Birthday Party for Cassandra

Our friend Manuel's daughter Cassandra had her 4th birthday party on Sunday. Being we are in the midst of a heat wave, and this was an outdoor BBQ-I was lucky enough to be able to find a nice, shaded spot to watch the festivities from a distance.

In spite of being very hot and humid, we all made the most of it. Me, with a two liter bottle of Diet Coke firmly place in my hand and hubby and most of the other men with a cooler full of beer ;) The food was wonderful, BBQ carne asada (marinated steak) chicken wings and legs, and cheeseburgers and hotdogs for the kids. To round off things a bit, there was a huge platter of white rice, potato salad and beans. I have to admit, I ate well.

Cassandra was certainly a little princess at her party, and Rozzi from Rozzi's Sweet Peas was sweet enough to design and make Cassandra's gorgeous dress that she was wearing during part of the festivities. (she had to change when she went outdoors to play since it was so darn hot! She was VERY upset that she couldn't stay in her princess dress, which explains the sad, pouty look)

I am so impressed with the design and color of her dress-without even seeing a photo of her, Rozzi whipped up the dress and shipped it off to me in no time, and when it arrived the coloring was perfect for her~! Deja, my own daughter, was quite jealous and says she wants Rozzi to design her dress for her Quinceanera party...she has a few more years to go before her 15th birthday, so we shall see...

I was happy to see that Rozzi also does other lovely items, and am thinking of getting my grandson a First Birthday shirt for next June when he will be a year old. For special moments like that, I think it's important to perhaps spend a little bit more and get something custom made since it will be a keepsake later on-and maybe even passed on down the line as well. I was extremely fortunate to win Cassandra's custom made dress in a blog giveaway that Rozzi had a few months ago. I was told by her parents that photos of her in her dress will be sent to relatives in Brazil and El Salvador where her parents are from. If you have ever been to a birthday party or baptism, etc... in a Latino family you probably know that dresses like Rozzi makes are what is usually worn to these fiestas. And usually these dresses are kept as keepsakes or passed down later on to other family members down the line to wear to their own parties.

I am putting up a few pics of the pinata smashing, the cake (OMG so good! It came from MA, with mandarin oranges and strawberries inside...) and of course little Cassandra in her dress. Check out Rozzi's site to see all the super nice things she makes, you really won't be disappointed! And visit her blog too, more cute designs there~