orange county makes throwing a dol easy cheesy

natty's first birthday looks like it was a big deal, but i swear it wasn't. there are so many koreans who live here that there are business that JUST set things up for dol parties and thrive. i did everything on my own for noah's dol and was running around the whole week before. i don't even remember the actual day when i started preparing and decorating at dawn. this time, i got gussied up and showed up to eat. and it looked way better than anything i could have ever done. and it was cheaper. gawd, i love the korean competition here.
as you can see, i didn't pick the traditional dol table set up. i wanted something different, and it's apparently a trend to do it differently these days because the party planner got what i wanted right away. the dduk is still there, just on silver things that usually hold tea sandwiches, i think. and the fruit is set up differently too.






dol pictures are a big deal too.  there's usually a studio session, and then the photographer comes to the party to capture the moments, sort of wedding style.  i splurged on noah's first birthday pictures and i never regretted it. this time i probably spent half the amount because of all the new photographers that have opened shop in town.  i was REALLY happy with how natty's pictures turned out too, and these images that welcomed the guests to the party will hang next to a similar set up of noah's pictures on our wall.

a korean event is never complete without dduk.  since we had a large cake, we used the dduk as the favors.

 one of the traditions and really fun part of a child's first birthday party is an event where you set up a bunch of objects in front of the baby and wait to see which one they reach for and pick up.  the object they choose is supposed to determine what they'll turn out to be.  the standard objects these days are pencil (scholar), microphone (performer), money (wealthy), string (long life), and stethoscope (doctor).  the picture shows how to make the already fun event, funner.  we gave each guest a ticket.  they tore off the small part of the ticket and put it into the cup with the label for the object that they thought natty would end of choosing.  once she chose the object, let's say she chose the pencil, then natty would choose three stubs from the pencil cup and those three people got some really cool prizes.  i must say it turned the whole thing into a rowdy, almost horse race like event.  but natty coolly ignored all the please to reach for one object or another and snatched up that crisp hundred dollar bill like nobody's business.  i had to pry it out of her hand later.  noah picked money too at his party.  which means that i obviously don't have to save for retirement because my two kiddos will be rolling in the green stuff enough to supply their mother with what she needs.

all in all it was a good time.  the food was really great, the party itself was small but filled with the company of amazing and loved people.  the only bad spot was that captain j wasn't there.   he called later that night to ask how things went and sung his daughter the happy birthday song over the phone.  she listened intently and then clapped for him at the end.  i took heart knowing that next year, when she'll know better what the day means, he will be here in person to sing to her. 

Day 53