Dana's Baby Shower

First of all, THANK YOU to all my readers who commented on this post and gave me and my fellow co-hosts, Erin & Beth, ideas for our friend Dana's baby shower. We spent the week prior to her shower putting our heads together to finalize plans and even worked off of a Google document to make sure we were giving Dana & baby a day to remember. (I know. A GOOGLE DOC for a baby shower. Pfffft! Turns out type As socialize with other type As.) In the end, it all magically came together and we were happy to get the chance to celebrate with Dana in these last few weeks before she officially becomes a mama.

First of all, you need to meet Dana.

THE MAMA!

I was so happy when Dana gave me permission to show her pictures on the blog, because is she or is she not the cutest pregnant lady that you ever did see? Can I just (inappropriately) mention that Dana is still wearing her rings and her feet don't have even the merest hint of swelling and she is 36 weeks pregnant? She looks exactly the same as before she was pregnant except now she glows a bit more and has an adorable baby bump. Girl looks FAB-U-LOUS!

DECOR

We decided on a citrus color theme as Dana LOVES bright colors like green and orange and also because the baby is a surprise. We went with a clothesline of baby clothes in those colors, put balloons out front, and hung bright orange and green poms from the ceiling. Those poms may have been reused from the first birthday party of a toddler I know, but that could have just been a vicious rumor. We even incorporated the color theme into the food with citrus jelly beans and those fabulous veggie cups (top, middle picture). Our favors were decorated cookies that we bought from the Cookie Cart Bakery, a non-profit bakery that supports North Minneapolis youth. I know co-host Erin would want you to know that about the cookies, so I included the link. Go forth and support!

FOOD

Since we were serving brunch we had a delicious breakfast pizza (eggs, cheese, and hashbrowns on rolled out crescent rolls), fresh fruit, the aforementioned veggie cups with salsa ranch dip, and assorted breads (blueberry zucchini, low-fat pumpkin, and banana chocolate chip). For beverages we had flavored waters (lemon and cucumber), juices (cranberry and orange) and champagne and sparkling juice to whoop it up with mimosas. The pregnant lady specifically requested something chocolate/caramel/gooey for dessert so killer brownies it was! I meant to serve coffee, too, but, um, totally forgot. WHOOPS!

GAMES & ACTIVITIES

Since Dana isn't much of a game girl, we decided to keep it very low-key. Sadly, I only took one picture of the games/activities, because I was already looking like a freak-o in front of the guests for taking pictures of all the food for my blog. (And I don't think saying "I have a blog!" really helped to make the picture-taking or me look less weird.) We had some diapers and plain mailing labels set up on the gift table so people could write out short messages to stick on the teeny, tiny newborn diapers to keep the parents going through all those diaper changes.

We also played "Guess the pregnant celebrity!", which Erin brilliantly put together. I love celebrity trivia ever so much. You know you want to click on this picture and play for yourself.
Finally, we did baby bingo during gift opening and I thought it went over pretty well. The prizes for winning were the yellow mums that were decorating the food table. Of course, I forgot to make sure all the winners took home their prizes so I now have four lovely potted plants on my table. Party host FAIL. I also have poms still hanging above my dining room table and there is a good chance they will remain there for months. We'll pretend it's fall decorating.

So that was Dana's shower! Now, just for fun, I want you to guess what Dana does professionally because it's one of those fascinating sort of jobs. You already know she is super cute and loves bright colors. I will tell you, too, that her husband does the same thing she does and they actually met at work. So, what does a cute, bright-color-loving woman like Dana do for a living?

Is she a...

• Professional Hand Model
• Large Animal Keeper at the Zoo
• Mortician
• Professional Whistler

The poll is right under the Blogher ads on the upper right side, so feed reader people will have to click over. (And, should your mouse accidentally click on the Blogher ads, well, just know that you brought me that much closer to a all-expenses-paid latte, and for that, I love you.) I will reveal Dana's true profession next week!