Wednesday, June 22, 2011

dallas child features dotty's first birthday!

pick up a free copy of june's dallas child to see the full story on page 70...



La Petite Princesse

Dotty Rico is not your average one-year-old, and therefore she needed a birthday bash to match. So for her first party, parents Adam and Alicia Rico knew they wanted it to be both a unique and also a worldly experience. “We wanted to bring a bit of culture to the kids in a fun way,” says Alicia. And so the journey began to transform their backyard into a scene straight out of France.

On the big day, the excited celebrant—donning a chic polka dot romper (with the same colors of the French flag, natch)—was ready to have some fun. As for mom and dad? They were plenty busy prepping for the arrival of friends and family.

No detail was overlooked as antique milk glass vases were filled with pale pink and purple peonies and tulips. It should come as no surprise though—the Ricos are also the owners of a floral/art boutique, so obtaining fancy flowers is never a problem. For the fare, pastels, French macaroons and baguettes sourced from Rush Patisserie in Oak Cliff adorned the porch buffet. “They have the most delicious and authentic sweets,” exclaims Alicia. And sprinkled throughout were cutting boards of various fromage and crostini from Sunflower Market, dotte d with crystal bowls full of berry-flavored pastilles. Centered on the spread was the pièce de resistance: a homemade, four-tiered red velvet cake slathered in creamy blue icing with red piping and hard candies. While a few sweets were brought in from other places, part of the fun was that a lot of the food, cake included, was handmade by family. “It seems like digging into the cake was Dotty’s favorite part of the party,” laughs Alicia.

More than 60 guests—10 of whom were kids and others who were in town from Georgia—crowded into the backyard to watch fa mily friend-turned-French mime, Crisman Liverman, clad in electric blue trousers and a black button-down. His silent, but attention-grabbing performance took place in front of a pink Eiffel Tower painted on white canvas, suspended from the backyard’s wooden fence. “Dotty loved it,” says Alicia. “She’s also quite a ham herself and has a great sense of humor already.”

After successfully pulling off the soirée, Alicia and Adam added that, “We’ve traveled a lot and there is just so much out there that we can’t wait for Dotty to experience.”