baby showered with love #4

this post will have to be split up into a few entries because the SPA-THEMED baby shower that my east coast girls threw me had SO much going on! :)  we had a sleepover friday night for some of the penn sisters - kicking off the spa theme, we did facials, had a yummy dinner, and ate one of my favorite desserts - tart yogurt with fruit toppings!  they found the tart yogurt that i love, chopped up kiwi, blueberries, and granola to make a dessert better than pinkberry :) dinky and beannie did such a ridiculously AMAZING job organizing and planning from START to FINISH.  down to every meticulous detail and thought, it was p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

saturday morning, beannie and dinky were gone at the crack of dawn to get things ready for the shower.  we drove over to dinky's house by noon, and i was in AWE of what i walked into.  first, guests signed these cute note cards and hung them on this cool brass tree at the entrance of her home (their wishes and prayers for me, phil, and baby):

next, guests picked their choices for lunch from a MENU (which my cousin soojeen, a graphic designer, custom designed)!!  and it was definitely a 5-star spa-like menu, no joke (thanks to mandie's CRAZY culinary skills!!)

On the menu - starting off the first course with a choice between:
1.  Caesar salad with Pancetta
2.  Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette.

For the second course, a choice of:
1.  Crabcake Sandwich with Garlic Aioli
2. Truffled Filet of Beef Sandwich on Ciabatta with Arugula
3. Roasted Pepper with Goat Cheese:

Next was an area where you filled out your address so I could have everyone's info for thank you cards.  Again, my amazing cousin hand made and custom designed thank you cards for me!!!  SKILL. how gorgeous are those cards?  like something you'd find at papyrus :)

the living room was transformed and decorated very zen-spa-like :)

when i walked into the kitchen, i saw a HUGE spread of amazing apps, drinks, desserts, oh my!  they had melon and cucumber infused and lime/lemon infused water - all spa-esque :)

Mandie made the most DELISH apps: Autumn Cranberry Salsa with chips, Homemade Guacamole, and Pumpkin Hummus with Pita (all the signs for the food custom made by my lovely cuz).  The guests sipped their mimosas while I had sparkling cranberry cider :) heehee. 

There were just so many incredible little details all throughout the house that I SO appreciated and loved.  Dinky was the photographer for our maternity/pregnancy shoot, and she had blown up and framed some of the images throughout the house for everyone to see :)  Almost made me tear up :*)  We got to take all the framed pics home after the shower, and they're now hanging up in the baby room! :)

My cousin totally blew me away with all the signage everywhere that she created just for the shower...from the menus to the thank you cards to the "It's a Girl!" sign, I was in awe.

After everyone arrived and noshed on the apps, our gourmet spa lunch was served (thanks a gazillion, mandie...you're the best chef ever)!

I tried both the crabcake and filet of beef sandwich with the butternut squash salad...and yes, it was DROOL-worthy :)

Truffled Filet of Beef Sandwich on Ciabatta with Arugula

much MUCH more to come........ :)