Adult Surprise Party with a Cinco de Mayo flare

I love parties especially a party for a truly special birthday girl. Let me introduce you to my dearest friend, Sarah. She’s the friend that everyone leans on for support. The friend that is always willing to give, listen, work, wait on, and well simply take care of anyone and everyone that surrounds her. From taking care of her grandmother, helping shape local politics, entertaining friends, family and sometimes even strangers as well as raising her four children, she’s got a lot on her plate. So that’s why it was really important for me to show her how much we love her…that’s right folks, with a surprise birthday party!

Her family was already planning a family-style wiffle ball game at the park. So the park was my setting. From there I thought about all the things Sarah loves: Mexican folk art, piñatas, and fun mix and match patterns. I thought a Frida Kahlo inspired afternoon at the park sounded like fun. Surely Frida would play wiffle ball if she could, and this seemed to fit Sarah’s style well.

I turned to pinterest to get a few ideas and cleverly hid my ideas under a category of Cinco de Mayo. Sarah later called all excited, “are you throwing a Cinco de Mayo party?” She and I chatted about how she loves Mexican design and how festive the celebration could be. I knew the theme was going to be a hit!

So I went with the bold colors. I made my own Papel picado (“perforated paper”), a simple tissue paper banner. My daughter and I created tissue paper flowers for the female guests. I found large colorful flowers from my yard and mixed purple and reds (which I rarely do). My vision for the cake was to mimic a Mexican embroidered shirt. I made a four layer buttermilk cake filled with ginger-lime curd and frosted in buttercream. I decorated it with 8 different colors all piped using ziplock bags (no fancy piping tips required!). Then I added tiny ball sprinkles that I strategically placed on the cake with tweezers to give the cake even more detail. I made a lemon lime drink using citric acid, sugar and lemon juice as well as homemade ranch, carrots, chips and salsa.

We had lots of fun playing wiffle ball, catching up with friends, snacking, and I loved watching the adults taking a whack at the piñata. Hopefully Sarah will remember this birthday and feel the warmth and love of her family and friends that fun afternoon at the park.