This weekend, Toby, Anton, and I went to our friend Erika’s baby shower…
As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we realized the baby shower would be as chic and down-to-earth as Erika is. First off, men were invited, so her husband Christian, her father-in-law, and guy friends mingled among the ladies, and of course I got to bring my own two boys. They adore Erika because she’s funny, friendly, and sweet enough to talk basketball with them; we even went to a Liberty game together a few months ago.
Sandwiches, pastries, and grocery-store sheet cake (from Wegmans! so good!) ran down the bar, and we drank iced coffees. A two-tiered cake stand offered up their favorite cookies from childhood: monster cookies for Erika, and linzer tarts for Christian. White balloons bopped against the ceiling, and the couple’s own baby photos stood framed on the tables.
Sarah (right) with their friend Evan
But my favorite part? Erika’s sister Sarah had created the most adorable scrapbook for the baby.
When I asked her about it, Sarah said it was easy: she’d bought a Semikolon guest book and stuck in self-adhesive library pockets. Then, she snapped guests’ photos with a mini instant camera and taped them on each page.
I liked that the notecards had prompts, so you immediately got ideas for what to write. “I wanted something that resembled a library card,” Sarah told me. “So, I designed cards on Canva, printed them on cardstock, and cut them out.”
The boys and I filled out our cards. I loved reading their answers — Anton said the baby’s first book should be Brown Bear (his own favorite from his baby days) and Toby leveled up with The Great Gatsby. My answer? cupofjo.com, of course.
“We read all the notes last night, just Christian and me,” Erika told me today. “Some were goofy; some were emotional. We both cried.”
How lovely is the scrapbook idea? What other baby shower ideas have you enjoyed? I loved my motherhood book. xo
P.S. How I changed my mind about baby showers, Anton’s baby shower, and the advice cards at baby showers.
