Lucia’s 1st Birthday

We celebrated our sweet puppy, Lucia’s, first birthday on Sunday! As ridiculous as it is, we threw her a little birthday party and honestly had the best day. We invited just a couple people over so we could have the excuse to decorate and actually have a “party,” and it was so fun! Here are photos and details from the day + links to the decorations and gifts we bought her.

In the words of my brother-in-law, “if you do this much for your dog, I can’t wait to see what you do for your kids…”

We’ve been joking about having a horse girl theme for her first birthday party since probably last summer when we randomly discovered her fascination with them. There are actually quite a few horse-themed party decorations out there, but we went with these cute pink ones from Amazon and just got plates, napkins, a sign and a hysterical cowgirl dog hat with a tiara on it to keep it simple (at least I consider that simple 😉). It was about $25 for all of it.

My mom asked if she could bring a cake, so she ordered a custom one online from Walmart that ended up matching so perfectly. When she went to pick it up, they surprised her with a free smash cake assuming it was for a baby (understandably). She said she thanked them and played along — too funny! While we ate cake, Lucia ate her first canned dog food and clearly loved it.

For gifts, my mom and cousin brought her some toys and treats, which she adorably pulled out of the bag herself. Justin and I got her a treat puzzle ball (I saw some people share this on Instagram and thought it was cool!) and a Wild One harness to match her collar, which we love so much. The treat ball does keep her decently entertained as she rolls it around the house. I recommend it!

We ended the day with a group trip to Lowe’s where I accidentally wore my slippers. Amazing! 😅 To conclude this, if you’re thinking about having a birthday celebration for your dog, I encourage you to. It doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant whatsoever, but simply taking the day to celebrate your pup is so sweet and special — although I think we can all agree most dogs would be just as happy going for a walk and cuddling on the couch (lol). Lucia has brought us so much joy these last nine months and I feel so lucky that she’s ours. She has made us laugh until we cry and has helped make some difficult days a whole lot better. Shoutout to Craigslist for connecting us with the most special family member that we always wanted.