Roman’s curly hair is a topic of much debate in our family, particularly because neither my husband nor I were blessed with such luscious locks. Because of his crazy curls, my husband and I have at least a dozen names for Roman, including Mike Brady, Andy Samberg and baby John Belushi.
When it came time for his first birthday, I knew I wanted to keep it low-key (or, rather, lower key than one of Tallulah’s extravaganzas). People often joke that a baby’s first birthday is really for the parents, which it usually is, so my husband thought it would be fun to just get pizza and a keg and invite some of our friends over…so that’s what we did.
Because I have a crazy mom guilt that requires me to do for my son what I did for my daughter, I felt like I needed to pull together some kind of party vibe–and what says first birthday more than an Animal House-themed toga party? (Btw, I re-watched that movie recently and it could NOT be made today.) If you really want to judge me, scroll down to see a photo of my 5-year-old nephew playing beer pong. No, there was no beer in it. Yet.
I ordered a few togas off Amazon for the girls to play dress up, and found a “COLLEGE” onesie for Roman on Etsy. The balloon garland was courtesy of a youtube DIY I mastered while watching a Housewives reunion. The most time consuming project was spray painting pool noodles white to put together makeshift Greek Columns for our backyard (and, of course, I have no photos off them, because that’s how things work).
I think the best investment for ANY kid’s birthday is 
entertainment, like a musician, a magician or a character. The kids all flock to him or her, and they’re basically a hired babysitter. For Roman’s party we had Moana, because I knew that between my husband and his friends, we’d have enough “boozed-up fraternity guys” running around to really get us into that National Lampoons vibe. Also, Moana wore a toga-ish outfit. Sort of.
Ok, so it was a stretch, but whatever. She was incredible, and all the kids were following her around like puppy dogs.
Check out the photos below. All credits at the end of the post!
Photos: Jessi Burrone
Desserts: A Sweet Savory
Cake Topper: Infinite Impressions on Etsy
Balloons: Hullaballoons
Toga: Amazon
COLLEGE onesie: Super Sweet Shirts
Popcorn Containers: Party By Drake on Etsy
Decor: Michaels
