Make-A-Wish Royalty

Teenage Heart Transplant

Well I’m back to reality…

This past weekend I’ve been living the dream at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel celebrating my Sweet 16 on Friday, May 25th. Before I even go into details, I would like thank the AZ Biltmore staff for making this experience the ultimate hotel experience that I will never forget! I would also like to thank the Make-A-Wish Foundation; without the amazing volunteers and the generous donations of ordinary people my incredibly Sweet 16 party would not have been possible! And lastly, I would like to thank everyone who attended my bash! It wouldn’t have been a birthday if I didn’t have my wonderful friends to celebrate it with me!

My day began the minute I woke up when I realized I was in a grand suite and not my bedroom. After I showered and ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant, my mum and I traveled to the Pucci Salon to get our hair, nails, and makeup done.

Ideal Party Makeup: A purple smokey eye with a neutral shimmery lip color and enough cover up to hide my acne ridden face.

Ideal Party Hairstyle: I definitely wanted an updo, but choosing one was so difficult! After I flipped though a styling book, I finally decided on a braided, somewhat messy updo.

Ideal Party Nails: My dream was to have a royal flush on each hand(Ace on my thumb, King on my pointer finger, Queen on my middle finger, Jack on my ring finger, and a Ten on my pinky). Unfortunately, this salon didn’t master in nail art, so I settled on a purple to match my dress and a sparkly gold top coat.

Three hours later I was feeling like a total princess even without the ballgown.

We had a car drive us back to the hotel so I could begin the transformation process from ordinary to royalty!

Once I was dressed, we met up with my grandparents who drove five hours from Palm Desert just to be apart of my special day. The plan was to have all my friends meet up in my hotel room and then a limo would pick us up, drive us around a couple blocks, drive us to the ballroom where my party was being hosted and we would make our grand entrance on the red carpet! While in the limo, my friends and I were having a little pre-party by fist pumping, drinking “champagne”, and taking pictures. Once I stepped out of the limo, the first thing I saw was a huge crowd of all my friends cheering and the Dj welcoming me by announcing my name as I walking on the red carpet.

The Biltmore planned my party far more superior than I could ever imagined. The ballroom was dark and tinted green with stars bouncing all over the place. One side of the room was completely dedicated to a huge food buffet with macaroni, chicken strips, french fries with assorted dipping sauces, tacos, a chocolate fountain, and the delicious indulgences(I tip my hat off to you, Chef Todd). The opposite side was composed of a photo booth with fun props for everyone to take pictures along with blackjack, roulette, and craps tables. And in the middle was the Dj booth in front of a big dance floor surrounded by round tables.

Six hours sure went by fast! I was preoccupied the whole time by trying to greet ALL my guests, and if I didn’t get to their table I surely met up with them on the dance floor during the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, Cotten Eye Joe, or Macarena. When I wasn’t “busting a move” I was taking pictures with all my friends at the photo booth, although, I’m sort of upset I didn’t get pictures with EVERYONE! If anything, I wish I was in a little more pictures(what can I say, I love being in front of the camera).

Just a few out of the 275 photo booth pictures taken at the party…

During class I would always daydream about my cake and design what I wanted it to look like. But once again, my dreams were far exceeded when I saw a much better designed cake of spongy goodness! You could describe the cake as kooky? The baker incorporated all my ideas like edible playing cards, scattered poker chips, and a huge dice. After a couple hours passed by, all my friends and family sang happy birthday to me and I cut my cake which was more difficult than it needed to be, since the cake was sort of lopsided I was afraid of tipping it over. Thankfully I decided to cut on the most level tier of cake and successfully pulled out a slice of chocolaty superiority!

After my parents made a heartwarming toast and the Dj dedicated the song Firework by Katy Perry to me, because he thinks the lyrics best describe my personality, the regular lights were turned on and it was time to say our goodbyes. I didn’t want the night to end, but if the night didn’t end sooner or later then I think my voice would’ve vanished from screaming the lyrics while dancing and my feet would have fallen off from partying hard.

Unless I’m at camp, I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun! If I had to repeat any day of my life than it would definitely be Friday! Except the second time I would make sure to eat more food, “gamble” at everyone’s game table, and take more photos with my boyfriend and everyone else I didn’t get pictures with.

How will my wedding possibly top that spectacular of a night!?(better start saving)

A wish well spent! And again, I would like to thank everyone from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and all the Arizona Biltmore staff for any contributions! This party meant the world to me and now it’s a memory I will never EVER forget! Not even when I’m eighty years old and can’t even remember five minutes ago than hey, I’ll always have scrapbooks!

My name is Shelby Cooper and I have had two heart transplants. Living with heart disease has encouraged me to spread Congenital Heart Disease Awareness, and to tell kids with heart defects; you’re not alone.
Blog: teenagehearttransplant.blogspot.com

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