Last week I turned 16 and so my family and I hosted a party in our backyard three days after. I had a vision of what I wanted, and just delved into the aesthetic of mason jars and twinkle lights. I think the most challenging part of every party and event is making that idealized fantasy, an economical reality. This is when everyone inevitably turns to DIYs and anything else that can cut the cost, but still reap the benefits of perfection. Use of these methods also seem substantial at first until you realize how hard gluing two ends are, or folding tissue paper to make a beautiful decoration, resulting in loss of faith. I was very fortunate, however, that my party design was relatively simple in thought, relying on only a few necessary items. And the DIYs I did do were all successes, as I enlisted the help of friends.

I purchased 24 mason jars under 8 dollars from Target (bless up), and then most of our lights we borrowed from our family members, with some purchased using that same luck (ranging from 2-6 dollars). I baked for four hours with my friend the day before, making some kick ass cupcakes and cookies. And the day of we had string lights running across the yard, hanging lanterns and tissue fluffs (? that’s definitely not what they’re called), and a functional DIY photo booth area.

My favorite part of the party was our semi-successful attempt at dart balloon painting. If you have no idea what that is, I personally am referring you to watch Princess Diaries (there ya go, enlighten yourself) (or you could just go on Pinterest). The point of this activity is throwing darts at a canvas board, trying to hit balloons filled with paint. I say this somewhat failed as only two balloons were hit, and since we put in white and blue paint, unluckily only the white paint was struck. This left us with a canvas board that was still white, and with three more balloons that would not pop, even when hit ferociously (and I do mean ferociously). In spite of that, I think the party was still loads of fun (even though it was a million degrees too hot and I was totally sweating buckets), as we projected a movie outside, had deliciously catered Chinese food, and played ping pong.

What I found to be a difficult aspect of inviting so many different friends was finding a way to connect them, ensuring that ‘no man was left behind.’ The best way of doing that is by playing games with everyone, but even then people are still bounded to only converse with whom they feel comfortable with. It wasn’t a huge inhibiting factor, but I do wish I was better at joining the ties and including everyone.

We ended the party opening gifts, and once again I realized how lucky I was to have such beautiful people in my life. I was written such kind words, the type that made we wanna cry for ten hours, and that truly made my day. As I’m opening all these thoughtful gifts, I get to one given by one of my closest friends. It was wrapped as she traditionally wrapped things, in a plastic bag, so I took a peak first immediately bursting out laughing. Delicately situated inside, was a vibrant donkey piñata adorned with the faces of those I find to be…distasteful. She gave me the world. The opportunity of a lifetime: to finally get to violently display the way I actually feel about such horrible people. I still haven’t gotten to unleash my feelings, but when I do I can’t imagine how alleviated I will feel. If this was my last party I’m enormously grateful to everyone who helped in the making, and for the people who’ve put up with me for years even when they’ve seen me sweating, and crying, and laughing (like an actual hyena).