A Baby Shower to Remember

We did it! Even with all the snow, the roads stayed clear, and the baby shower was a go! All those weeks of planning were worth it, as Aminta and I pulled off a wonderful shower to celebrate Phuong & Cactus's baby.

Aminta was in charge of the decorations and totally made everything look cute.

Here is our table display:

I love how my storks looked on the table! You can find the stork tutorial here.

One of the most hilarious mishaps was the fruit salad I made, which people dubbed the "alien baby." I'd found it on Pinterest (you can find that pin here). But, here's the thing: I don't like most melons. I've never bought a honeydew melon before nor a cantaloupe. In my mind, they were the same thing: melons that don't taste good. Ha! So, I bought a honeydew thinking it was a cantaloupe. The morning of the shower, I went to peel back the melon skin only to discover it was green! Oops. So here is the now infamous alien baby fruit salad:

I think my baby bump cake ended up looking cute! I joked that I should have tucked a plastic baby into the tummy, kind of like people do for King Cakes at Mardi Gras. You can see how I made this cake by clicking here.

Deviled eggs are some of my favorite treats. I scoured the internet looking for ways to make them cute for a baby shower. I ended up finding a pin on how to make hot dog babies in the deviled eggs. I don't eat meat, and, frankly, I wasn't sure how good deviled eggs would be with hot dogs on them anyway. So, I just made a few into babies and left the rest plain.

Aren't those little duckies cute? I bought a package of them to decorate the punch I made! I got the rubber duckie idea from Pinterest, but I didn't want to use the punch recipe. I based my recipe off of one from Allrecipes.com. I used two frozen pink lemonade concentrate cans, one two-liter bottle of club soda, and four bottles of sparkling apple juice. To make it foam, I scooped a couple pints of berry sherbet on top. It tasted like sparkling strawberry lemonade! I was so amazed at how delicious and cute the punch ended up! I used another tip from Pinterest and froze slices of lemon in water in a cupcake tray.

Aminta made these cucumber sandwiches that were soooo good. Seriously, I think I ate half of them. She added some herbs and spices to cream cheese, spread it over rye bread, and topped it with fresh cucumbers. Not pictured are some miniature cherry danishes she brought in addition to a beautiful vegetable tray with dip and hummus.

We hung the diaper wreath near the entrance. It got a lot of compliments! Everyone made me feel so appreciated for everything. In case you missed the tutorial on this diaper wreath, you can find it here.

Aminta made these cute "lollipops" for Phuong out of washcloths and baby spoons. She poked them into a sand pail & shovel and filled it with Easter grass. It almost looks like flowers blooming! That idea also came from Pinterest, and there's a tutorial with that pin.

This is the start of the gift pile. Pictured are the "lollipops" by Aminta, the diaper tricycle that I made, the blanket I made, and the giraffe I made. 

Aiiiee! They are so cute! Seriously, Phuong and Cactus are two of the sweetest people in the world, and they are going to make the best parents. They loved the giraffe and tricycle diaper cake, making all of my hard work absolutely worth it.

Here's a close-up of the blanket. The pattern for this blanket is free, so if you like to crochet, you can find it through this pin.

More decorations from Aminta!

The balloons were loved and coveted by all the children.

Here are my best friends and me, ready to get the party started!

Phuong greeted all of her guests at the door. There were new friends and old friends and friends she hadn't seen a few years. We all had one thing in common... we all wanted to create a special day to shower our dear friend with gifts for her baby!

Oh.my.gosh! This is me with my friends from high school! It's been more than a decade, but we agreed that all of us looked exactly the same. 

We had favors for our guests, of course! I'd originally planned on making these fortune cookie favors (and did), but they weren't big enough to hold candy!

So, a couple days before the shower, I was really feeling the time crunch. My supportive husband helped me cut out a couple dozen paper shoes, which I then filled with the candy that was supposed to have filled the fortune cookies. You can find the paper shoe pattern on the Michael's website, or on the description of this Pinterest pin.

I found this poem online.

For games, we had people guess the width of Phuong's belly. We also had everyone fold a paper crane to string up on a mobile for the baby. Actually, folding paper cranes was a lot harder than I expected! I'm glad a couple people there knew what they were doing and were able to help everyone else out.

Here's Jennifer helping me with my crane:

I was able to string up all of the paper cranes while Phuong opened her gifts. The cranes have a gap in the bottom, and I couldn't figure out how to string them. The knotted thread wasn't thick enough to hold up the crane. Sayaka advised me to cut out circles. Using a needle, I thread the string first through a crane, then through a circle, and then I made a knot under the circles. It worked like a charm! You can get the how-to for this paper crane mobile from my Pinterest pin.

Here's our finished mobile:

Everything was perfect. The food, the company, the decorations, the happy couple... It was wonderful! I couldn't have done it without Aminta. Aminta kept everything moving smoothly. She made sure gifts were opened when they should be opened, she had people fill out their addresses on thank-you cards, she wrote down who gave what gift. She was so organized and on-top of everything! I might have had fun decorating the shower and preparing the food, but things would have been stagnant without Aminta's expertise. Thanks, Aminta!

And here are a few random shots from the shower:

Javert in "Les Miserables"

In celebration of one of my best friend's birthday this week, we went out to dinner and a movie. She'd initially wanted to see Silver Linings Playbook, but the movie times didn't match with our schedule. We decided to see Les Miserables instead.

I adored it! I've never read Les Miserables, nor have I seen the musical. I went into the theater knowing just that it was a musical that took place during the French Revolution. It followed the story of a man, Jean Valjean, played by Hugh Jackman. He evolves from life of a slaver prisoner to parole dodger to humanitarian.

What moved me most was Russell Crowe in the role of Javert (Jean Valjean's antagonist). His character begins as a police officer, in charge of the prison slaves (including Jean Valjean). We learn he has worked his way up from his unpromising birth in a prison, and he eventually becomes a police officer. His perspective of the world is very black and white: There are people who break the law and must face the sentence for their crimes. He was able to work his way through the ranks and believes everyone else should, too. The people are poor and destitute because they didn't work out of their condition as he had. Criminals like Jean Valjean are criminals because they chose to commit an illegal act, like stealing bread. He doesn't judge them subjectively. To him, just because you're hungry doesn't mean you can break the law.

Like Jean Valjean, Javert is a religious man, but his focus on religion is the reward of the good and, more importantly, the punishment of the bad. In his eyes, Jean Valjean acted illegally. As such, he should be punished. He spends his career chasing down Jean Valjean.

Jean Valjean saves Javert's life and sets him free. At first, this doesn't shake Javert's black-and-white perspective on life, and he lets Valjean know it changes nothing. To Javert, doing a good deed (saving his life) doesn't change the fact that Valjean is still a criminal and must pay the price for his crimes. He finally catches Valjean when time is critical; Valjean is trying to save another young man's life. Javert tells Valjean he will kill him if he tries to flee. Saving the young man is more important, so Valjean leaves with him.

This is what was so moving to me: Javert had to face his world-view. Jean Valjean was a criminal who dodged parole and needed to be caught and returned to prison. As far as Javert has ever been concerned, that is what mattered. Yet, to kill him would mean the death of the young man, and it would mean killing the man who freed him. It would mean killing a humanitarian, a person who has clearly repented. It would mean acknowledging that the world is not black and white. It would mean that good people (Valjean) can do bad things (steal and break parole). It would mean that some good people are victims of unfortunate circumstance, and some bad people might benefit from fortunate circumstances. His choice is to shoot Valjean or throw away everything he's ever believed and known. Unable to do either, Javert kills himself.

The movie tonight just blew me away. Russell Crowe's portrayal of Javert impacted me so much that I can think of little else. I just love it when a movie stays with you! I can't shake this one. I want to share it with everyone! My husband is not nearly as excited about the movie and was relieved I "went with friends so [he] didn't have to take me." I've told him he'll have to suffer through watching the DVD with me when it comes out. As for you, go see this movie. It's one of the best films I've ever seen.

Evergreen Lake House

This past Sunday, Andrew, my best friends, and me went with Phuong's family to Evergreen. I love Evergreen. It's not too far of a drive from the city, but it feels like you're in the middle of the mountains. From our house, it's a 30 minute drive straight west. There are little shops (including coffee shops, of course!), but the biggest draw is the lake. At Evergreen Lake House, you can rent canoes, kayaks, floating tricycles, and paddle boats.

Obviously, boating isn't for babies or toddlers, but it is so much fun for school-aged kids.  Phuong's brothers (13 and 10) came with us and had a blast paddling the canoes.  We saw a child around the age of 4 sitting in a paddle boat between her parents (in a life jacket, of course!).  It made me wonder if Oliver will be old enough to come with us next summer. Probably not. I think that will depend on whether or not he's able to swim. There were lots of kids around the ages of 6 or 7 in the back of paddle boats. Just a few more years, and we can take our kids!

Well, I'd be lying if I didn't admit it was nice to get out with Andrew and my friends without having to juggle the kids. The day was so beautiful--not too hot and with a little cloud cover.

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning! Afterwards, Phuong's uncle treated us to dim sum at Super Star Asian Cuisine in Denver. We got chrysanthemum tea (check out the flowers in our tea pot!), and, as a vegetarian, I got crispy noodles, egg custard cups, and fried dough wrapped in rice crepes. My friends enjoyed pork dumplings, shrimp rice crepes, and BBQ. Cactus is from Hong Kong, and he told me people there eat dim sum for breakfast or brunch almost daily.

This weekend, most people are off for three days in honor of Labor Day. I look forward to the extra day with my family, especially since the weather has been so mild for us recently. What are you up to this weekend? Doing anything special? Relaxing with the family? Enjoying one last barbeque?

Happy Friday!

Friends and Coffee for the Win

I've been experiencing a few small bumps in the road of life.  One of my best friends popped by with an iced latte on Thursday to cheer me up.  I was on almost zero sleep, and the kids were cranky.  Her visit was exactly what I needed to make the day better.

She helped Oliver select rocks to drop into the creek from a foot bridge.

I think Oliver liked having someone around with as much energy as him.  Phuong enthusiastically dropped rocks into the creek right along with him.

We came home to get out of the sun and cool off.  Oliver thought it was the neatest thing ever that Phuong gave him some ice cubes to drop into his water.

Friends make life infinitely better.  I can't imagine my life without her!

Happy Birthday, Phuong!

Tonight, I baked birthday cookies for my friend's birthday dinner.  This is how they looked before I left the house:

And this is how they looked after I arrived.  Oops.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Birthday cake:

The birthday girl with her brothers and Aminta and Cactus:

Awe!  Two of my favorite people:

Richard with the pups:

Happy Birthday, Phuong!