A Whale-y Fun Party

Anchors. Stripes. Excessive puns on the word "whale". If loving these things is wrong, I don't want to be right. And all of these things were present at Kristen's baby shower this weekend. It was awesome.

Kristen and I became fast friends shortly after I moved to Tallahassee. When I was just a bonny lass fresh off the farm. That was about 5 years ago. Since then we've bunked our beds (so we could have more room to do activities), built a magical raft, taken a dog to get pictures with Santa, and made monkey faces in public places. We planned each others bridal showers, and attened  eachother's weddings. And now, she's going  to be a mom to a little tiny human in a month (give or take.). Life is crazy! Here's to friends who I'd throw a million parties for, if they so desired.

Luckily, Kristen has a lot of friends, so the shower was a cinch. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, when it comes to party planning, the more the merrier. We all got together one Saturday, talked it out, and that was that. A shower was born.

Freya took care of designing the invites, and all the other graphics for the party. Sister has mad graphic design skills. Maybe she'll post templates for you on her blog... 

Invites designed by Freya

I think I creeped Kristen out a little with my stalker skills. The other day we went to Jason's Deli for their most excellent salad bar. I may have taken note of Kristen's preferences...and made sure we had sunflower seeds, croutons, and pepperoncini peppers for the salad. I'm creepy because I care, m'kay? 

Kendal made fresh hummus that was divine. I need that recipe, stat.

Oh, do you like that ribbon streamer banner thing back there? If you'd like to make one, I recommend buying ribbon wholesale. Click here for my favorite dealer. 

Yes. I have a dealer. Like drugs.

 I can stop anytime I want.

Joanna and I got together the night before and tied all the ribbon on a string. I'm so glad I have friends that don't blink an eye when I make Friday night plans with them to tie ribbon to string.  People who not only don't laugh in your face and tell you you're crazy, but actually suggest fancy knots to make the ribbons hang perfectly. 

Alyse made the croissants and chicken salad. I could have eaten five of those delicious sandwiches. Sooo good.  And Melissa hit it out of the park with her cupcakes. I mean, seriously. Can you even believe these?

I had some whale cut outs imported from Texas. My sister Kourtney got busy with her silhouette, and made us a ton of these cuties! (She sells and ships this stuff out, so contact her if you're interested!) We put them all over the food tables, and now Kristen is going to use them in her nursery. Win-Win-Win.

And,  we revived the icecream bar! Blue Bell's frozen yogurt with some of the things Kristen's been craving for toppings. Nutella and marshmallow fluff definitely made an appearance.

Why yes, those are pickles in our toppings bar. She didn't actually crave those...we just thought it was hilarious. I know, we're just too much.

We wanted a few low key activites to keep the party going. Here's the advice card and "Guess how many whale crackers are in this jar" (That's the official name...) table:

Then everyone could saunter over and make a guess on the diameter of Kristen's baby bump. Once their cut their guess, they tied their name on, and the closest guess got a sweet prize.

Our last little game station was the classic, "Gauge their Age" game. Look at those cute little babies! What a gene pool.

Best shower tip ever: Have people write their name and address on envelopes for thank you cards. Life saver for thank you note writing!

Lance's Mom knit that sweet blankie! Lady Anderson's got talent.

Finding all the baby bumps in this room is like playing Where's Waldo. Hint: There's eight.

Kristen and her Mama made this adorable quilt together. Awww.

Because it was just too hard to resist, the baby bumps lined up for a photo shoot (in order of due date). And, get this, two of the preggo ladies left, before we snapped this picture! Bump city!

Its official: We're having the water tested.

Shower elves with the Mama-to-be. (Shower elves MIA: Joanna, Liz, & Lori)

Anyway, we can't wait to meet Baby A! Come any day now! I'm quite at my leisure. ;)