We Threw A Party

A few weekends ago, my mom and I hosted a shower for my brother's fiance'. I'm not a photographer, which you will soon be convinced of, plus my aunt took a few of these shots with my point and shoot. Try not to be too disappointed by my family's lack of photography skillz. I realize that everyone else out there with a blog has a super cool camera and some fancy photog abilities, but, alas, I am not one of those people. And yet, I am still planning on subjecting you to a short slideshow of the first par-tay hosted at my very own hizzouse. (My apologies for the rapper slang. I'm obviously trying to compensate for my lack of picture-taking talent.)

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't include a shot of the lovely yardwork my husband and dad did to get things ready for the party. Disregard the yellow line in the middle there. I let some worker men drive into the yard the day before and have already been mildly reprimanded for this lapse in judgment. Who knew it would kill the grass in like 24 hours? Not me.

This photo probably doesn't need a caption. But, I'll give it one anyway. Basically, this sign was intended to make sure ladies came to the front door and not to the back, which would have taken them through my laundry room, which is usually sporting someone's underwear.

Every party needs some bunting. Also, this is the china cabinet that my dad painted with chalk paint. I heart it.

I saw this on Pinterest. Sadly, I ran out of ribbon before it could get really awesome.

Lemon cake with lemon curd filling. The stuff of dreams. Also, those are hydrangeas from my backyard. Just sayin'.

I saw this great idea for a party beverage in a magazine. Iced coffee with vanilla. Yum. We also served lemonade, which is obligatory at a southern bridal shower in the summer. You knew this, right?

The gift table before the guests showed up. That yellow puff at the top of the picture is of one of the poof balls I made out of tissue paper and twine. Turns out it's pretty easy to do, plus they're cute, which is why they're all still hanging up two weeks after the party.

Here are a few pictures of the soon-to-be bride and groom. The middle picture has a little sign above it that says "groom," in case you were squinting to see that and still thought it said, "gorp." That's my 33-year old brother, who I still think of as 10. The beard makes it a little hard to hold onto that image of him, however. Also, that basket below the table is going to be Baby Mae's laundry basket, but it was too cute to just leave in the nursery, so I brought it out for the party. It's a T.J. Maxx find for $15. High fives to me.

This photo is for those of you wondering what an 8 month pregnant woman looks like sitting down. Also, I'm taking notes here on who gave what. And, check out my super cute first cousin sitting to my left (your right) with the fancy coral shirt. She has three girls 5 and under, including twins, which feels relevant to tell you right now for some reason.

Here we are, the bride-to-be, the sister-in-law-to-be and the mother-in-law-to-be. Based on this picture, I've just decided that I look better sitting down while pregnant.

The happy couple. I realize this shot is a little washed out, but they just looked so darn cute, I couldn't help but include this one. Notice the lack of beard on the bro. It comes, it goes. Facial hair is a mysterious thing.

 

 

 

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I didn't include a shot of the food table, because for some reason, I never took a picture of it with all the food, so the picture I had just looked sad, like I was throwing a party for people on a diet.

But there is one thing about the party food you should probably know about so that you can use it at your next party, and that is the Chocolate Plate, as opposed to the usual cheese plate. I saw this in the same magazine as the iced coffee party idea and thought it was genius. Just go to Aldi's, pick up some dark, white and milk chocolate bars, break them into different-sized pieces and lay them indiscriminately on a fancy plate. Perfect. I just sang that word in my head as I typed it. Anyway, other than that, there were chicken salad croissant sandwiches, a fruit bowl, cheese straws, and lemon cake. Yum.

Next time I throw a shindig, I'll try to borrow a better camera than my little point and shoot and attempt to wow you with fancy pictures. That probably won't happen soon, since I won't be sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time for a while after this baby gets here. But, when the time comes for another party, I'll see what kind of photography magic I can conjure up for you.

Also, here's the link to the summer party idea that I used as a template for this one. It's Better Homes and Gardens: http://www.bhg.com/party/easy-summer-party/ You can see the chocolate plate in this picture, which is obviously the most important element in this party theme.

Party on.

Beauty for Ashes

There's not a lot of time to write these days. The laundry is piling up and the kitchen sink is full. The Samster has turned out to be a serious extrovert (courtesy of his daddy) and so there is a non-stop talking preschooler at my heels almost every minute of the day. There's always something else to do, somewhere else to be, another bill to pay, another phone call to be made, another chore to accomplish. Life is just busy and there's little time for quiet or reflection or thinking about anything beyond this single, current moment. And so, I don't write. I don't reflect. I don't sit down and consider much these days. Mostly I just do, and do, and do and then I go to sleep when it gets dark.

But, today I'm letting the laundry that needs to be done sit where it is as well as the toys on the floor and the dishes in the sink. I'm foregoing the nap that this eight and half month pregnant body is demanding and sitting down for a few minutes to set some things down.

I shared with a new friend this morning how I did not expect to be having a baby this year. Or really any year, for that matter, after the miscarriages we had over the last two years. Every now and then I realize that I'm taking for granted the fact that someone's tiny foot is poking into my ribcage. It's easy to forget where you've been when you're so caught up in the very present, very consuming now. I've been doing that lately. In the midst of all the stuff that comes with being pregnant (i.e. heartburn, morning sickness, ridiculous tiredness, loss of normal brain function, etc.), it's easy to forget the miracle that's been happening.

A few weeks ago we sang a song at church that I (obviously) can't remember the name of, but I keep thinking about one of the phrases that referenced Isaiah 61:3 where God gives his people a "crown of beauty for ashes." Basically every Sunday these days I get all teary during worship and end up mostly mouthing the words for fear that I'll croak out a sob. When we sang the song about God giving beauty in place of ashes, I felt the reality of that truth in my own life sink in and, of course, got all weepy.

There's still part of me that hasn't completely let go of the fear that those miscarriages left me with and I realize sometimes that I don't fully believe that God is really going to let us have this baby. I find myself looking at Sam and feeling so amazed that he is so perfect (Lest you protest, I'm not discounting the sin nature thing here). It's almost like I'm surprised that God allowed us something so good. I don't know why I can't just believe that God loves giving us good things and allowing us to experience joy.

But, five weeks from delivering this feisty baby girl who's already got Sam beat in the energetic unborn baby contest, I'm choosing to believe Isaiah 61:3, even though I don't always feel like I believe it. God does give beauty for ashes. He does bring joy in the morning. He does replace our fear with hope.

I'm typing this even as baby girl is pushing hard enough for me to see some part of her outlined against my midsection. When I think about the emptiness that was there last summer and the summer before, I'm a little overwhelmed with the beauty that this rather dis-proportioned figure is harboring. I'm so thankful to be trading in the ashes from the past two summers. I hope I can fully embrace what that means so that I can be sure not to take any second of this for granted.

T-36 days and counting.