LCGray: Kirstan's whale of a shower

Now that Noah has made his arrival, it's high time I posted pictures of Kirstan's shower. Noah's nursery has a nautical theme, which we decided to carry throughout the entire shower day. From the invitations to the decorations, all elements brought the sea and sunshine to Pennsylvania on this chilly fall day in November. After looking through the pictures, I had a sudden realization that it is virtually impossible to host a shower and take pictures at the same time. I can hardly walk and chew gum...I should have handed off the camera.

When going through the planning process with Kirstan's lovely lifetime best friends, the first priority of the day was the signature drink. This is totally Kirstan (unfortunately she couldn't partake) - these signature drinks were a mixture of champagne and blue curacao. We called them the "sunken ship" because unfortunately the clementine did not float, but it created a fun fizzy dynamic! Definitely a hit to kick off the brunch!

Here are just a few of the decorations. Fabric is always a great way to make a room feel whimsical and as soon as I found out that Kirstan was pregnant, I got started on some personal onesies for this little one. There were several others with fish and "school of fish" garland that didn't quite make the photo shoot.

So much can be learned about my sister from the little touches throughout the day - the food included all of her favorites (including our mommom's homemade meatballs) and whale shaped finger sandwiches. Also, the favors reflected one of Kirstan's favorite little gifts, Yankee Candles. Luckily I live close to the big Yankee Candle in Western Massachusetts and I scored some "sand castle" scented votives for just $1. I used some linen fabric (confession, I buy this in bulk at Walmart when we go to Maine for less than $3 a yard), and used heat and bond to add a square of starfish fabric. I simply sewed easy edges and tied them off. Each favor cost around $1.50, made the room smell like sun and sand, and fit the theme perfectly. I set them out on a large round plate covered in sand.

Kirstan picked out the cake recipe when we were together in Florida a month earlier from a fall edition Martha Stewart Magazine highlighting a first birthday party. I am not a cake baker, but this Brown Sugar buttercream cake turned out amazingly well. Thank goodness for Gram who committed several hours to see this to completion with me!

Diaper cake curtosy of Kirstan's great friends!

The banner was personally made by Kate, my dear friend. This fit as the perfect backdrop for the day (and can be seen throughout these photos). It is now hanging over Noah's crib.

Another tidbit to learn about Kirstan is the fact that she is so slow. She eats slow, she is on her own timeline for EVERYTHING. Imagine all of the Christmas mornings when I had to spend hours trying to pry her out of bed! She opened her gifts slowly and loved and admired everything in typical Kirstan fashion.

This is the way it should be :)

She got some really cool gifts, including this Peanuts nativity set. Yep, I'm jealous! Noah, I'm coming to play with it! Just know that Lucy is cool and all, but she's not a good substitute for Mary!