This past Sunday my mom and sister threw me a beautiful baby shower.  Sometimes events like this make me a bit nervous, and I feel a little awkward being the center of attention.  However this shower was so thoughtful and I was surrounded by such wonderful people, delicious food and an all around fun and festive vibe.  I couldn’t have asked for a more lovely day.  True to form… I was totally emotional (typical me + pregnancy hormones = a lot of crying!!).

Me crying...

The shower was held at an awesome restaurant in the Columbia Waterfront District of Brooklyn called Alma.  Anthony, one of the owners of Alma, was a complete pleasure to work with and made sure the day was perfect!  I highly recommend this spot for a delicious bite to eat or to host a celebration.  They totally rocked it!

My friend Andrea Reese – fellow photographer (turning pro… she’s an inspiration) worked her butt of snapping shots of the day from beginning to end.  So, thanks to Andrea, I can share this day with the rest of you here on nellsdish.  All photos on this post were taken by Andrea of AndreaReesePhotography.com!!

It’s all in the details:

I am not one of those women who is typically into all the little details of party planning (no Martha Stewart here – though I did get rather into it while planning our wedding!).  I tend to be low maintenance, I shy away from party games and I never want to spend money needlessly.  That being said, my mom and sis came up with some adorable details and activities that really made the day extra special.  I’m so glad they didn’t listen to me and did things their way!

Here is the beautiful cake made by Betty Bakery on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn.  It was a red velvet cake (my favorite), with vanilla buttercream frosting and layers of chocolate inside.  To die for.  Really.  I’m still eating leftovers and loving every minute.  The bakery also perfectly recreated the cute Mama duck image from my shower invitation (I used Paperless Post – check it out!  Great way to send adorable invites via email) and thus – duckies became the theme of the shower!

Baby Shower Cake by Betty Bakery

My mom bought all these adorable little rubber duckies and wrote numbers on the bottom of each one.  Each guest got a rubber ducky with their slice of cake and the guest with the winning number (17 – my due date!!), won a prize.

Slice of Cake with Rubber Ducky

Valerie was the winner!

For centerpieces, there were bunches of yellow and white daisies – they matched the duck color scheme and provided a bright and cheery atmosphere at brunch!

Table Centerpieces

For favors, they gave our these adorable little mint tins personalized with the date of the shower!  What a cute surprise.

Favors - Little Mint Tins

Shower Activites:

So even though I said “no games”, my mom and sister thought they should organize a little something to provide entertainment for the shower.  I absolutely LOVED what they did.

They put together a multiple choice quiz about me and all the shenanegans I pulled growing up.  It was fun sharing these details about my life with my friends.  I think they learned a lot about me that they never knew before!  Here are a couple of Nell facts from the quiz:

• At a young age, Nell shocked her Papa Arnold by eating an entire… (d. king-sized prime rib)
• Nell and her friend, Jess, once devoured a whole bottle of… (a. Flintstone vitamins)
• Nell’s first career goal was to be… (d. both a waitress and a cheerleader)
• One of the few times Nell was grounded it was because she had… (c. driven our car without a license)
• Nell’s anthem should be… (b. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”)

My mom sharing the answers to the "Nell" quiz

Another really sweet activity they organized was to have each guest fill out an advice card for me as I enter motherhood.  I read all the advice cards when I got home and was so touched by the thoughtful advice my friends shared with me.  What a special keepsake from the shower… of course, I cried while reading through all these as well!

Advice cards

Here are some more pictures from the day:

My lovely niece Monique and me

Pee Pee Teepees... I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of these!

my girl Amie and me - we're pregnant together... what's better?!

Cool mirror shot

Someone's having fun!

Brette and me

Me and my mom

And finally…

Me, my mom and my sister

Thank you so much much mom and Erika – for planning and creating such a memorable baby shower for me.  And to all my friends who helped me celebrate, I love you so much and I feel so grateful to have you all in my life!  This little baby boy is entering the world into a major love-fest.  What a lucky little dude.