Liz's shower

Can I start by telling you how much I just love Liz?! She is confident, beautiful and fun to be around!

Special Sesame Chicken Salad ReciCan I 15 I was happy to throw her a shower for the upcoming arrival of her baby girl, Camilla Jane. I can't wait to meet this little lady!

We had yummy food and great company!

We ate out on the deck and I was worried because the day was a scorcher with temperatures over 100 but fortunately, it cooled off and we even got a little delta breeze so most chose to eat outside!









We had the guests make collages of what they thought Camilla could/would look like...people got pretty creative! (I forgot to get a picture of this so maybe Liz will post it). It is always fun to see the little girly outfits and accessories!

Her friend Caitlin had just gotten back from moving back from Hong Kong, I had heard so much about her and was glad to finally get to meet her. She was nice enough to do the favors, yummy cookies with letter pressed monogrammed C for Camilla!

This is one of the two salads that were served. This recipe if form taste of home and you'd need:

• 1 package (16 ounces) bow tie pasta
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cans (11 ounces each) mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 cans (8 ounces each) sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1-1/3 cups honey-roasted peanuts
• 1 package (9 ounces) fresh spinach, torn
• 1 package (6 ounces) dried cranberries
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted

• Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and place in a very large bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce, sugar and pepper. Pour over pasta and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Just before serving, add the remaining ingredients; gently toss to coat. Yield: 22 servings (1 cup each).

The other was another bowtie pasta salad and a favorite of ours!

box bowtie pasta
bag of spinach
3 avocados, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
gorgonzola cheese
parmesan cheese
Girards champagne dressing

Baby Shower

Catherine, Liz, Me and Kirsten

This past Saturday, my friend Liz threw me a baby shower. Liz enlisted the help of many (Catherine, Kirsten, Tammy, Stephanie, Mary, Lindsey, Robin, Ellie, and Lois...hope I'm not forgetting anyone!). They all helped to make the day unforgettable.

It really was a perfect afternoon with uh-mazing food and good company who could ask for anything more?!

I only wish we hadn't been having so much fun so that I could have gotten a few more pictures.

The food...mmmm.

Some of the people:

Ladies from Roseville Bunco and my neighbor(above)

Some church friends.
Kierstin in the middle is also having a little girl and is due a week before me, doesn't she look great!

Kirsten, Lois "the host" and Stephanie

My favorite part of the day was just having my friends gathered together. Although I wasn't able to visit as freely as I would have liked I enjoyed everyone's company. My friend Dawn from nursing school surprised me and although she isn't pictured, I enjoyed catching up and her presence was a neat treat!

After stuffing our faces and then going back for more; while we visited we played a few creative games that Robin had come up with. Robin and I were impressed because we had so many winners at the three games we played...dang my friends have mad skills!

FYI: my baby-bump at the widest part measures 11 toilet paper squares around...I will never look at TP squares the same again! It is also amazing to me that in a weeks time I feel so much bigger...yeah, I know this is going to be a continual thing until she arrives but still.

One of the games was especially interesting. Robin passed out magazine, scissors, glue sticks and a blank "canvas" for each group to create what they thought our baby would look like...below are the creative final "works of art."

# 1. I give you points for creativity and personalization
# 2 and #7. I chose these to win because in #2 has the big ears that seem to be hereditary and I thought #7 was just a beautiful baby!
#3. they were going for octa-mom but simply ran out of time
#4. I like how they included a hand drawing of our growing family
#5 and 6. I believe at the time I called them twisted...and I think that description still applies.

I had the best time and can't thank Liz enough for organizing the event. Oh, we have officially decided on her name:

Aren't these name letters awesome!

The End