Buon Compleanno

The other night, I had to accompany the little girls to their friend Mia's 5th birthday party. This is why I love my job. I got paid to admire a beautiful home in Piazza Venezia while gawking at the high designer clothes all the mom's were wearing. There wasn't a single couch or corner that didn't have a couple middle aged women whispering to each other, laughing, and smoking cigarette's. At the same time, there were about 30 children running around, staining their fancy dresses and trousers with the abundance of food. I found myself chatting with one of the maid's and she said, "Isn't it too bad? Her favourite colour is blue, but the mom insisted the colour theme to be white."
But this was no ordinary birthday party. It looked more like a wedding, just without the groom. There were tables filled with trays of finger food, two stands for crepes and cotton candy, and a coca cola fountain. There was also a live puppet show performance in the living room. I ventured onto the wrap around terrace which had, as my host mom told me, "one of the best views of the whole city." It really did. 

I will never forget the sad images of the house workers running about to make sure this party had gone off without problems. The three of them, dressed in formal maid uniforms, were constantly speed walking all over the place cleaning up spilled drinks and making sure everyone had enough to eat. I saw the male cook who could've very easily been someone's grandfather, and I have never seen someone look so tired in my life. He brought the cake out which was a delicious vino cake. As in wine cake. What 5 year old gets a cake made with wine for their birthday? I must say, it was so delicious, with little chocolate chips baked inside. The whole time I was there I was wishing I had someone else to share it with.