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Our favorite photographer just posted the photos from Summer’s first birthday party on her blog. I’m so grateful that Emily and her husband were with us the entire day as they captured so many amazing memories.
Summer was quite excited to finish off her first cupcake. 
We had an Eric Carle themed party. Love Eric Carle, and I already posted pictures of the decorations here. Emily got some great shots of the food. So please check out her post for some party food inspiration. The menu included:
- Hummus & salmon & goat cheese dip with tortilla chips
- Fresh fruit
- Sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich bites
- Trader Joe’s mini pizzas
- Autumn salad with apples, goat cheese, and candied walnuts
- Tropical Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Oaties baked with candy corns…more popular than the cupcakes!
- Lemon pound cake cupcakes (gluten free) with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting
- For drinks we filled our cooler with mini bottles of water and cans of orange and lemon San Pellegrino sparkling beverage
To go along with our Eric Carle theme, I attempted to make a caterpillar cake using these all natural vegetable food dyes I found at Whole Foods. Well, instead of green and red cupcakes, the best I could do was a sort of mint green and pink…
Haha, so not the look I was going for, but I tried!
Emily and her husband, Chris, also set up a photo booth and took pictures of all the guests during the party. Each guest was instructed to write down a message especially for Summer. Some of my favorites…
It was a perfect day, and we’re so grateful that Emily was here to capture every second. Thanks again Emily. We love you!
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What a great looking party. It sounds like everyone had a great time.
Bhahaha! That pic of Summer cracked me up – I’ve never seen someone so excited about cupcakes, but I appreciate the sentiment!!
Jennie,
I don’t know…I get pretty darn excited when cupcakes are involved.
CUPCAKES!!! Love these pictures! I think the cupcake design is perfect! What an incredible theme and it looks like it was quite the incredible celebration for such a special little girl! Love it!
Sarena,
And I love those cupcakes. Need to make more soon – my brother has requests them too.
Ahh, what a lovely menu! And the decorations are great. I just went back to the old post and noticed the party favors. Bookmarks are such a fun and useful idea
I will have to use that chalkboard message in a picture idea sometime.
I loooove Eric Carle books too. I remember as a child (about 1984/85ish) sitting on the floor of the library flipping through The Very Hungry Caterpillar for hours and just being so amazed by the colors (maybe it was an early inspiration for me to become the art teacher that I am today?).
The first photo is SO CUTE (love the triumph!) and I love the photo booth idea! I’ve seen it at weddings before, but man- this is going to be great for her to look back at years from now. So creative, you are!
Lauren, from one Eric Carle fan to another, thank you.
Love that photo backdrop! Especially the little cloud.
Thanks Samantha. Here is where I got the idea for the clouds: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/make-your-own-cloudsindoor-clo-126460. It was super easy.
LOVE love love these photos. Summer looks so happy.
Girl! You look fabulous. And what a cute party. Love Eric Carle too!!
Love the cupcake picture- Summer is adorable! Your menu sounds (and looks) amazing and that caterpillar is so cute!
Summer is adorable and you look beautiful! What a cute party! xo
i loved looking at the photos from the party! amazing.
and you are gorgeous as ever, mama cita
love you!
Thanks Gina.
that photo booth is such a great idea!! you will LOVE having those years from now.. and summer will too!
Kathleen,
I know – I’m so grateful Emily suggested it as those are my favorite photos from the party!
I absolutely love the chalkboard notes to Summer and your brother in the sunglasses pic (that’s him, right?). CD looks just like his parents, and you are absolutely STUNNING. Love it!!
Christin,
That photo cracks me up, and yes, CD is a duplicate of his dad. Totally.
Yep, that was Uncle Scott.
1) Those photos look gorgeous – as do you!
2) I can’t believe you’re pregnant!! I just had to read back a bunch of posts – and TWINS!! So excited and happy for you
Wow, just wow.
And, 3)…Holy yum, food cravings
So stinkin’ cute! And, you look gorgeous in the last photo Heather!!
Thanks Brittany.
Great pictures! You look positively gorgeous in that last one, and Summer looks so happy. I am a huge Eric Carle fan, too.
Thanks Jenn!
how adorable, summer will love looking back on those pictures when she’s older. You did an amazing job planning the party, it looks like it was such a great time with delicious sounding food!
Thanks so much Katie. We did have a lot of fun that day.
a. Summer is so big!
b. That cake is adorable–I just pinned it.
c. You are even more gorgeous than I remembered.
Party on HEAB family!
Thanks so much Mama Pea.
Sweet!!!!!!
:):):)
Oh my gosh, so cute! Fantastic photos from an adorable birthday party – love the photo booth!
Those pictures and the ones on her blog are adorbs! I especially love the one of Summer in black and white. Looks like a great party!
The Eric Carle theme is SUCH an amazing idea! I checked out her post, and you both have captured what looks like a fantastic event.
I especially love that first pic of Summer…SO adorable.
Thanks Clair.
The cloud and sky photo booth is so GREAT! What a fun idea! You are stunning as always and Summer, couldn’t be any cuter. What a sweetie!
Thanks Samantha. Emily gets all the credit for the photo booth. So glad she suggested it as I love all those pics!
Beautiful pictures, Heather (and Emily).
The last one on Emily’s site (with the dog) needs to be in a frame. So cute.
Jennifer,
I think so too – I love that photo!
Your daughter looks a lot like you! She is totally adorable. I’m planning a one year olds party right now (my nephew, who will be visiting from Switzerland, so I’d better make it worth his while). I love the idea of photographs with messages. That’s perfect.
Sara – definitely do the photo booth for your nephew. I’m so glad Emily suggested it as those are some of my favorite pics from the party!
That first photo must make you one proud foodie mommy.
Oh my gosh! She’s ADORABLE! I remember when she was born
aww
Happy Birthday Summer!
Liz,
Me too. Seems like just yesterday. Sigh…
Oh my gosh, Heather you look stunning!
Love the Eric Carle theme, Brown Bear was the first book I read by myself
Will definitely e-mail you tonight!
What an adorable party and the caterpillar cake…too cute! We love Eric Carle and have so many books and I think around Summer’s age, I had most of them memorized, word for word, and probably still have many of them memorized
Your cake turned out fabulously…and can you believe how fast she’s growing up?! Skylar is turning 5 on Thursday. Time flies.
Averie,
No, I can’t, and I can’t believe Skylar will turn 5 tomorrow. WHAT?!? Make time stop please.
Um… love pretty much EVERYTHING about the party. Am not going tohide the fact that I’m totally jealous of how cute it all is. Those darn cupcakes- are you kidding me? Oh, I realy want to be more like you! (Really, I do. I tell myeslf everyday to be IN THE MOMENT like Heather said).
Hugs!
STUFT,
Hope you enjoyed some cupcakes of your own yesterday!
Aww, Emily did such a fantastic job capturing the love of your family….not that I’m at all surprised. Summer is looking more and more like you each day, I swear!
Love the idea of the photo booth/message board…too cute!
First off, you look absolutely gorgeous in that last picture. So pretty! It’s no wonder where Summer gets her beautiful little face. I hope she had a great first birthday party. As someone who has been following your blog for many years now, it’s hard to believe she’s already reached that milestone. Time really flies. By the way, thanks for the menu from the party. This sounds like the perfect one for the Super Bowl party I’m hosting this weekend. I can’t wait to try the salmon and goat cheese dip… yummmmmmmmm!
Thanks so much Teeny, and I hope your party goes well on Sunday. I’m sure it will be a huge success!
Great pics, yummy menu–looks like a wonderful time! Hard to believe Summer is a year old.
The last two pictures on Emily’s blog are priceless! The first, Summer looks pleasantly full and the second, she looks so sly!!
And the picture of you on here…well, you just look gorgeous and glowing
I love the pics. Especially Scotty and Summer. LOL love it!!
You and Summer just get more beautiful by the day.
LOVE!!
Cool tip on the WF all natural vegetable dye! My daughter cannot have red #40 so i willl have to remember WF has the natural ones.
Natasha,
These are the dyes I used: http://www.amazon.com/India-Tree-Natural-Decorating-Packages/dp/B001EQ5BXA. Bought them at Whole Foods rather than Amazon b/c I didn’t need a pack of three.
Heabie, What a fun and memorable party! I love the photobooth-style pictures, especially Grandma & Grandpa’s and Mama’s. You are truly glowing.
I think I may have told you this story already (sorry if I have), but my niece had a hungry caterpillar themed birthday party a couple years ago, and my sister got WAY too carried away with it. I brought bananas or something for the fruit salad, and she dismissed them, saying, “But the hungry caterpillar didn’t eat bananas!” LOL.
Lara,
No, you hadn’t told me that story. That is hilarious! What did she serve to eat at the party? Leaves?
beautiful party and what an adorable picture of Summer! yay for first cupcake. first of many right
HUGS
great pics! how far apart in age will your twins and summer be?
Steph,
Depending on when the twins arrive, Summer will be either 19 or 20 months old.
I love everything about this post and the party! I can’t believe you made all that yourself!! Just think, in a little over a year, you’ll be doing this again…for two!!
My sister did a chalkboard thing at her wedding with a photo booth. They turned out to be the best pictures from the entire day.
Katie,
Don’t think I haven’t thought about that. Thankfully, the twins will have a summer birthday. So that means pizza party by the pool. Easy. Done!
Love the cupcake cake! So cute. I am really impressed with your creativity, especially since I have none of my own!
Beautiful photos.
Heather, you’re adorable. Summer and the Twinsies are lucky!
Summer is so beautiful! Her birthday spread sounds incredibly delicious. What a lucky girl!
I have been relatively unplugged lately and just NOW saw that you are expecting twins?!?! That is beyond exciting. Congrats to all three of you!!
While I have never commented on your blog before, Heather, I commented when you wrote a guest post on Gina’s blog when she was having Livi. I’ve been a silent lurker for years (up until now!), but I wanted to let you know that I love HEAB and it is forever one of my favorites. I am so excited to read about another pregnancy on your blog.
Congrats again.
Oh wow, thanks so much Laura. I’m so glad you commented – love hearing from longtime readers, especially ones that follow Gina as well. Love that girl and her beautiful new daughter.
Hi Heather,
I just found your blog today through Pinterest. I clicked on it because I am also a big almond butter fan. Anyway, I’m curious about your no-sugar diet. It sounds heavenly to me. After yo-yo-ing on the low-carb diet, I think I need to try something different.
I’m a little confused when you say no sugar. When I look at ingredient labels, lots of things say that there are a few grams of sugar, including almond butter. Is this a different type of sugar? Are you only abstaining from refined sugar?
Thanks for your time and am excited to begin following.
Hi Shoni,
So glad you found me and thanks for reading. So, when I say no sugar, I mean added or refined sugar. Many foods contain naturally occurring sugars in them, and I don’t really mind those. That being said, I tend to avoid a lot of fruit b/c it’s so naturally high in sugar. I still eat it, just not more than a serving or two in a day.
I will say that I used to be very anti-sugar and never ate it. Then when I was pregnant in 2010, it’s all I could eat some days. So, I just went with it, and now I do enjoy a little sugar here and there. Life is a little more fun when you’re not always turning down the cake at parties. Oh, and I’m pregnant again, and so my posts have been a little sugar heavy lately.
So, usually I just try and avoid anything with added sugar, including honey, maple syrup, agave, etc. Even veggies contain some sugar on their own, and to avoid it altogether, you’d have to live on zero carbs. No thanks! Love me some sweet potatoes!
Hope this helps and thanks again for reading.
Summer is so stinking cute; look at her eyes! I love the theme for her birthday party and especially love the caterpillar cupcakes; so creative! I also love the idea of writing Summer a message in the photo….what a lovely idea.
oh my…. i didn’t see these… i’m in total love…
Oh Heather, you look just amazingly gorgeous in that photo, you have the best smile
I carry around Herman every day – he’s pinned to my bag, and Misty plays with him all the time… too cute – I get lots of comments ‘who is Herman?’ Ha.
For next time, a tiny bit of spirilina powder makes an intense green, and beetroot is awesome for a vibrant pinky-purple x
Lou,
when people ask, here is the story of Herman: http://hermansjourney.com/book/. One of my friends wrote the book – such a neat story.
Thanks for the coloring tips – I remember reading some on your blog after I bought the vegetable food coloring and thinking, should have just gone to Lou first!
Love the pictures!!!
It must have been real fun!!! wish i could join you all!
happy birthday Summer, you are soooo cute, sooo adorable!!!
Heather, what a great party! you are such a good mom! you give me so much ideas of how to love the kids!
Coco,
I know you’ll make a great mama too someday!
oh my… Summer is the cutest baby! Love love love the fists in the air! So dang cute!
Thanks Kellie. She is pretty stinkin’ cute, no?
So darn cute, Summer, your family and the decor!!!!
I am loving the Salmon and Goat cheese dip!
I think I have the Very Hungry Caterpillar memorized. I like when he eats the nice big green leaf and feels much better! I think I will use this as a life lesson when Evelyn gets older
I’m weird, I know!!!
Tracey,
Not weird, not weird at all. A good life lesson for us all.
She is so cute. Congratulations on your twins. I have three little one (not twins, though) and it is great. I have an off topic question for you that I was hoping you could email me if you have time. I have really been into yoga the past few years. I quit running due to an ED and yoga has really transformed my body. I am thinking about getting my 200hr teacher certification but as I am looking deeper I am seeing how deeply eastern religion is part of yoga. It worries me as I am a Christian and don’t want to “serve other gods” as the bible states. I wanted to email Polly from Yoga is yummy and get her opinion, but her email is not listed. You said you were reading through Proverbs so I just wanted to see your opinion on Christianity and practicing yoga. Thank you.
Kellie,
How exciting you want to get your yoga certification! I know Polly and another one of my friends studied yoga here: https://holyyogafoundation.com/about/. It’s a Christian based yoga training center in Arizona. Both of them enjoyed the program. I think that yoga is what you make it – yes, it is very spiritual, and for me, it’s a way to connect to God. Others use it to connect in other ways, depending on their own faith. In other words, I truly believe you can be both a practicing Christian and an amazing yoga instructor – just stay true to yourself.
You have such a beautiful daughter! I love the chalkboard idea.
How precious! Thanks for “inviting” me to this party — it looks like a blast! (And, for the record, I’d prefer a pale caterpillar over an artificially dyed one any day — yours looks quite chic
). I just read this in the times and thought of you (and Summy): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/dining/kitchen-tools-for-the-younger-chefs.html?scp=1&sq=tools%20of%20the%20trade%20for%20the%20young&st=cse
Maybe next year’s birthday gift?
Holly,
I love all those kitchen products, and gosh, I could use some of them myself, especially the cut proof gloves. I’m so accident prone! Thanks for passing on the article and glad you liked my pale ‘pillar!
Omigod, I am in love with your daughter. Seriously
She’s so adorable!<3
Hi Love – I know everyone is obsessed with how cute Summer is… but how beautiful do YOU look in that last photo… like a mom off the OC (in a good way!!) xox
Thanks Em.
So stinkin cute! I love the idea of having a photographer at the party, I so should have done that. Forgot to take any photos until after the party and the place was wrecked. Might need to steal the photo booth idea…
Desire,
Yes, I’m so glad we had Emily come to take pics of the party. Otherwise, I would have been so focused on taking pics of everything, or like you I wouldn’t have taken pics at all. And yes, definitely steal the photo booth idea – some of my favorite pics from the party!
Great photos! Summer is so adorable!
Heather, you look so beautiful in that last picture!
Thanks Jessy.
awww what a lovely post.
summer is just a cutie pie.
she looks so much like you.
what a sweet party – I can’t believe that Summer is already one – it seems like just yesterday she was a teeny newborn!
This is so incredibly cute! And inspiring. My daughter will turn 1 in March, and I’ve never been motivated to go for fancy photography, but this makes me want to. Such beautiful memories!
Amelia,
I’m so glad I had someone at the party taking photos – even if you just ask a friend to do it, I highly recommend it. So many memories were captured, but all of my focus was on Summer rather than trying to snap pictures the whole day.
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