Luncheon for my work ladies? Nope, SURPRISE BABY SHOWER!

My friend and co-worker Daeon is pregnant with her second baby. Some time ago, she mentioned how it was kind of sad that the first baby gets all the fanfare and showers and all that, and the second babies usually don't. That got me thinking... I am just as excited to meet Baby Alayna as I was to meet her big sister Kaelyn. This new baby deserved a bit of celebration before she arrived, and that's all there was to it!

After consulting with my other co-workers and Daeon's husband, we settled on a date and opted to try to keep the shower a surprise. Quickly everyone jumped in with ideas and offers of what they'd contribute. We had this in the works for a couple of weeks before I sent the "fake-out" email, saying that I was really feeling the bite of the entertaining bug and that I wanted to host a little luncheon for all of my work ladies. I even took it a step further and said the colors of the party were going to be blue and orange, and could they please dress in one or both of those colors. I am sure Daeon thought I was completely off of my rocker, but everyone else knew what was really going on.

I decided on blue and orange for the party colors because I already had these banners in those colors that said "Hip Hip Hooray" and "You Rock"... plus, my walls are blue, I wanted to be sure everything would look nice and not cobbled together. And just because Daeon is expecting a baby girl doesn't mean everything needs to be pink, right?

Miriam and Julie came a little early to help me with the last minute touches. Julie also got to meet her favorite dog in the world, Julio! He really enjoyed the attention.





I really was stressed out over the whole event, because I wanted it to be perfect. I had a vision in my head and I wanted this to live up to it! All the prep was going smoothly until I got a call from my co-worker Jenny (who was in charge of cupcakes and onesie-decorating supplies) that the flu had hit her house and she was sick and couldn't make it. I felt myself wigging out a little, because we weren't going to have an "official" cake/dessert without the cupcakes. But then she mentioned they were already made (I thought she hadn't made them because she was sick, but it turns out she made them beforehand - praise the Lord!!),  and I asked if it would be ok if someone came to get them. She said that was fine, and off my husband went to save the day. The cupcakes were beautiful, made to look like hydrangeas with butterflies on them, and were the perfect centerpiece! I can never thank her enough for making them, and also for being gracious enough to let Josh pick them up even though she was ill and probably didn't feel like dealing with any of my perfection anxiety!

Megan opted to drive Daeon to ensure that Daeon wouldn't show up too early. It was funny, because Daeon came bearing beautiful sunflowers in a enamelware pitcher for me... It cracks me up that she brought something to her own party. But hey, I love the flowers and the pitcher, so I'm not complaining!



Other than the momentary cupcake panic and a couple of people not being able to make it, everything went off without a hitch... the food was good, the company was great and it was a relaxed and fun time!

I took a ton of pictures, but I've tried to condense them somewhat by putting them in collage form. Have a look!



Megan made the fabulous tissue paper poufs, and came up with the idea for the candy bar as take home favors... she also provided the containers and the candy for them. Thanks, Megan!



I ordered the clear bags and twine for the candy and bought the little tags that I stamped with an "A" for Alayna in the party colors.



Drink and candy station. I couldn't find white cranberry juice ANYWHERE for the punch recipe I wanted to make. I improvised with blue Hawaiian Punch, Sprite and ice cream! This picture actually makes me nuts because the napkins aren't centered (which is where I had them, I think I just moved them out of the way while we filled the tub with sodas and ice) and the lid on the ice bucket is crooked. Oh, well!

However, the biggest hit of the party may have been the retro striped paper straws I ordered for the sodas (http://www.thinkgarnish.com/ - great website and really inexpensive!)... I think everyone took some home!



The amazing cupcakes...











My melamine summer plates happen to be blue and orange, so they were perfect to use! We had some great food... Aside from the incredible cupcakes, Miriam brought brownies and Megan made this chocolate chesecake type spread that we put on 'Nilla wafers. It tasted like a chocolate chip cheesecake! I made vegetable pizza (tube of crescent rolls rolled out into a sheet and baked, then topped with a mixture of cream cheese, mayo and hidden valley ranch mix and veggies and cheese), cucumber and goat cheese finger sandwiches, crackers with chorizo and manchego cheese, and bacon and brown sugar wrapped crackers. I'll try to link to all of those recipes later!

Opening gifts:


This isn't the prettiest photo evidence, but for onesie painting, I had the onesies arranged on a cake plate sitting in the hutch, and all the paints/stencils/brushes on a second cake plate.










All I know is I had a great time, and I think our guest(s) of honor did, too! Thanks, everyone,  for humoring me and wearing the party colors (my dress is a dark peacock blue, though it kind of looks black in the photos).