What do you when you are in a group of friends who has always taken turns having wedding showers, anniversary parties, and baby showers for each other and their kids when one of the kids has moved away? …… Well, you just do it anyway…….long distance style. That’s what one group of friends (we call ourselves “The Goddessess”) decided to do when it happened to us. Our friend Diane’s son and daughter-in-law moved away to Colorado and couldn’t get back for a baby shower before the baby is born so we just decided to do it anyway and just box everything up and send it to her. Why not? It worked like a charm.
Normally I’m instrumental and very involved with the planning and decorating, but with my struggle with the recent death of my father I just didn’t have it in me quite yet to participate……
So Connie decorated her dining room table all by her little ole lonesome. Isn’t it cute?
And Susan pitched in with the food. She purchased these cupcakes at Wal-mart and decorated them with these cute balloon stems that Connie made. ( The “L” is for Luke.)
Connie used these blocks and books from her own “Mimi” stash to create a charming, fun table.
She borrowed the monkey from her one of her grandchildren. Adorable. I contributed the greenery – the least I could do.
We had these beautiful mimosas. Total yum! And. of course, munchies:
Diane really likes these wontons so I brought a batch. Easy and yummy. They look fried, but they are baked and relatively low calorie so you don’t have to feel guilty indulging!
Recipe:
Package of wonton sheets (usually found in the produce section)
Ground sausage (hot or mild)
Grated Cheese of Choice (or Velveeta)
Chopped Onion
Spinach Leaves (or chopped veggie of choice)
Brown sausage; Drain. Add veggies and cook till softened. Add cheese till melted.
Place wonton shells in mini muffin tins sprayed with Pam.
Fill with teaspoon sausage mixture.
Pinch ends together with a dab of water.
Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
Scrumptious!
Susan’s delicious pasta salad. (Wish I had the recipe with me! Darn!)
And more.
It was a small gathering of Diane’s best buds – just the way she wanted it – so we sat outside in Connie’s breathtakingly beautiful back yard for awhile and had our munchies.
After some “catching up” with each other we moved inside to Connie’s wonderful “French Parlor” for gift time.
So French, so feminine, so cozy…..
And so full of charm.
(These two pictures above and below are in another room, but I just love the way her family photos are displayed so I wanted to throw them in. Above she has all black and whites – ancestors and recent family members alike. Isn’t it a great wall? Below is her current family – kids and grandkids. Precious.)
But, back to the business at hand:
Diane opened lots of fun gifts to ship up to Colorado.
But, one gift was for Diane’s own house for when baby John Luke comes to visit. (We dubbed her grandma name “Gigi” – and I think it’s going to stick!)
And, this basket below is a “Celebration Mommy” basket for her daughter-in-law to use after the baby is born.
A fun, little wine glass (when she can have her wine again), some bath salts, body butter, and a soothing candle to soak in the tub by. Those private moments become all the more special when the little ones are here and time alone becomes a precious commodity. Hopefully she’ll find some time for a wee bit of R&R.
I wrote this little poem when my own kids were wee munchkins and thought I’d slip a copy of it in her basket.
And last, but not least…..we put it all in photo albums for Mommy and Gigi to keep. (I got both these albums on sale at CVS for $10.00 total!)
The hostesses – aka – “The Goddesses”……
Three of us – Diane sitting, and Connie and I on the left – are all expecting grandsons in the next few months! Susan, I’m sure, is not far behind!
Another successful baby shower celebration under our belts and another exciting event to look forward to. What a joy filled, beautiful time for us all.
Life goes on……
Happy Decorating!