1St Birthday - Chicago,IL

COngratulations on having your kids so close together. Mine are 13 months apart and the busy-ness of the first year has paid off well. They love each other.
For the 1st birthday party, have you considered having the party at your own home instead of out somewhere? It is cheaper to hire a housekeeper to come in for 3 hours (so you don't have to do any cleaning!) and cater than it is to go out. Also, if you get your party supplies at Target or Walmart, they'll be just as good as what you'll get at the party stores. You can even just go with a few patterned items and get the rest in plain but complementing colors.

I agree that the place to look for party supplies is at the dollar store. There's a Dollar Tree next to Target on Addison that I went to before my daughter's first B-day in August. I found really cute plates, balloons, etc. for $1. Great deals.

Hi, I would look to have the party at any park district gymnasium. The YMCA is a good place to start or the JJC of Chicago (google it and it will give you info for locations) Look up the book Baby Chicago, it has MANY ideas. Also, party supplies? The ONLY place to go is the dollar store. Make sure it is a dollar store and not a dollar and up store. You will not believe the fun stuff you can buy in there for cheap, cheap, cheap. Have fun!

There is a nice big room at the Norridge park District that seems close to your house. It's on Lawrence past Harlem. Party City has some good deals on your basic party supplies. The one on Touhy and Central is pretty good and big.