Blush's 1st BARKday - Scenes From Nadine

I have at least one event every week — a birthday party, a wedding, a corporate function, or a blogging event. But a few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a different kind of event, and an ultra cute one at that: a dog party!

My sister Alexa’s dog Blush just turned one year old 2 weeks ago, and because this little darling has given us nothing but happiness and love, Alexa thought that Blush deserved to have a nice birthday party. As sappy as it sounds, Blush is more than a dog to us. She’s family. She’s our baby (and she will forever be a baby to us, no matter how much our former house helper emphasized that she is now “looking for a man-dog”!). Some may say, “She’s a dog! How could she possibly know that you are throwing a party for her?” Maybe she does know, or maybe she doesn’t, but maybe that’s not really important. A doggie birthday party, no matter how simple, is just one way to show your pet how much you love and appreciate him or her. You throw parties for people you love, so why should it be any different for a pet that you love?

How can you not love this little sweetheart?

See? She’s smiling! That means she KNOWS she is having a party.

Throwing a party for your pooch isn’t as unusual as it seems. Just Google “dog birthday parties” and you’ll see a whole list of articles on the subject. I’ve never actually been to one before so I was quite curious about how it’s done. Alexa made all the preparations with the help of our mom and her dad, so almost everything was D.I.Y. It was really just a simple party with 10 human guests and only 1 animal guest — our guinea pig, BooBoo-8 (BB-8 for short!)!

BB-8 is our baby cavy and Blush’s “cousin.” Mike and I were excited to bring him to his first ever birthday party! I don’t really know how many pet parties he’ll attend in his lifetime, so this was pretty thrilling for us. We even brought a baby bag and stuffed it with food, a water bottle, a bag of hay, small towels, and baby wipes! I also tried to tie a blue ribbon around him just so he’s not “underdressed” for this special occasion, but he kept wriggling around and in the end, I gave up! The challenge was how to sneak him out of our condo without the lobby guards noticing. We hid him in the baby bag, and the whole time, I was praying that he doesn’t squeak or go wee-wee in the bag! Thankfully, he was a good little boy and he didn’t make a single sound. Not one squeak, not even a faint peep! It seems like he understood what was happening so he just cooperated. So cute and smart!

We were really excited to introduce BB-8 to his cousin Blush for the first time, but I was also very careful not to put them too close to each other because Blush might prey on BB-8. BB-8 looks extra fat and juicy that sometimes, even *I* want to take a bite out of that soft butt! Haha! No wonder guinea pigs are a delicacy in Peru! Surprisingly though, it was Blush who was afraid of BB-8, and not the other way around! Blush examined BB-8 for a little while, then when BB-8 moved, Blush yelped and scampered to the maid’s room! I think these two need more time to get to know each other.

While Alexa was busy making the preparations for the party, I decided to give Blush a photo shoot so that she will have photos of her in her frilly birthday dress the day she turned one. These photos will make you gush!

Even when she was a baby, Blush was always fond of giving Mike kisses. That hasn’t changed so far.

Meanwhile, the preparations are still ongoing…

Mike getting all arts-and-craftsy as he cuts out Alexa’s drawing

BB-8 chilling by the pool while waiting for the party to start

This little guy is finally getting some sun

Blush’s party was held at the clubhouse of their condo. The admin manager was kind enough to let us use the venue for free since there were only 10 human guests anyway. The venue had very basic decors. Alexa just put up her drawing of Blush, some letters that spelled B-L-U-S-H, and some balloons.

That’s the admin office behind the decors. Unfortunately, we couldn’t cover the glass with a tarp.

Is the party starting yet? Daddy Mike does his babysitting duties

Finally, our first guests arrived!

This is Chloe, the sister of Nash (Aguas). Nash is one of Alexa’s closest friends.

What’s a birthday party without a birthday cake, right? Well, look at this cute paw-shaped cake! It looks lip-smacking! Even Mike said it looked so good that he wanted to eat it. Unfortunately, this cake is for dogs only. It’s made out of liver and a few other dog-friendly ingredients. Mike just said, “Liver! Yum!” Haha! Alexa ordered this cake from a shop called Whole Pet Kitchen, a pet deli and “bark-ery” that sells doggie treats.

Because Blush is a sweet dog, here are more sweets for her and her alone: pupcakes! That’s right, cupcakes for pups! Blush devoured these and couldn’t stop eating them. They must be so delicious (at least for a dog’s palate)!

Of course there was food for the humans too! In fact, there was more than enough!

Oreo Milkshake Crinkles by **Sweet Seekers** (@sweetseekers)

Graham balls and crinkles by **Sweet Seekers** (@sweetseekers)

Pizza cake, brownies, and cookies by **CUPtain Cookie** (@cuptaincookie_ph)

And just like any birthday celebrant, Blush blew her birthday candles too, or at least Alexa blew them for her.

Blush: “Enough pictures! I want to eat these pupcakes already!”

Blush’s 1st bark-day was an intimate and happy one. She enjoyed being out of the house, she stuffed herself with cake and pupcakes, and she was surrounded by so much love. Happy birthday, Blush! And congratulations to my sister Alexa, for pulling off this party!