April Showers Bring May Babies!

High Heeled Sis is due with her first baby in mid-May. She is expecting a baby girl and it is no secret that I might be more excited about the fact that she is having a girl than anyone else. I suddenly have an excuse to wander into the baby girl section of a store again, relishing in all the ruffles and pink and softness. Our oldest niece on the hubby's side is six and sadly no longer in need of fruffy bloomers or tiny tutus. Instead, I've had fun sharing my crafty side with her by finding fun toys/activities that she will hopefully enjoy as much as I did at that age.

The fact of the matter is, we are not a couple that feels the need to try for a girl. We have our two boys and our family feels complete. I think part of the reason it feels that way is because we already have some little ladies in our life. Little ladies I can spoil or take shopping or to tea as they get older and then leave their tween-girl drama to their mamas.

With that being said, when it was time to throw my sister a baby shower, I wanted it to be baby girl fantastic. Thanks to some seriously lovely ladies as co-hostesses and helpers (K, K and V, you gals ROCK!), I think we succeeded. Since the small world of the Internet provided me with some inspiration, I wanted to share some of the highlights.

Our colors were pink and green, and yes, we managed to make all pink and green food. Sounds kind of gross at first, but we had shrimp salad, honeydew & watermelon salad, tortellini pasta salad, cucumber sandwiches, prosciutto, arugula & pesto crostinis, iced green tea, raspberry lemonade, wine and a signature Mommy Mocktail (Baby Bellinis: apricot nectar and sparkling grape juice garnished with a fresh raspberry - surprisingly yummy!). Delish!

For dessert, I took a risk and some inspiration from a Google search that landed me here. I modified the cupcakes to look like the baby face that was on our invites. They came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself:

They were cute, but is there anything better than freshly made buttercream frosting? I'm still dreaming about it.

My sister's nursery has a very garden-meadow feel to it, so I wanted to tie something into that for the shower decor. I decided to do a play on a family tree by using real branches and tying photos of all the family that will love and support the baby - a sort of "it takes a village" theme. Just as I was beginning to wonder exactly how I was going to pull it off, I found some fabulous inspiration here. Here is my finished product:

It's not the best picture, but you get the idea. It was also a little breezy when I shot it.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful occasion. Her friends and family thought so, too:

Is there anything cuter than a big pile of gifts in baby paper? Didn't think so!

Meanwhile, I just want to move into K's screen porch. This is only half of it, I'm shooting the picture from the eating area of the porch - such a beautiful room (DISCLAIMER: My dad is the residential designer who created this space for K, so I suppose I am a little biased! Anyone need a custom home, renovation or addition design in NC's Triangle area? I've got the man for the job!)

We had a lovely time and somehow I realized a week later that I didn't take a single picture of High Heeled Sis and me together. Too bad, too.

We were both rocking some sassy heels!