If you thought you put a lot of prep and planning into your kiddo's birthday parties, you may want to step aside. Josie Gonzalez has been throwing her heart and soul into her children's parties since her 4-year-old daughter Madison was born, which is why she started planning months in advance for her son Mason's first birthday. After lots (and lots) of thought, she finally settled on an idea with her husband Sebastian that felt worthy of their newly minted toddler and their shared family obsession: They'd throw a Costco-themed birthday party!
Josie tells CafeMom that she actually cycled through a lot of other ideas before paying homage to her favorite store.
When she first started giving it serious thought in September, Josie says she wanted to do a "Wild One" theme "with lots of lumberjack inspired decor." But by the end of the month, she wondered whether that would feel too boring, and kept brainstorming for something more unique.
By October, she'd settled on a new birthday party theme: rainbows.
"My son is a rainbow baby, and part of me wanted to celebrate that," she says. "Before my son came along I had been pregnant with another baby, but found out around 11 weeks that I had a missed miscarriage — which means I had miscarried at some point in time, but my body never realized it, so it was continuing on as if I was still pregnant."
Josie describes that period of her life as "incredibly difficult," which is why her pregnancy with Mason and his happy arrival left her feeling blessed and grateful.
"It made me want to celebrate him as a rainbow baby, because he really just brought me so much joy after such a painful experience," she says.
Still, as much as Josie loved the meaning behind the rainbow baby party idea, it left her feeling emotional.
"My husband, being the wonderfully supportive guy that he is, said we should think of something else," she recalls, "because while we find it special that he’s a rainbow baby, it didn’t feel like a celebration, as I was just feeling sad about the pregnancy we lost."
As it turned out, he was right, Josie shares.
Right around Halloween, friends had started sending them memes featuring kids dressed up as Costco employees.
It seemed fitting, because the Gonzalezes are self-professed "Costco fans." But instead of using it as inspiration for Halloween costumes, they decided to go in a different direction.
"The memes got my husband thinking, and that’s when he decided Mason’s first birthday party should be Costco-themed," Josie tells CafeMom. "Usually his responsibility for every party is to go to Costco with my list the morning of the party and get all the food, but this time he was going to have to do a lot more!"
(You BET he was!)
Once they'd settled on the theme, it didn't take them long to come up with LOTS of ideas.
When asked about their love of the wholesale store, Josie describes it as "major."
"My husband is at Costco right now getting everything for Thanksgiving!" she shares. "Actually just texted me to say sheets are on sale and asked if we happened to need any."
LOL.
"We love the store because we can literally get everything in one stop," she explains. "Everything we need for the house, the fridge, the liquor cabinet, the yard, the kids, the pets — it’s all there. And as a stay-at-home-mom, I really appreciate the time it saves me by only having to go to one store."
The party, which was held on November 9 (two days after Mason's actual birthday), was a major hit with guests -- for more than a few reasons.
For starters, there was a "sample table" packed with Costco-inspired snacks that were next-level. We're talkin' Kirkland signature meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, pigs in a blanket … the works!
"We tried to do as much as possible because we wanted to make sure everyone who came over got the theme," Josie says. So when it came to the sample table, she and her husband even bought red lunch trays to present the food, cupcake papers and toothpicks to serve it, and gave several family members shirts to wear that read "I <3 samples."
There was also a pretty impressive balloon arch, resembling one of Costco's own "grand opening" displays.
Decorations also included a sign advertising Costco memberships that an employees of her Costco in Avon, Massachusetts, gave Josie, and empty Kirkland booze bottles that doubled as flower vases.
"My husband and my daughter made the majority of the decisions for the party," says Josie, "and then I put it all together."
And let's not forget the individual Costco name tags for guests to wear.
But her favorite detail, by far, was the Employee of the Year poster the family made of Mason's first year.
"It featured all the faces of my little Kirkland signature meatball baby!" she tells CafeMom.
It sure did — and it was clearly adorable.
Some of the party decor even featured "secret" messages, according to Josie.
"I'm a gin lover, so this sign was all for me," says Josie. "The product number, 0430, is the time I went into labor: 4:30 pm. The weight, 6 lbs., 8 oz., is the time Mason was born: 6:08PM. The price, $5.05, was our hospital room number: 505. And the unit price per ounce, .1056, is the police code for intoxicated pedestrian … because that's what I was on the day of the party."
Ha! Talk about creative.
They even put a little Costco-style sign by their Golden Retriever, Sampson!
"Sampson is the sweetest dog in the world who just LOVES to be loved," Josie tells us. "Sometimes parties are a little overwhelming for him because he gets so excited about all the hands willing to pet him. Occasionally he gets really excited and will barrel through a room full of small children to greet a new arrival."
On the day of the party, he was kept in a separate room where little kiddos wouldn't be run over (along with a "FREE" sign on the door, for added humor).
"Our guests LOVED it," Josie says. "We love a good theme party and so do our friends."
"They knew about the theme ahead of time because they wanted to plan outfits," she shares. "They ordered shirts, aprons, hair nets, etc."
They also showed up with some Costco-themed decor of their own.
"They arrived with bottles of Kirkland wine and liquo. Someone even brought one of Costco’s famous rotisserie chickens," she tells CafeMom. "They didn’t know about all the decorations, but there was plenty of laughter every time someone walked in the house."
Josie says the theme itself didn't come as a huge surprise to guests, because "everyone we know is aware of my husband’s obsession with Costco."
"He’s a financial planner so he’s obviously all about making smart financial decisions," she explains. "Our Costco membership is most certainly a smart financial decision. Everywhere you look in our home you’ll find something from Costco. Dog food, baby formula, diapers, cleaning products, furniture, decor, shampoo and conditioner, toys, clothes, pots and pans … I could go on and on. We’re a Costco family. No question about that!"
Josie recently shared the photos on the Costco subreddit, where (surprise, surprise), people went nuts there, too.
"I love this!" wrote one person, before adding, "I’m a little obsessed with Costco. Such a fun theme."
"The flowers in the vodka and wine bottles are my favorite," said another. "Nice!"
"This is adorable," added a third. "My kid has a positive association with Costco and used to (she's in school now and I do my shopping mid-week) love looking for the 'treasures' on the 'map' (the flyer they hand out at the door). All the staff were always so friendly to her — from the demo people to the ones that would draw a picture for her on our receipt."
According to Josie, not all of the comments have been positive, but the Gonzalezes have been laughing those ones off.
"We’ve been joking about some of the mean comments on a regular basis, we find them hilarious," she explains. "Overall though, the response was overwhelmingly positive. The majority of people saw the humor in it and joined in on the fun. It was so surprising to see how many people found the party as amusing as we did."
At the end of the day, all that really mattered was that Mason got a kick out of the whole thing. (Despite what this photo may lead you to believe.)
"He's usually a happy kid, I swear," says Josie, who explains that the photo was actually snapped days prior. "But he was less than thrilled when he was forced into a photo shoot so I could get the center picture for his Employee of the Year poster."
They also topped off the party with a very special dessert: a rainbow-themed cake, in honor of their rainbow baby, Mason.
It was the one non-Costco-themed item out of the whole day, but one that was important to the Gonzalezes.
"While we kept everything as Costco-centric as possible, we had a lot of people online point out one major Costco detail that was missing: the Costco sheet cake," she says. "We opted instead for a homemade rainbow cake to quietly honor our rainbow baby. It was just a special little detail that my husband and I agreed would be the perfect way to include a rainbow element for our rainbow baby."
