I Beg Your Pardon

Bless me readers for I have sinned.  It has been 1 month since my last blog.

Ok.  Now that that's over....(you've all forgiven me, right?) This is the first weekend in a month that I've been home.  I have spent the last 3 weekends traveling to far off lands (Raleigh, NC and Northern New Jersey...twice) and spending time with friends and family.  All of the visits were wonderful and the travel was pretty much seamless, but it's always such a good feeling to return back home and settle in to all things comfortable and routine.  Now that I'm back in the swing of things I can't wait to catch up with those of you who are sweet enough to follow my blog.  I'll start with my trip to the great state of North Carolina....

On the last weekend in February, I flew down to Raleigh to help host a baby shower for my dear friend Ashley.  See, back when I was listening to the Mamma Mia! soundtrack and drinking alcoholic Arnold Palmers (aka John Dalies) in an obscenely-shaped cup (this would be a glimpse into my bachelorette party), it seems that Ashley was in the bathroom taking a pregnancy test that would tell her she was pregnant with her first baby.  Of course, being the friend that she is, she let me carry out all of my bride-to-be shenanigans before she told me her and her husband Drew were expecting.  For the next few months I waited in much anticipation to see how my very petite friend transformed into a mother-to-be.  Having to rely on pictures via the internet made me feel exceptionally far away.  When my friends Charlene and Erin suggested that we give Ashley a baby shower, I was determined to make it to NC so I could see her in person and tell her how elated I was for her and Drew and the much anticipated Baby Graham.  Charlene and Erin took on most of the planning and I offered to head up the plans for decor and games.  I rounded up some rubber ducks I (oddly) had around the house and bought a couple more at Pier 1 along with some cute stationery they had on clearance.  I thought this would make a nice prize for the winner of one of the shower games.  Then I went down to the basement (that would flood one week later) and found the bag of trims and paper letters and flowers I had bought at Big Lots over a year ago with a baby shower banner in mind.  With that, I began designing a custom banner that could be passed down in time from one friend to the next...kind of like that gag gift Charlene, Erin, Ashley and I kept in circulation for one another's birthdays when we were in college :)

While Ian watched Pawn Stars and occasionally lent me his artistic eye, I put this little gem together. 

I was pretty proud of my handy work.  I fit it into a carry-on-sized box and then into the suitcase it went.  When I took it out at the restaurant where we had the shower, I was compared to Martha Stewart for the second time that weekend.  (The first came after I gifted Erin a set of (crudely) hand-stitched monogrammed kitchen towels for her birthday...lucky for me that crude look is in right now.)  I like to think of myself as a Martha Stewart deviant...kind of like her daughter Alexis.  I mean, yes Martha may indulge in a John Daly from time to time, but never in the kind of drinking vessel that I have.  Anyway...the shower turned out to be beautiful, but not as beautiful as Ashley and her belly.  On the morning of the shower we bought a few inexpensive bouquets at Trader Joe's and Charlene had bought some plain glass vases at Michael's along with some cute brown and blue decorative ribbons.  She had a friend make a carrot cake that mirrored the design on the shower invitation (it was delicious).  Erin printed out the lunch menus on cardstock and finished each with a little brown and blue bow at the top.  The rubber ducks sat amongst the guests at the table and the whole thing went off without a hitch. 

That weekend reminded me of how blessed I am to call these women my friends...how lucky we are to have each other in times of celebration and in times of struggle.