Hostessing

Tomorrow I am hosting a baby shower for a sweet friend who is due with a baby girl in August. This will be my first time really hosting a shower (I co-hosted a wedding shower for Matt & Ariana with Joy, but Joy did most of the prep as it was at her house). Whew! It's a lot of work, but I am pleased so far with how it's come together. Only 3 big boo-boos, and 2 of them were fixable. :)

What are the mistakes, you ask? Well, #1 A recipe I tried didn't work like it was supposed to, but instead of rolling it and then cutting swirly slices to bake, I just kinda plopped it all in the dish and baked it. It still smells delicious. :) #2 Publix forgot to put an "e" on the end of "welcome" as in "Welcome, Baby Katie," on the cake. I checked to make sure they spelled Katie right, but I didn't think to check the other words. Thankfully, my cashier looked to see what the cake said and noticed! Don't you just love Publix? :) They whipped up some pink icing and fixed it right up! #3 is the unfixable one. I was trying to make these as a favor for the guests (3 for each guest, and I was going to pipe a "K" on top of the "cupcake" for the baby's name). Well, I opened the fridge to put some bread away, and out came my cookie sheet of red velvet truffles. Only 18 out of over 50 survived (i.e. stayed on the cookie sheet, as opposed to the floor). I was pretty disappointed. :-( But you can't have it all, right? If I'd had time, I thought about finishing them off (they still needed the chocolate bark coating) and having one for each guest as birthday cakes, because one guest's birthday is tomorrow. But it's after midnight, and I'm EXHAUSTED! So, I'll finish them off for Matt later this week. :)

Lastly, I decided to take a trick from my mother, and I went ahead and set everything out for tomorrow (she does that for Thanksgiving or other really big, lots of people types of situations). Since it was all set up, I decided to take some pictures to show you!

The "cake toppers" that I made to match Baby Katie's nursery decor. I think I'll actually end up setting them right next to the cake, but all the same. :)

The cake (with an e at the end of Welcome :) )

In the foyer

On the coffee table in the den... may switch to living room. :) In fact, I probably will. :)
p.s. Don't mind the crazy pooch in the background.

Pitchers for orange juice and apple juice, a punch bowl for a punch I made, the coffee maker ready to go, and cups for all. :)

I even tried to set out serving utensils I think I'll need.

The food set up in the dining room. I tied a fork, spoon, and knife together in a pink napkin with a pink polka-dot bow. They're all in a basket, followed by plates, next will be a crockpot egg and cheese casserole, followed by the apple dumpling thing I had to dump instead of swirl, then a coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, and mixed fruit. In the center 3 tiered platter I have cut up blueberry bagels and cinnamon/raisin swirl bagels and I made craisin scones. I also have strawberry and regular cream cheese and honey butter for that area.

The other side of the table.

So there you have it! I'm sure there will be more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!