A London Shower

Whew - we made it! The baby shower for Miss London Elizabeth Flox, our soon-to-be-born granddaughter was yesterday. And it turned out really nice. But the prep and the clean-up (even with the help of my dear "hubster") was killer.......

The cupcakes were baked the day before and frosted on Sunday morning (before mopping the kitchen floor, which was a stroke of genius, even if I do say so myself....) After frosting the two pink "booties" (three cupcakes arranged in an L, then frosted), I realized I'd have to use a truckload of frosting to get them all done that way. It was not going to happen.

I arranged the two frosted booties with the "L" and some butterflies-on-a-stick . And except for one other bootie in white, the rest were just given a plain ol' swirl treatment.

I also made tissue paper flowers, some of which are pictured on the table. The strawberries were supposed to be dipped in white chocolate, but that didn't happen either. There's a story.

I had intended to make edible pacifiers (binkies). So, I'd bought white chocolate chips to melt over vanilla wafers. While the chocolate is still soft, you stick a white Life Saver standing up on the curved side of the wafer. Then you cut a jelly bean in half and stick it on the flat side as the "nipple" of the binky. So, two things were depending on this melted white chocolate; the strawberries and the binkies. But the damn chocolate wouldn't melt. Or should I say "chocolate", for I doubt if it was real (no, I never did read the ingredient list....). Tried melting it in a double boiler over the stove. They did loosen up a bit, but just stuck together as big lumps. Tried some of it in the microwave on "defrost" and IT WOULD NOT MELT. It did finally scorch, however. Into the trash it went.

So the vanilla wafers were served plain. I don't know why I even bothered; there were enough sweets with the cupcakes to give the whole state a sugar high for a week....

The punchbowl contained fresh-squeezed lemonade with strawberries and floating rubber duckies. Some of the guests added tequila to theirs and reported it was delicious. I didn't try *that*!!

Here is DDIL, Heather. As you can tell, she's about to pop. This was a co-ed shower, and about 25 people attended. Somehow, we managed to squeeze everyone into our small living room for the opening of the gifts.

Heather is opening a gift (above), assisted by Daddy Shane (my son). Actually, it looks like he's "assisting" himself to a coke, instead. Or is that beer? To Shane's left is my daughter Megan, who kept track of the gifts and givers. Sitting next to Meg is Ron (her hubby, not pictured). And sitting next to him, also DEFINITELY not pictured is my ex-husband Scott and his wife Cally. That was an interesting situation, I can tell you. But we all behaved. :-)

The kids were lucky and got a lot of necessities and the last of the bigger things that they needed for the baby. Just some last-minute set-up and laundry, and the nursery will be ready to go!

The banner again, above. Shane hung it between the living room and the dining room.

After the gift opening, we served dinner, which consisted of a variety of deli meats and cheeses and breads. There was also a veggie tray and potato salad. And the strawberries and cupcakes, of course. Everyone spread out to the patio to chat and eat, and the weather was perfect (high seventies). It was a pleasant time, even if grandma here was stressed out!

The guest favors were small bottles filled with jelly beans and tied with ribbons. Everyone seemed to have a good time (except my ex, who can't seem to find the facial muscles necessary to crack a smile), and Bruce and I finally have the house back in order!

Now, the waiting begins for London to make her appearance. Maybe I should've had mommy Heather help us move the furniture around! LOL.

Hugs,