A Nautical-Theme Baby Shower

A couple of weekends ago, Conservative Mom, Kid Sister, and I teamed up to throw a baby shower for lovely Miss Alicia (that's Q and M.B.'s daughter-in-law).


Miss Alicia was expecting her first son around September 1, so we thought a shower the first weekend in August was perfect timing.


Because little Jack's nursery is decorated in a nautical theme, we decided it was only appropriate to go with a similar theme for the shower, hence the shells and light houses.


And the nautical-theme napkins.


We started with mimosas for the ladies who could indulge in such beverages and a tasty blue punch for those of us who couldn't. (It really was nonalcoholic, despite the fact that all the ducks floating in the punch looked drunk.)



After the ladies played a couple of silly games, like guessing how many candies were in the baby bottle ...


and sniffing baby food jars to figure out their flavor ...


we sat down to a meal featuring Not-So-Conservative Grandmom's famous chicken tetrazinni, which was a huge hit.

Then, before we moved on to showering the mamma-to-be with gifts, we stopped for a very important part of the party.

The cupcakes.


These weren't just any cupcakes, mind you. They were gourmet cupcakes, with flavors like snickerdoodle and red velvet and chocolate-peanut butter, and raspberry. It was difficult not to try one of all of them, but at the same time they were so darn cute it almost seemed a shame to eat them! (Almost ...)


We had a fabulous time throwing the shower for Miss Alicia. And it turns out it's a good thing we scheduled it when we did, for she started having contractions the day before the shower. And just less than a week later, handsome little Jack was born.

Mom and Baby Jack are healthy and happy and doing well. Congrats to the whole family!

A Halloween Bash

Last weekend, some of our friends made the trip from Des Moines for a visit. So, in honor of their presence and the fact it was the end of October, we threw our first-ever Halloween bash at our basement bar.

It was a good time, with plenty of entertaining costumes. We're talking bounty hunters, Dexter, rodeo queens, the cast of Grease, a beer bottle, a pirate, some fellow from the Swiss Alps, a referee, Joe Dirt. And that's just a random sampling of the crazy characters we had on hand.

(Even Mario and Luigi hit a Warp Zone and made an appearance.)


To go along with the costumes, we put out a few creepy decorations here and there.


Nothing too crazy ... besides, everyone has a graveyard in their basement, right?


Naturally, we served a few treats as well.


I put together a spooky little spread, including pumpkin cupcakes, brownies with Reese's peanut butter cups, caramel apple dip, and more.


And that about sums it up. We ate, we drank, we hung out around the bar. What else is there to do on a Halloween weekend Saturday night?!

A Kentucky Derby Party

The hat contest at the Kentucky Derby party Conservative Boy, Conservative Parents, and I went to Saturday afternoon was rigged. It must have been. How else can you explain why this hat didn't win any prizes?


It's pretty much the best Kentucky Derby hat ever, right? And I slaved over it for hours. Or for at least 20 minutes. It's stylish. It makes a statement. Parts of it are edible. What more could you ask for?

I think the secret judges must have something against pastel, sugar-coated marshmallows shaped like bunnies. Maybe if they had been horses instead.


Or they don't think cowboy hats adorned with tissue paper are proper Kentucky Derby party attire. And that? Well, that's just plain ridiculous. Everybody knows a good cowboy hat is all-occasion wear. Maybe I should've worn my cowboy boots too. I bet that's why I didn't win.

Sigh.