Tag Archives: baby shower

A Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!)

Posted on March 10, 2020 | Comments Off on A Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!)

Even though my brother and sister-in-law live pretty close to me, I don’t make it to Santa Barbara that often. I haven’t been up there for a while and I know that I should make plans to do that more. It’s only about 90 minutes away from me, so it’s not that far. But I know I will be going up there more often soon because my sister-in-law is pregnant and my nephew should arrive in about a month!

I’m so excited to be an aunt and I’ve already got a lot of things that I can’t wait to get for my nephew. And when I found out the date for the baby shower, I immediately started to think of a good gift.

I looked at a bunch of different websites to get inspiration for a gift, and I found something that I loved and could make myself. They were bookplates (stickers that say “Library of Baby Levin”) and I knew that would be perfect! I know what my nephew is going to be named and I knew the theme of the nursery is safari animals, so I made some really cute stickers with different animals on them. The only problem is that they aren’t telling most people the name yet (only family knows right now), so I couldn’t give a gift with his name on it. So I had to get something to go along with the bookplates to give at the shower. The obvious gift was to get some books, so that’s exactly what I did!

I wanted to find books that relate to things that my brother and sister-in-law like so they could be an introduction to those things for the baby. So I found a book on San Francisco (where they met), Santa Barbara (where they live), world-traveling (which they love to do), and wine (which is one of their favorite activities). I will say, finding a baby book about wine wasn’t easy, but I was so thrilled when I found it!

The baby shower was this past weekend and I drove up to Santa Barbara just for the afternoon. I drove with my great aunt (who lives near me) and we went a bit early so we could spend time with my parents and dog. The dog had knee surgery recently so I really wanted to get to see him. And I hadn’t seen my parents for a few months and I knew they had some stuff for me. We got up there about 2 hours before the shower started, so that allowed us some time to relax after the drive and hang out. Shockingly, I didn’t take a single photo of the dog when we were there!

And when we were at the shower, I didn’t take many photos either! Part of the reason I didn’t take photos was that I was dealing with a lot of nausea that day. It’s unfortunate that a bad nausea day fell on the same day as the party, but I can’t really control that. But the other reason I didn’t take a ton of photos was that I was focused on enjoying being there. I wasn’t sure how many people I would know there, but I did end up knowing quite a few people. I knew I’d know my family and my sister-in-law’s family. But most of my brother’s friends who were there were people that I have known for a while too. I think the last time I saw them was at the wedding, but since everyone stays in touch through social media it didn’t seem like it had been that long. And I did chat with some people that I didn’t know so I did end up feeling like I knew everyone there.

The few pictures I did take were of some of the decorations.

And of Ross and Krystle when they opened up gifts.

I had given them a heads up that there was a part of the gift that had the name on it, so they opened that without showing anyone else before opening up the books for all the guests to see. I think they were just as surprised as I was that there was a baby book about wine! And I think they loved all the other books I got them too.

After they opened the gifts, the party started to wind down a bit. My great aunt and I hung around for a while so we could catch up with family, but we didn’t stay too late since we did have to drive home. We were there for quite a while, and I should be back soon since I will go to Santa Barbara when my nephew is born. My parents will be staying there next month so they don’t have to worry about driving down when she goes into labor. I’ll just be in LA basically waiting for the call to get into my car and head up. I can’t wait!

I’m so excited that there will be a new member of our family soon and I can’t wait to see what he’s like and what he will add to the family dynamic!

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Default ThumbnailI’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!) Default ThumbnailHaving Fun With Photos (or My Brother And Nephew Are Twins!) Default ThumbnailForgot To Share Some Awesome News (or I’m Going To Be An Aunt!) Default ThumbnailA Little More Time In Santa Barbara (or Hanging Out With My Sister-In-Law) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Weekend (or Family and Friends Time) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Day (or A Little Bit Of Social Interaction)

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Baby Shower Fun (or I Love Celebrating My Friends)

Posted on September 6, 2018 | Comments Off on Baby Shower Fun (or I Love Celebrating My Friends)

Even though I’m the age where a lot of people are having kids, not that many of my friends have kids yet. But more and more of my married friends are starting families and I am so excited for all of them! Some of them haven’t been having baby showers or other parties to celebrate a baby until the baby is here, but last weekend I got to go to a baby shower for my friends Erin and Ace.

Erin hasn’t had the easiest pregnancy so I was so glad she was doing better and they were able to have this celebration before their son is born. He should be born next month so she’s almost to the end of being pregnant (and I think both she and Ace are ready for their son to be here).

Even though I haven’t been to a lot of baby showers, I’m familiar with a lot of baby shower games. But Erin and Ace aren’t really game people, so I figured there wouldn’t be any games and it would be more like a regular party. And that’s exactly what it was like! The shower was held at a Mediterranean restaurant right on the beach in Venice. Since the shower was on a Saturday and on the beach (and it was a gorgeous day), it was a little tough to get there. But I was able to find a parking lot a few blocks away that had some spots open. So I parked and walked over to the party.

And I was right, this baby shower was more like a fun party with awesome people it was so much fun! I didn’t know many people at the party so I tried to be social and get to know who else was there. And before the food came out, I went over to the onesie decorating table to decorate one for the baby. With many of the people at the party being creative people, so many of the onesies were really amazing. I was drawing a blank on what to do, but then I remembered a onesie that I had seen online once and I copied it the best I could.

I know that both Ace and Erin will be amazing at taking care of their baby, but I figured decorating a onesie was the time to be silly. And they both seemed to love it and think it was funny. But some of the other ones (which sadly I didn’t take photos of) were extremely creative. Some of them had to do with “Game Of Thrones”, some of them had cute puns, and one of them was decorated to look like the baby had made a huge mess all over everything. It was fun watching other people decorate them and I was happy with what I created.

After that, the food came out. It was some delicious Mediterranean food like salad, chicken, pitas, and hummus. There was also a dessert table with cupcakes, fruit, and sweet treats. I got a plate of food and found a table to sit at with some new people. So we all went around saying how we knew Erin and Ace and sharing random stories about being in the entertainment industry (most people at the party were actors).

When we were done eating, Erin and Ace went up to give a little speech about how grateful they are for everyone who was there and how we are their LA family. Neither of their families live super close to LA so they have created their own family out of their friends. And I’m so honored to be one of those people. Both Erin and Ace have been amazing friends to me and I really have gotten to know each of them really well in the past few years. And they are both people I know I could count on if I needed something. So I would be willing to help them out in any way I could and I know that everyone else at the party feels the same way.

After everyone had eaten and decorated onesies, the party started to wind down a bit. I went over to Erin and Ace to say goodbye and to let them know how much fun I had and how honored I was to be invited to the baby shower. And they looked so adorable that I had to get a photo of them.

They are seriously such a great couple and I know their baby is going to be awesome! And I have seen all the incredible people they have in their LA family that will help them out and make sure that their son is loved so much. And I’m excited for them to have the baby so I can celebrate them even more!

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Default ThumbnailBaby Shower Saturday (or Celebrating Baby Allen) Default ThumbnailI Do Enjoy Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating All Love In My Life) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Out With Friends (or An Excuse To Dress Up) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life) Default ThumbnailA Night Of Stand Up (or Just Having Fun With My Friends) Default ThumbnailA NextGen Mixer (or Just Having Fun With My Friends)

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Baby Shower Saturday (or Celebrating Baby Allen)

Posted on March 24, 2015 | 1 comment

This past Saturday was the baby shower for my friends Jennifer and Andy. I met them through Marie and Chris, so I’ve known them for a while through all the parties that Marie and Chris throw. I don’t know them super well outside of the parties (and Facebook), so I was super honored to be invited to the baby shower!

They are having a baby boy in about a month, so the baby is almost here!

Mom-to-be and Dad-to-be

The party was held at Chris and Marie’s house, so that was easy enough for me to get to after work. The hostesses had set up a nice lunch table (which I totally forgot to get a picture of) and the present table was looking nice and full with all the gifts we brought for Baby Allen.

Baby Presents

After we all ate and caught up, it was time for some baby shower games! The first game was a twist on The Price Is Right. There was a list of about 10 different baby items and we had to guess how much they cost (everything was priced at Target). Then, we had to add up how much our entire list cost. The person closest to the total without going over wins!

I was not good at guessing the prices. There were a few that I was only a dollar off of, but most of them I was 5 or 10 dollars off! While I know that babies are expensive, how cheap some of the things were really surprised me (I guessed high on diapers and baby food).

After getting the total of everything, I was less than a dollar away from the grand total! And mom-to-be Jennifer was a penny closer to the total than I was! I thought that was pretty awesome! So Jennifer and I both won a prize for that game.

Next was baby shower bingo.

Baby Bingo

All the squares related to Jennifer and Andy or were baby necessities. While we all had a great time playing bingo, it took forever for someone to win! It was funny in the end how many squares we all had filled in before there was even a winner! I ended up getting 3rd place in bingo and got another prize (I felt a little silly taking home so many present for a baby shower that was for someone else).

After bingo we had a game of a word scramble and trivia. I’ve done a bunch of these word scrambles at baby showers and I really should write down the answers! I know that some of the scrambles this time were in games I had played before. I only got half of them right (although that actually really impressed me).

After all the games, it was time for Jennifer and Andy to open up the presents. I got them a sleeper outfit (that was on their registry) along with a matching hat and some baby shoes and sunglasses. I have to say that baby boy stuff has gotten much cuter over the years! I remember when my cousin had her first son and so much of the baby boy stuff was just generic or not cute at all.

The baby shower wrapped up with some cake and one final game.

Baby Cake

For the last game, we all wrote down name ideas for the baby since Jennifer and Andy haven’t picked out a name yet. There were several people who thought that Baby Allen should be named Alan Allen. I voted for Alf Allen. I guess we’ll have to see in about a month what they decide on!

As the evening set in, the fire pit in the backyard was lit and we all just got to hang out. It really was the perfect way to spend a Saturday after work!

And again, I am reminded how lucky I am to have this group of friends in my life!

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Default ThumbnailBaby Shower Fun (or I Love Celebrating My Friends) Default ThumbnailA Game Filled Party (or Being Competitive With My Friends) Default ThumbnailNo More Late Nights? (or Is My New Medication Making Me A Party Pooper?) Default ThumbnailBeing Socially Anti-Social (or An Observer At Game Night) Default ThumbnailRemembering To Have Fun (or Celebrating With Smores) Default ThumbnailA Bridal Shower Celebration (or My Morning In Santa Barbara)

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