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Planning parties and staying organized - tips?
I've come to realize a few things about myself lately. I am not a manager. I severely lack in the time management department. I'm not good at staying organized. I lack the ability to put my vision into reality.
So I'm looking for some tips.
One of my friends makes lists for everything. She seems to have her stuff together, so I was thinking of starting to do that.
Anything else you could offer?
My current "obstacle" is T's birthday party. That probably sounds like it should be super easy, but I really worry that it will turn into a disaster unless I get organized! 
Re: Planning parties and staying organized - tips?
Well, start a list of things that you need to get done. Here are a few things that come to my mind:
Party date/time
Party Theme
Party Invitations
Party guest list
Party Menu- Catered or make it all yourself?
Birthday Cake- Flavor, where form?
Party Decorations
Once you get your list of what you need to get done, put a date next to it of WHEN that task needs to be done. Do you have an online calendar or something on your phone that could help you with reminders? The key to doing this is not procrastinating. I think that is what makes an organized party. Also, what is your vision? That would help us help you more :-)
WOP, you are awesome. This is perfect! Ha.
Party date/time - Check
Party Theme - Chicago Bears, navy and orange
Party Invitations - Bears "tickets", stolen from AlmostaSadler (thanks Jen!), making them this weekend.
Party guest list - Still need to do
Party Menu- Catered or make it all yourself? - Do it myself, but thinking/planning a menu gives me a mini panic attack.
Birthday Cake- Flavor, where form? - Can't decide on an idea! ;(
Party Decorations - No clue.
Ok, so I basically have to sit down and figure out the menu, the cake, the decorations and the guest list.
Okay....what about a hotdog/brat bar? It would kind of fit the stadium theme. You could have an array of toppings like chili, nacho cheese, onion, saurkaraut (sp?), etc. Or you could do a taco bar. Taco meat, shells, cheese, sour cream, salsa etc., refried beans, nacho cheese, onion. Basically all you need to do is make up a bunch of taco meat, heat up some shells and set out the toppings in bowls.
I get a lot of my football party decorations from footballfanatics.com. You could get face tatoos for the kids to put on:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/NFL_Chicago_Bears_Gameday_And_Tailgate/Chicago_Bears_Temporary_Tattoos
These table cloths:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/NFL_Chicago_Bears_Gameday_And_Tailgate/Chicago_Bears_NFL_Team_Logo_Plastic_Tablecloth
Party picks like this if you do cupcakes:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/NFL_Chicago_Bears_Gameday_And_Tailgate/Chicago_Bears_Team_Helmet_Party_Pics
Here's a cute book you could get him too:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/NFL_Chicago_Bears_Gameday_And_Tailgate/Chicago_Bears_Lets_Go_Bears_Childrens_Hardcover_Book
You can even get a party balloon set:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/NFL_Chicago_Bears_Gameday_And_Tailgate/Chicago_Bears_Party_Balloon_Set
Oh, and you can get colored plates, napkins, and silverware (orange and blue) from Gordon Food Service. You could probably get everything you would need for food and stuff from there.
How many people are you planning to invite?
Holy crap - about 60.
Sucks having big families. I've got 6 siblings and almost all have kids...ha.
And wow you are awesome! I would have never been able to find those things! Sweet - this party might be pretty cool after all.
Hotdogs in bulk are cheap. You can get a case of like 100 hotdogs for $20 if you went that route. I'm also pretty sure you can get pre-made taco meat from GFS too. That way all you have to do is heat and serve. Taco shells from GFS are cheap. Around $1.00 for a pack of 20. Maybe take a stroll through there and see what sounds good and price it out. I bet you could do food (not including cake) for around $100. $100 to feed 60 ppl isn't that bad at all.
I use a blackberry that syncs with my outlook. I have tasks for EVERYTHING that remind me to do something all of the time. Like, take out the recylcing the night before, etc. Plus, all of my contacts, calendar, notes, are in there too so wherever I am and I think of something, I am sure to put it in the blackberry and it is always at my fingertips if I need some info.
For the party, I used http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/football_party.html for planning Maria's 1st bday party and they had some great and unique ideas so check that out too! GL!!!
For menu, you could do a tailgate theme - hot dogs, chips, baked beans, etc. Or borrow a few crockpots and cook up some pullled BBQ - have BBQ, chips, slaw, etc.
Or you could have the party from 3 -5 pm and do snackies like pop corn, chips and salsa, veggies and/or fruit with dips, etc. Although sometimes doing a bunch of snacks cost as much as doing a inexpensive meal like hot dogs, sloppy joes, BBQ, etc.
Once you figured out your menu, determine if you have enough serving dishes and untesils. If you are having it at your house, try to set up the night before. Put out all the dishes and untesils with a post it note saying what gets served in that bowl. This way you don't forget to put out something and if someone is helping you, they can do so without asking you what to do every little step.
My BIGGEST pet peeve at parties is when they don't move along. There needs to be the right balance between letting people enjoy themselves and having people sit there and think "am I ever going to get home." Draft up a timeline of when you want the activites and have a friend or family member be the time keeper. Have food ready right away so people can eat, if you want to do a slideshow then show that, do the cake and then while T is opening presents have someone else serve the cake. Don't forget to have someone write down who gave what so you can do thank you notes.
I recommend thank you note. Some people go by the rule if you opened the present in front of the person, you don't need thank you notes, however with a 1st b-day party, esp that large, I think it is about impossible to give proper thanks.
For Allison's party, since we had it at our house, I had a timeline for the week leading up to the party. Since it was outdoors we had a lot of little things we wanted to clean up, so we put more effort into her party than we did for Amelia's party which was at my work. For the day of the party, try to figure out all much as you can do ahead of time. Think about what will happen from start to finish - guests will arrive, it will be cold, so they need a place to put coats, then food starts, where to put food, how many garbage cans do we need, the we do this activity and will need this. Next comes the cake do we have cake plates, napkins, knife, candle, etc.
This is a post that will be entirely non-helpful and won't answer your question at all, D&M. Just putting that out there.
But, holy crap.
at how much work and money is put into parties for babies that won't even remember it!! 
I had no idea these things were such a big to-do. Obviously, I've never been to one. Are they all this elaborate?
Edit: I'm 100% not being judgmental, I promise. Just very surprised.
1st birthday parties are for the parents I think. It's a celebration of the baby, and of making it 1 year as a parent. It's a very exciting milestone for parents, especially their first child. At least that's the way most parents I have talked to feel about it. Not all parents throw huge parties. We love throwing parties, and now we have a house that can actually hold a ton of people, so we are going to take advantage of that. Also, H's birthday is the day after T's, so it will sort of be a joint celebration (with the majority of the focus on T.)
Thank you everyone for the awesome advice!