Baby Shower #2

So, Wednesday, my mother in law and I threw my sister in law a second baby shower. This was my first attempt at having a party like this...so I was kinda anxious about the whole deal. In all though, I think it went really well. I think people had a decent time and enjoyed the food, which to me, is that part that mattered.

So, Tuesday evening, I spent a good portion of it cooking my famous chicken salad. I'm glad I decided to do it Tuesday evening, b/c if I would have put it off until Wednesday, I would have simply run out of time.

On Wednesday, my mother in law came over around 12 and we went to lunch. Then we came back and got to business. I had 5 hours to get everything ready. And first on my list was cupcakes. I wanted to make pink cupcakes with chocolate icing and chocolate cupcakes with pink icing. I got the cupcakes done...now here came the icing part. I didn't want to just spread the icing on with a knife. I wanted them to look somewhat decent, so I bought those cake decorator bags. Well, this was my first attempt with them...and let me tell you...they are MESSY!!!! However, once I got the hang of it, my cupcakes actually ended up looking really, really nice. My hands however, were a completely different story!

The cupcakes took a good portion of the afternoon though. I helped decorate the house a little in my spare time and helped with the part that my MIL was doing, the vegetable tray and putting the sandwiches together. Finally though, it was time to work on my last masterpiece for the evening. My chocolate fountain. I got this fountain from a friend for Christmas and thought it would be perfect. I bought strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and graham crackers and I was really excited about being able to use it. We ran into some snafus with it...the chocolate wouldn't pour down the fountain, but as the party was just getting underway, the chocolate started pouring. :)

The house was decorated in all pinks and girly. (Since my SIL is having a girl) We had a tea set on my table with a doll and a pink elephant having tea on a blanket. We had pink tablecloths and baby signs everywhere. It wasn't real showy, but I think we did a classy job.

Finally, the guests arrived. I got quite a few compliments on my chicken salad and people seemed to really be excited about the chocolate fountain. And the cupcakes were a big hit too! So I think my part went over really well. People also kept mentioning how nice my house was...so that made me feel good too. I've worked really hard on it to look modernish (it's over 50 years old...hard to make that seem modern) and the other funny thing is that people were really interested in my wedding pictures. lol! They all kept looking at them.

Finally, Emily arrived. We had tried to keep it a secret the whole time, but unfortunately, someone had spilled the beans to her that day, leaving her a message saying they weren't going to be able to make it. (Doh!) Oh well, it lasted up until that day...which is a big deal. Emily likes to know EVERYTHING that goes on. She's a very "showery" person and can't relax until she has them out of the way. I don't necessarily understand that...but that's just me. I'm way more relaxed about that kind of thing.

She got a lot of nice gifts too. A lot of things I know she'll be able to use. I gave her a white frame with a pink mat with KATIE spelled out in it. I think she liked it. At least I hope she did! :)

Anyway, for my first big party (15 people showed up), I don't think my MIL and I did too bad. And that's all that matters. It was a first attempt...and the first attempt didn't go horribly wrong. Everything seemed to move just as it should...so in my opinion...it was a success. I hope Emily enjoyed herself though. Now, we just have to wait for the baby. A few months left to go. :)