A Very "Baby Chic" Shower

On Saturday, a couple of lovely ladies and I threw a shabby chic, or as we called it "baby chic", shower for our wonderful friend, Molly. We had been planning it for a while and we were really excited to see it come to life!

We held it at a clubhouse close to one of the hostesses houses which made it easy to transfer items, food, decor, etc. quickly. The location was also close to the mother-to-be's (MTB) home which made it very convenient for her and her husband and family when transferring gifts and getting home.

The mommy-to-be is a personal trainer and health enthusiast so we knew that would be important to a lot of the guests as most were clients of hers.  We made sure to keep the menu somewhat healthy and light. We served cucumber saladita, chicken roll-ups, cucumber tea sandwiches, chicken salad tea sandwiches, fruit kabobs and olive, goat cheese and walnut dip with melba toast.

For the decor we had to be careful in the clubhouse as far as nailing and making a mess. So, we made a few easy white pom poms, the flat Martha Stewart ones that you can fluff up yourself. I made a "C" for Carmella centerpiece for the main table that could also work as a nursery wall hanging. We made flower balls wih styrofoam, flower cut-outs and pearl pins and opted for lillies and hydrangeas, always a beautiful touch. We also made silverware napkin wraps with Carmella's name on them and loved the special touch it added.

For the welcome table, we had guests fill out their addresses on the thank you cards for the mother-to-be to send later with no worries and had "wishes for baby" cards for them to fill out and place in a birdcage for the mommy to take home and read and save for baby to read one day from all of her "aunties".

Our cake and cupcakes were from Cakes by the Sea in Little River - always a HIT!

For a fun game, we had interviewed the daddy-to-be prior to the shower on some baby trivia and read them aloud and had the MTB answer some too. That is usually funny UNLESS he (and she) knows all the answers and have been studying, which was the case!

It turned out to be wonderful and I hope everyone likes the photos! :)

Here are my 6 take-aways for easy baby shower planning:

-LOCATION. Make sure the location is fairly close to the MTB and DTB's home so that lugging all the exciting gifts home is not too much of a pain! It's also helpful if it has a kitchen!

-MENU. Make sure to know your guests, if there are vegetarians or healthy eaters or lactose intolerant folks, try and accomodate them.

-CUSTOMIZE. Add as many special touches as you can, especially things that mom and dad can take home later and put in the nursery or in baby storage to look back at - even more helpful could be actually preparing the items in a shadow box or scrapbook for them after the shower as another gift.

-DECOR. Fresh flowers are always a must and Costco or Sam's Club usually has a wide assortment and low-cost options in bulk. This goes for your clear plastic plates and cups as well if that is what you're using.

-DRINKS. We had splenda ginger peach tea (decaf) for MTB and champagne punch and tea and water. Once again provide plenty of options for MTB and guests, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, regular and decaf.

-GAMES. You don't need to go crazy with these. A lot of times most people just like catching up and talking and eating with other guests and MTB. We didnt; want it to get cheesy or go on and one forever either. We didn't opt for an actual game with guests per say but the baby trivia questions with mom and dad is always cute and funny.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and happy planning!

XOXO
Sara Bernice

Stuff My Three Chihuahuas Say

I thought I would lead this week off with a special post inspired by the ever popular trending "meme" sensation, "$h*t Girls Say" (please note that since I have inserted two symbols where two letters should be I am not actually saying a bad word ;). This internet hit has led to numerous other hilarious videos and lists playing on the same title. My favorites are below. Check them out!

"Stuff PR People Say" - "Does this have PR legs?", "Did you get my email?"

"$h*t Women Say to Personal Trainers" - I cried watching this.

"$h*t Drunk Girls Say" - this dude is so good at it.

"$h*t my Dad Says" - this guy lives with his 70 yr old dad and the stuff he tweet is highlarious.

and the local flavor:

"$h*t Chants don't say" - if you went to CCU you have to watch this! "Parking is really abundant", "I love 501" lol

So, in honor of this, I have compiled my own list of "Stuff My Three Chihuahuas Say." My three chihuahuas have a mind and dynamic personality all their own. Anyone that has come into contact with them knows this. They are very different and extremely entertaining. They have a "frenemy" relationship with each other and sometimes it's just funny to watch them "fight" over mommy and daddy time in their own way. This has led to many nights of howling with laughter, pictures and "chi-isms" that Jason and I laugh about daily. I've separated the "things they say" by each dog because they each have such a different "voice". I love " " apparently. I don't know about you other pet owners, but my dogs do have a real human voice that we (I) speak to them, but that's another blog entry.

Let me give you a very brief background. Bella is a spoiled brat who likes to eat, rest and not be bothered by the other two. That's it. Lil' Bit is an old soul, a free spirit and a major scaredy cat who only eats red meat and never eats veggies or treats. Charlie is a major nancy boy (that's why we call him Charlene, Charlie Ann, etc.), but is so laid back, loves the outdoors and is obsessed with us.

Well, let me get to it....here is the list.

"Stuff My Three Chihuahuas Say"

         Bella:

• I am so exhausted from putting up with these two morons all day.
• Ugh, can you stop moving around so I can get comfortable. GEEZ.
• WHAT WAS THAT??!! DID YOU HEAR THAT?!!!!!! AHHHHHHH WHAT IS THATTTTTT!!!!????!!!!
• Okay, first of all, you know I don't go outside when it's dewey. And second, it's not even light out. I'll be in my bed til noon.
• Mom, MOM, Mom where'd you go? Mom, Mommm, MOMMM, oh there you are. Whew, I thought I'd lost you forever. Don't ever go to the bathroom again.
• I AM SO HUNGRY!!!!!!!!
• Can you please get this trick (Lil' Bit) away from me immediately. Ugh her senseless urge to play drives me insane. I just want to lay next to you FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.



Bella sitting pretty in her Mrs. Claus outfit.





Bella being bratty in her Disney princess outfit. Typical.

Lil' Bit:

• Pllllleeeeassseee give me a piece of that red meat in your plate....I am so hungryyyyyyyy... I'm going to die...look at me, I'm shaking...I'mmm dyingggggg.....the only thing that can save me is that small succulent piece of aged beef on your fork...Ohhhhhhhh pleaseeee.
• Mmmmm (lick lick lick) uhhhh this couch is soooo tasty....I just (mmmmm) can't stop licking it....ohhh I love it so much (lick LICK) I am especially loving this new cleaner you put on it.
• what is that????!!!! is that a snake??!!!!! OMG ahhh is that a killer snake?!! omg what is that??? omg it's going to murder me...omg...ahh what is that, what IS that!!!! ohhh it's the vacuum cord. whew. omg it's a VACUUM!
• Are you leaving? Are you going in the truck for a drive? CAN I GO FOR A RIDE???!!! Please !!!!! Can I? CAN I, CAN I, CAN I, CAN I, CAN I, CAN I!!!!!!!!!!!!?
• Oh daddy, please pet me I am so cute and sweet and I smell like a dead frog and I did not poop on the rug today and I have an itch righhhhttt there! Please oh please pet me behind my ears! YES! yesssssss.
• No, I do not speak Spanish. Stop talking to me in Spanish.



Here's Lil' Bit being scared of the remote



Lil' Bit dominating on top of the couch (and being scared of the camera).

         Charlie:

• AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! MOMMMYYYYY!!!! DADDDDDYYYY!!!!! YOU'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! AHHHHHHHHH! I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!
• I am so sweeeeeepppyyyy from relaxing all day.
• I love the sunshine doo doo dee doo dahhhh the sunshine la dee daaaaa sunshine shine.
• Here's my toy. Here it is. Throw it. Here. It's right here. Throw it. Here, HERE. Throw it.
• I love to snuggle with my daddy and when he's sleeping I sleep too and I love him oh so much and I like to lay on his neck and behind mommy's knees. I love sleep.
• Hey! We're out of water! Mom! I'm thirstyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Daddddd, I need some water. I will flip this bowl over! I am soooooo thirsty!!!!
• Mommy, I was chasing Bella and Lil' Bit and they growled at me and ran away so I followed them and they ran the other way so I followed them and they jumped on the couch and I jumped on the couch then they laid on you and I laid on you and they moved and I laid on your face.

 

Charlie resting on daddy's neck



 

Charlie enjoying the sun. And sleeping.



Well, there you have it. That's my dogs in a nutshell. I think I reperesented them pretty well. If you don't know them now you do. What do your pets say to you? Do they have a voice? Share yours too!

Here's a photo of the whole crew:



Here we have Bella giving me the stink eye, Lil' Bit afraid of the camera and Charlene being sleepy. End of story.



XOXO

Sara Bernice

We Should Shave Lightening Bolts On Her Sides

LIFE LESSON #345: Never, I repeat, NEVER let your boyfriend/fiance/hubby give your dog a "trim".  I knew this was a bad idea from the get-go, but I felt really bad for Bella as she was panting while sitting on the couch.   OK, you should probably also know that our A/C went out for like a week - but it was the cool week we had and with the windows open, it turned out not to be that bad...ugh it was gross for a few days though.  Anywho, back to Bella.  As you can see from the picture (if you haven't already had the pleasure of making her aquaintance) she is a long-haired chi and the last time I took Bella to get her summer haircut she came back looking like a Bert instead of a Bella.  She looked like a boy and I was not pleased - I couldn't even put bows in her hair to help make her look more girly because it was so short and she looked like a dude in a dress - it just wasn't right on all levels.  But I had to do something and quick.  It was so bad she would mosey on outside to potty and come back in panting and plop down on the cool tile floor in the kitchen just looking up at me like please mommy I dont mind the dude cut, I'm so hotttt.  So, as you can see, when Jason suggested a quick trim it actually sounded like a good solution...at the time.

Let me repeat - never let your man get near your dog with any sort of shearing, cutting, trimming tool of any kind.  So, Jason charges up his beard trimmer - oh yeah - and prepares to give his daughter what he thinks is the best gift ever.  Mind you, I was not around while he was doing this - lucky for him, not for Bella.  I leave for the grocery store and Jason takes Bella outside and trims her real good (his words not mine).  I come home, not knowing the horrible sight I would walk in on, and put the groceries up and look down at my poor dog.  It was a sad, sad sight.  Not only did she look like a boy again (!$#*$Y@*) but she had patches - oh yes - patches of hair missing, her ears were hairless and her butt was bare. Like one of those baboons you see with the blue bare butts (gross).  Yes, she looked like a homeless little pathetic boy puppy that got in a fight with a pair of shears and lost.  You could tell she was so mad and hated it so much.  I don't think she even looked at him for days.  She already has sensitive skin and the close-cut "skin trim" did not help.  Now she was still hot, and ugly and itchy on top of it!!  Jason tried to convince me that she was so much happier and cooler with the new sporty summer 'do, but I just picked her up and promised her that I would never let Daddy do that to her again.  I would upload a picture, but Boofy would never forgive me.

It's growing back now (in patches) and she is starting to look like normal again - thank goodness she was blessed with fast-growing hair genes!  And a killer coat.  From now on, she will be the proud owner of a professionally groomed "trim" each month in the summer time. Plus, she'll smell fabulous and get a free neckerchief to sport!! She loves accessories.

It's all my fault - I should have known better when Jason said to me when he first met Bella, "we should shave lightening bolts on her sides to make her look faster".

Another lesson learned!

Sara Bernice
xoxo