Not yet available for parties...

Yarr me heartie, that's a fine looking sword you've got there!

Shiver me timbers! What a cutlass! 

Um...petals of  eight, or something.

Seriously, what's a blog for if not for showcasing the reason why you are not a professional balloon modeller/ seamstress/ patisserie chef?

Orla's birthday is mere weeks around the corner, and we decided not to go with the original idea of a picnic at the zoo, given that it might be still a little cold, and decided instead to have a party in the apartment. Orla of course wants everyone in her class to come, and while we have the space, I figure it's the least I can do to let her have everyone. Plus, Hamish will love having all the boys to run around squealing with.

The parties that Orla has been to this year so far have been pretty amazing. There's been a beauty parlour party with sleepover (though as she's never 'slept-over' anywhere really, we didn't bother with that part), and the last party a couple of weeks ago was held in the Excelsior Hotel in Berlin. Very impressive! I am half-expecting the next one to be black tie. It seems common practice to hire at least 3 entertainers, and while I don't feel like I need to compete, my inner 'hey-I-could-easily-do-that' has emerged and I am going to try my hand at a few things myself.

For starters, I am now the proud owner of 100 modelling balloons. Stevie came home from work last week to find the apartment still (10 hours later) in need of a good hoovering and tidy up. But instead of asking his usual question "What do you do all day???", he could see as the place was strewn with slightly phallic-looking balloonery and he managed to restrain himself to commenting "Another tough day, I see". Damn straight. Watching YouTube tutorials all afternoon really takes it out of you.

My first efforts have been pretty basic and not exactly perfect, but I figure I have the best part of a month to hone my skills. While I started out thinking "How hard can this be?", I quickly worked out it's a bit harder than I imagined. For starters I can't keep up with the balloon guys on YouTube: they could make 18 cutlasses in the time it takes me to do 1, and I am putting too much air into my balloons because I literally had my eyes squeezed shut when I was attempting to fold a balloon 4 times and then twist it into flower petals. Just didn't happen. Or maybe it did for a millisecond before it exploded. I'm not sure cause I had my eyes shut and was screaming at that point.

But I will not be defeated! A bit more practice and I bet I will master the correct way to get the balloons blown up, and I'll speed up the modelling. I like the idea of being able to do this. I'd like to be the kind of person who could rustle up a doggy balloon while chatting nonchalantly with a friend. That's the kind of show-off I am, ha, ha!