pretty little anjali

An overwhelming majority of my friends got married between 2008 – 2010 + are now starting their families.  I’m so very happy for them and have embraced the rapid switch from buying wedding shower gifts at Bloomingdale’s to purchasing baby shower gifts at B Braithwaite (where I happen to be the Foursquare mayor, thank you very much), AND visiting their respective cities to meet their adorable newborns instead of traveling to far away places for wild bachelorette parties. 

Here’s me two weeks ago with 8-months-prego Anjali as we were celebrating her pregnancy in DC.  Check out our awesome traditional outfits:

She had two parties that weekend (one a religious Indian ceremony + the other a Western baby shower for friends).  Anj spent the weekend opening gifts and chatting with folks who can’t wait to meet her little bundle of joy arriving in late August.  I spent the weekend supporting her (SO excited to meet the baby!) + sipping on Captain Kurt’s custom adult beverage he created for me over the weekend entitled: “All My Friends Are Pregnant + I’m Getting Drunk.”  Witness:

Here’s what was in it: Bols Genever (about 2 ounces), lemon juice (about .75 an ounce), a splash of grenadine + two drops of cherry bitters.  Shaken and strained and topped with blood orange soda.  Sweet, sour + pink…just like my iPhone case.

Drinking these over the weekend was delightful.  Bring ONNNNN the babies, I say!!

Anyway, over the past few months I’ve thrown a handful of baby showers + attended a number of others.  While I am still really uncomfortable setting foot into Babies ‘R Us (OMG – that place is s.c.a.r.y), I can tell you what My Breast Friends is, I can recommend bella bands + maternity jeans, and I consider myself to be an expert on fun baby shower games. 

Let’s take Anj’s shower for instance, because it was recent + she had a slew of fun games.  First was the Never Have I Ever College Fund Game that I thought was super cute.  All you need is a decorative piggy bank + shower goers who are willing to donate their wallet change.

Everyone goes around and says baby shower-related (+ appropriate) Never Have I Evers like “Never have I ever changed a baby’s diaper” or “Never have I ever given dirty looks to a crying baby on an airplane,” etc, and those who have done that walk up to the piggy bank and drop in wallet change to start the baby’s college fund.  Here’s Anj with her baby’s piggy bank:

Although it’s not actually a game, I thought this was a really sweet idea: Anj’s sister put out a baby’s bedtime book + pens for shower goers to flip through and write a note to the baby.  Such a thoughtful little keepsake for folks to work on over the course of the shower.

Another one of the baby shower games that I think is a big hit is Guess How Big Momma’s Belly Is.  We purchased string from Michaels + passed it around to everyone with a pair of scissors.  Shower goers cut the string to the length that they thought was Anj’s belly circumference.  Then, everyone measured their strings around Anj + the shower goer who cut the string closest to the size of her belly won a prize. 

We also had a station running for shower goers to personalize onesies for the baby.  We purchased paint pens + markers and iron-ons (we set up an iron and ironing board for those) from Michaels to encourage folks to be as creative as possible. 

Shower goers ate, drank, chatted + made adorable onesies (in a variety of sizes) for the baby.

This one was mine. 

We hung them up with twine and clothespins in front of the area where Anj would later open her gifts.

This was another onesie I loved…

Finally, we did not play this game at Anj’s shower, but I have to admit that it’s my favorite.  I call this one: Identify the Poop!  To set it up, all you need is a variety of candy bars + diapers.  Open the diapers and inside of each one place a different candy bar.  Write a number outside of the diaper corresponding with the candy bar within it, i.e. Milky Ways in diaper #1, Twix in diaper #2, and so forth.  Microwave the candy bars until they are melted.

Have everyone gather around and pass out the candy bar-filled diapers + pens and paper.  Shower goers have to taste each one and try to identify which candy bar it contains.  Whomever is the most accurate gets a prize.

It’s a total blast + SO funny!  And, definitely not for the squeamish…

That’s all I’ve got for now.  There are several more babies on the way, though, so Aunt Lindsay may have more to share in months to come.  In the meantime, I’ll be sippin’ my pink martinis + jet-setting to meet new additions to my friend’s growing families…while tightly holding on to my B Braithwaite mayorship.

xx, L