I knew pretty early into the Pandemic that Tamy would be celebrating her birthday in quarantine and I was determined to still make it special and still make it fun. As you get to know me you'll learn that birthdays are a pretty big deal around here and I wasn't going to let a little thing like quarantine prevent that.
So I turned to the best place I could think of... Amazon! Since Tamy is a huge Jurassic Park fan that is theme I picked. I definitely suggest picking a theme to help focus the celebration. I bought decorations, including amazing and reusable dinosaur wall clings, these allowed me to quickly and easily decorate the whole apartment as well as giving a little backdrop for photos!
I also made sure our little family was dressed for the occasion by getting us shirts and a scarf for Brody! I told Tamy she had to wear what I put out for her and she happily obliged. It also helped make the whole day more festive and special to be all dressed a like!
All of the presents I purchased tied back to the theme, Jurassic World Uno Cards, the book Jurassic Park and a pack back which I tied into the theme by saying it could used for her dinosaur adventures out in the wild (but really it's just her new every day bag!)
Tamy's birthday was back in May and just a few days before we were given the OK to gather in small groups which was amazing timing for us to have Jim and Reyna join us for the celebration. When planning a quarantine birthday party it also really helps to have a talented friend who will make a giant, delicious cookie cake that matches the theme and blows us all away. Another pandemic note, I made cupcakes so that Tamy had her own individual item to blow her candles out without contaminating a whole cake!
I didn't theme the rest of the food I just went with the birthday girl's favorites, nutella frosting for the cupcakes, pimento mac and cheese (Click for recipe) and a nice big salad. We also watched a couple of the Jurassic Park movies which obviously had to happen to continue the birthday theme!
Other fun birthday options for a social distant celebration:
The Drive-by: whether you are delivering breakfast, presents or just well wishes this is such a nice way to let people know their birthdays are not forgotten.
Virtual Escape Rooms: We did this for Reyna's birthday and it was pretty great. We were not all in the same place and the actual room wasn't even in Florida and we had an absolute blast!
The Zoom Birthday: Hop on Zoom or whichever video platform you choose and connect with friends and family that can't gather for the special day. We did this for my dad's birthday which was nice to have us all in the same place without actually being in the same place!
The Social Media Assault: For my best friend's birthday I made video collages, and posts just to remind him that he was important and that his birthday was important even though I couldn't be with him in person!
The Parking Lot Party: Pick a parking lot, it helps if its a place where you can do a little drive through for food or coffee, decorate your cars, hold up signs and celebrate another year around the sun - or honestly anything you want to celebrate!
It may not be ideal but birthdays can still be an adventure even during a pandemic, you may have to get a little creative but I have no doubt it can be done! Have you had a pandemic celebration? Did you do something creative to make it special? Please share in the comments below!