and gratitude.