Mary's Shower

Last Saturday I co-hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Mary at the Estates at Cougar Mountain Clubhouse here in Issaqauh.  Mary's friend Lindsay is a resident there, and boy was it a beautiful space!  Mary's waiting to be surprised before she finds out if Baby #2 is a little guy or gal, so I tried to come up with a color palette that was fun and bright without being gender specific.  I settled on red and lime-green, and while I had some hesitations that it would translate to 'Christmas in May' it seemed to work really well. 

The center-piece of the shower was a modern take on the diaper cake that I worked on with my friend/co-host Leslie.  Karen, Vivie and Keira had made me a diaper cake for one of my showers and I just loved it.  I do have to confess that while I was working on it the smell of newborn diapers took me back in time to Rok's first few weeks.  I don't know what came over me, but I started thinking I wouldn't mind another tiny baby to love...good thing I do reusable diapers now!  Keep those baby-fresh disposables far away or I might be making a 'big announcement' on this blog in the near future:) 

Here's a pic of the cake.

There were circle elements throughout the shower, and I found a super-easy way to make garland by punching paper circles and feeding them through my sewing machine with contrasting thread.  I got inspired by a 99 cent pack of cardboard circles at Michael's and combined them with a coat hanger wrapped in ribbon, fishing line, and some scraps of lime green paper to make this mobile.  It's hanging over the prize-pails that went to winners of the games.

For the menu, I found a great cookbook from the library with lots of fun and unique ideas that were really simple to whip up, especially with the help of the new food processor Mary's letting me use!  I made 'Pretty Party Pinwheels with Herbed Cream Cheese,' 'Spicy Cheese Balls' (as I mentioned at the shower I think this is a really gross name, but I couldn't think of a cuter one...'Spicy Cheese Marbles' sounded just as weird) Mini Broccoli and Cheddar Frittatas, Cupcakes, and Gingery Pineapple Punch.  Despite thinking I was a master multi-tasker and wearing Rok in the Ergo for much of the preparation, I was cooking up to the last second. 

The shower was a ton of fun and it was a great way to shower Mary with love before the baby's arrival.  Baby's due on my birthday and I would be honored to share it with such a special little one!