Finally, photos from the baby shower I hosted for my friend Michelle at the end of July. John's parents, Mary & John, came down for their summer visit a week before the shower and were such a tremendous help to us in preparing. Mary and her sister Martha made the cutest pink and brown banners out of new and vintage fabric pennants, which we strung in doorways and across windows. Mary also brought along her stork clear-toy molds, which we used to make wax storks. Mary and Lucia made super cute soaps for party favors. Mary and John also gifted me with my very own "lambey" cake mold, which we used to make the lambey cake you see pictured. John and Mary found the cake mold after much searching, and John used a ton of elbow grease to clean and then cure the mold for me.
Mary and John were instrumental in helping us get ready for the shower, and I can't thank them enough. I only regret that we worked them so hard while they were here. We definitely owe them a leisurely visit next summer. They've earned it!
John (my John) had the idea to plant African Violets in Vlasic pickle jars (which picture a stork on the label) to give out to the winners of our shower games. John was in charge of purchasing and planting our prizes.
My friends, Madeline and Katie, supplied most of the food for the shower, and it was delicious. Thanks so much to you girls for all of your hard work. Madeline made curry chicken salad, served in croissants; a wonderful fruit salad, and cake pops. Katie brought veggies, hummus, and an amazing spinach and artichoke dip. My neighbor Deb brought her famous caramel slice. I made "mushroom puffs" and the punch. We had quite the spread! My mom, who was out of town the weekend of the party, provided me with tons of platters, pink and brown print paper-stuffs and napkins, her punch bowl, extra chairs, basically all the extras I needed to feel comfortable hosting 20+ girls.
At the shower, we played a game where everyone brought a baby photo of herself, and then the guests had to guess who was pictured in each photo. It was really hard, and a bit more time consuming than I'd planned :) Unfortunately, baby pictionary was bumped as a result, but of course, no one noticed or minded because we went straight into opening gifts, which is pretty much the point.
We concluded the shower with a quick trip down the street to Michelle and Freddy's house to see the perfectly decorated and stocked nursery. Pink and brown all the way!
All in all, the shower was a success, and I thank everyone who contributed from the bottom of my heart!
So, I had a difficult hearing on Friday. I won, but had to be pretty aggressive in my cross-examination of the opposing party. I was only doing my job, and the woman was awful, but sometimes it still makes me feel bad to really call someone out. Let's just say, I wouldn't want to be cross-examined!
On October 2nd, we hosted a "30th birthday /John is starting his own law firm" party for John. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun! We celebrated with good friends, a ton of food, a keg on the back porch, and stacks of John's new business cards here and there.
Here comes the cake!
The dessert table -- missing some items in this photo.
A closer look at the spread...Some of the dips are missing in this photo. Also, not pictured are the meatballs and pigs in a blanket by the punch in the kitchen :)
My mom's decorative touch.
As many of you may know, John basically dislikes cake, except ice cream cake (does this even count?) and carrot cake.
