A few weekends ago my boyfriend Evan and I celebrated our 28th birthdays (Evan’s birthday is April 15th and mine is the 18th) with a picnic in the park. We drove up to the Santa Barbara Mission lawn early in the morning to set up and get the party started! This was probably the most elaborate picnic I’ve ever put together, and I owe a lot of this creativity to Pinterest. I went for a more boho look and I was happy with the end results. Hit me up for all your party planning events! That being said, I am going to list the items that I brought for the picnic, talk a bit about the set-up process, and highlight our birthday celebration a bit more.
Picnic Supplies:
- Picnic basket
- Ice bucket and ice
- Paper plates, napkins, and plastic drinking cups
- Butter knifes and cheese knifes
- Honey stick
- Cutting board and tray
- Dipping bowls
- Outdoor pillows and blanket
- Letter board
- Speaker
- Flower vase and tulips
- Birthday candles
- Birthday party hats
- Box to store cupcakes in
- Patio Umbrella and stand
Drinks:
- Sparkling lemonade
- Champagne
- Orange juice (for mimosas)
Desserts:
- Homemade birthday cupcakes
- Lemon and chocolate bars
Cheeses:
- Brie
- Manchego
- Gruyere
Meats:
- Prosciutto
- Calabrese salami
Fruits:
- Blackberries
- Strawberries
- Grapes
Accompaniments:
- Crackers and french bread loaf
- Raspberry jam
- Tapenade
- Almonds
- Honey with honeycomb
- Dried mango (spicy)
It was definitely a team effort in setting up this fabulous birthday picnic. The evening prior, I did all my grocery shopping at Trader Joes and put together my flower arrangement using baby’s breath and tulips (very symbolic of Spring). The next morning, my friend Andee put those culinary and creative skills to work and arranged the perfect charcuterie boards. I highly recommend y’all check out her foodie instagram handle, @andeemationcooking. After we got dressed and ready, we loaded up the car, and arrived at the park around 10am. It, then, took us maybe 30 minutes or so to get everything set up. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, not stressed depressed lemon zest.
This brings me to the best part- the picnic party! Good friends from Santa Barbara, Tahoe, and Los Angeles came to celebrate, and it was one for the books! It was so nice being outside and actually hanging out with a group of friends. Thank god for the Covid-19 vaccine, as many of us had already received our full dosage. Comet was able to play with our friend Kenny’s dog Penny, and everyone seemed to have a joyous time (I’m sure the champagne played a part in this). We snacked on the charcuterie board items, sipped our mimosas, and blew out the birthday candles on the cupcakes. After a couple of hours spent at the Mission, a handful of us, then, moved the party to the Santa Barbara Funk Zone (yes it got reallll FUNKY).
I don’t think I would have wanted to spend turning 28 any other way! And if I do so say so myself, spring is the best time of year for a picnic in the park. It’s the perfect temperature and all the peonies are out in full bloom. There were no April showers, just May flowers (in April haha)!
