'Shower-To-Go'

Maybe life was slowing down a little

...hahahahah! That's really funny!!

Well, maybe life was getting a little boring

...giggle...

(No, actually, that totally cracks me up!!)

Seriously, my niece Allyn is getting married.

And we (all her aunts & girl cousins)wanted to honor her by giving her

a Lingerie Shower... Luncheon...PARTY...EXTRAVAGANZA!!

The only problem...she lives 8 hours away.

Okay...could be difficult...but not impossible!

We'll just pack a 'Shower-to-Go'!

(Hey, wait...did I just come up with a new phrase?!?--nahh, probably not.)

Sorry--stay with me here.

Since the two aunts (Sandy & Sharon) weren't able to attend...my daughters and niece Amy were more than excited to tag right along with me.

Now, I have to ask....

....Have you ever given a 'long-distance shower'?

Then you know what I mean when I say HOLY SMOKES!!

You have to think of EVERYTHING!!!

I must be out of my mind!! (shut-up!)

Okay, so since many of you know that I am such a tedious planner

(chuckle, chuckle, followed by obnoxious bursts of laughter)

you won't be surprised to hear that I had spent weeks planning

and making lists & purchases

so that 'no butter mint would be left unturned'!

This was for Allyn.

And it had to be perfect!

So we packed. And we packed. And we packed.

Dishes, tablecloths, napkins, silverware, ingredients, serving pieces,

flower vases, gifts, favors, even mixing bowls and mixer

(because we were preparing the food in the hotel).

We arrived in College Station on Friday evening

and the whirlwind of activity began.

• 
  
  We met Allyn & James for dinner,
• 
  
  made a mad dash to Sam's Club before they closed,
• 
  
  checked into the hotel,
• 
  
  unloaded the car,
• 
  
  made a late-night run to Wal-Mart for all the ingredients,
• 
  
  and started preparing the food.

It was just a few hours after dark-thirty by the time we crawled into bed

but we were right on schedule

(thanks to some brilliant planning--grin)

All planning aside, I'm sure I wasn't the most popular girl in the room

when I woke Amy, Tif & Chell up on Saturday morning.

They were still exhausted from driving, shopping, and cooking from the day before.

I felt like The Task Master...but "up and at 'em!" we had a luncheon to give!

We got to Allyn's apartment and the transformation began.

We moved furniture, prepared food, set up tables & chairs,

and started 'foo-fooing' everything up...

...So after much anticipation...

Heeeerrrre's The Shower!

Here's one of the place settings:

Each guest received a tiara votive candle, a candy-filled 'glass' slipper, a tea infuser, and demitasse spoon as keepsakes from the day.

Each guest also got their own little 'cupcake in a cup'.

Now 'How Cute Is That!?!'

And a special thanks goes out to Sharon's friend Diana in New York

who made these ADORABLE sugar cubes!

We served chicken salad on croissant sandwiches,

a raspberry vinegarette Waldorf salad,

chocolate covered strawberries,

white chocolate strawberry dessert cheeseball,

a really delicious strawberry lemonade (straight from Paula Deen's magazine),

and for dessert we had a chocolate and vanilla trifle.

White Chocolate Strawberry Dessert Cheeseball

& Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

Can you EVER have enough chocolate covered strawberries?

I made little tussie mussie corsages for each guest.

But I secretly placed a small gold ring in one of the corsages

so a special gift would be given to the guest

who had the ring in her corsage

(well, unless you're ME --

and didn't pin on the corsage that actually had the ring in it!!)

~sigh~

It was such a great idea and I REALLY, REALLY didn't think

I'd left the winning corsage sitting on the tray! (Grrrrr!).

No one seemed to care and truly, everything turned out just as beautiful as I'd hoped!

And MOSTLY,

we were able to create a really special memory for a really special girl!

Here's to Allyn and 'Showers-to-Go'!!