I recently had the pleasure of hosting a casual baby shower for a good friend of mine, who happens to be due with baby number 1, just two weeks before I have baby number 2!!! It was soooo much fun but it would not have been possible without the help of google and good friends.
First off I should mention that I used to be of the belief that if you are going to invite people into your home, you should provide EVERYTHING and ask for nothing. Well sometimes, this is absolutely the case, but if you think about how often Joe (my fiancé) and I like to have people over, it’s not always possible. We may go broke, ha, however going broke surrounded by good friends and family sounds fine to me but the thing is, people WANT to participate sometimes. So let them. Accept help?!?! You have no idea how hard this concept is for me to grasp. My mind used to be so wrapped up in hosting the perfect event, and having everything picture ready that I would lose the joy in the day. I’m so happy I got over this need to “do it all”, at least when it comes to some of my entertaining, because now the day is even more enjoyable for everyone involved. After Jamie’s baby shower, my good friend even mentioned as she was leaving, “I’m surprised at how relaxed you were with timing and everything, today was a lot of fun.” There’s my proof. People don’t need me to be the hostess with the mostess, they need ME, because no matter how good the food, people come for the company unless you’re a restaurant.
So when I sent out a text about Jamie’s shower and a couple people reached out to ask how they could help, I started dishing out things they could do and bring. After all, they WANTED to help and be a part of it, they loved Jamie too. Remember that when you decline help or a gift; it’s not about you, it’s about the other person, it makes them feel good to give so allow them that pleasure.
I really wanted to do something different for this shower and we all decided we needed more time to talk then we did for games so this is what we morning looked like:
1. Build your own Crepe bar (Ingredient recommendations to come) with Mimos’as and fresh juice for Preggos – Snacks, toppings, and desserts were provided by those who asked to help.
2. Gifts and opening time – Decorations were the gifts, this is a way to not overspend on items that you’ll never use again. We had a baby book, Sock Tree, and diaper cake.
3. Closed the day with a group baby book, signed by all with notes to mom about why we thought she was so special. One day, baby boy will have those notes to read forever and know how loved his momma was by us all.
When I went to put together the ingredients for the Crepe Bar, I couldn’t find ANYTHING online other than 1 recipe at a time for specific kinds of Crepes. So that’s why I’m sharing with you what we did below:
1. Crepe Recipe – we mixed the dry and wet ingredients separate and then combined. Refrigerated over night and then added more milk and Almond Extract for flavor and thinner consistency.
2. Toppings –
Nutella, powdered sugar, marscapone (doctored with vanilla extract and powdered sugar), lemon curd, fresh blueberries and strawberries cooked down with sugar, and bananas (sliced to order). **Optional fresh nuts
Recommended pairings: Nutella, powdered sugar, and bananas. Marscapone, Powdered sugar and strawberries. Lemon curd, Powdered sugar, and blueberries. Or whatever combo you like!
3. Mimosas: Choice of blueberry pomegranate juice, orange juice, or lemonade. You can find bubbles that feed children through WhyHunger.org and more wine that gives to serve at your own event, here at my website. Message me for recommendations and pairing ideas!
4. Sides: Bacon and Sausage. Chips and Salsa, fruit and veggies tray, bruschetta, and blue and white chocolate dipped pretzels.
Needless to say we have a tendency to over do things but it was all so amazing and we had the best time ever. Every single person was late to the next place they had to be for the day, so I would say the day was an overall success. All thanks to our two friends that brought food, and came early to help cook and set up during crunch time. With the help of others, no detail was left undone. The good serving ware was out, all candles were lit, the table was set, and I was calm enough to enjoy my friends company when they arrived.
If you are type A like me, with a side of anxiety 🙂 then I recommend this new idea in life: Let go of how things should be and should go, and do them in a way that you can enjoy the moments you are a part of.
Happy Hosting!!!
Jess
