[I should note here that I’m writing this in Starbucks, with my laptop on my legs and my iphone resting on my belly (and when the baby moves, the phone moves)… I am that pregnant woman. I’m also wearing stretchy pants. And I ate a huge pumpkin scone then had to wipe the crumbs off my belly. Just wanted to give you that mental picture.]
At the end of October Anil and I flew to Virginia for the weekend for two baby showers—one with my extended family in Richmond, then one with our friends in Charlottesville. Since we won’t be making it back there for any holidays this year, I was so looking forward to seeing the army of women that make up my family in Virginia. Most holidays for us look like bridal or baby showers just based on the sheer concentration of estrogen, with a smattering of boys and men here and there. My mom's two sisters also came, from opposite sides of Virginia (Maryland and North Carolina), so that was also a treat. The bummer was that my cousin who’s in college wasn’t going to be able to make it, so I was sad to not get to see her. But lo and behold, she surprised all of us and walked in the front door. It was a great reminder of how we all look forward to these kinds of family gatherings, and of how I’ll be able to look forward to them with the cupcake as she grows up and adds to the giant pool of estrogen herself.
When I was planning my wedding, I found that I’d look forward to things like bridal showers, but when they actually came about, I’d start to feel self-conscious about all the attention and didn’t relax as much as I’d expected. In contrast, baby showers felt like being a kid again and having a birthday party. For one thing, the presents aren’t cutlery and plates; they’re onesies and baby socks (I have as soft spot for baby socks, something about how they evoke baby toenails) and stuffed animals. Also, there wasn’t any pressure to stay slim and wear a tight dress any time soon, so I could completely indulge in all the sweets.
And let me tell you about the sweet stuff. Two of my cousins have started a cake and cookie business in Richmond, so they made an adorable pink bunny cake for the shower and a bunch of decorated cookies too. They all tasted as good as they looked. Since I can’t drink, I was so looking forward to the sugar of the weekend, and it did not disappoint. Here are photos of the cake and cookies. The bunny is from our crib theme, Pottery Barn Kids’ “B is for Bunny” collection, and, yes, they made it too. I think they should go on one of those Food Network cake challenge shows (cakes are so hot right now).
Babymamma and baby grandparents in Richmond.
The day after the family shower, we had the co-ed friends shower in Charlottesville, and, incredibly, the surprise guests kept on coming. First, we just loved telling people in Boston that we were having a baby shower at our friends’ brewery, not only because of the street cred we get for having friends who own a brewery, but because that’s not the go-to place for baby showers for most couples. But Internet, we are not most couples. Our friends Mandi and Taylor built and opened Blue Mountain Brewery right about when we moved from Charlottesville to Boston, and it has these amazing mountain views and a deck for outdoor seating (fireplace inside for cozy winters too), so we thought it would be a great place to gather just a few friends and visit. What we got instead was the rock star treatment. They set up a separate roped-off area for us to have food and drinks, had barrels to put presents on, chairs for people to sit in if they wanted, and basically created a little VIP Shukla shower area so we could all visit and play away from the bustle of the other customers. It was beyond cool.
But then. THEN. Out walked three people who we did not expect to see. What’s the easiest way to set off a pregnant woman’s hormones? Have three of her favorite people fly in from across the entire country and appear at her baby shower. I was glad to have my giant sunglasses on to hide my wet eyes! During our last year living in Charlottesville, I did happy hours every week with this amazing group of girls. It was like a lifeline for the five of us through different personal challenges and transitions, an overabundance of beer and laughter every week. Then Anil and I moved to Boston, another couple moved to Utah, and another moved to Portland, Oregon. These are the people who walked out of the brewery in Charlottesville when they were supposed to still be in Utah and Oregon! It was fantastic. The whole shower was fantastic. So many of our favorite people were all in one place that day, including friends that Anil has known since childhood, friends from college, and from our four years of living in Charlottesville for med school. We felt so lucky to have such strong connections with people that we think so highly of and with a place that is so unique. Below is a photo we took before the festivities got underway of our big original Charlottesville crew.
Here are some other highlights. (The photos are small, so click if you want to see more closely.) First, the cupcakes, of which I ate about five.
For gifts, we asked people to bring a favorite book on which they could inscribe a note so that when we read to the cupcake we'll think of our friends. So we got a running start to her library, which of course is hugely exciting for lit-major mama. We also got a head start to her being the coolest baby on the block. Check out these baby Chuck Taylors!
A special guest at the shower was a certain 20 year-old who I happened to meet in a college women and middle school girls mentoring program during my fourth year at UVA. Caitlin was 12 then, and now she's 20 and at my baby shower! She's a second year at UVA and also, among a ridiculous list of talents, is an artist of onsies. She hand-painted six different onesies--seriously! They're washable and totally wearable. Click on this photo to see the onesies in larger scale (IOU a better close-up photo when I unpack all the shower gifts!) and she has more at her web site, La Petit Lapan (she's also a French minor). Among her long list of accomplishments, though, the one I'm most excited about is babysitter extraordinaire.
That's the brewery and outdoor deck in the background, and in the foreground, Blue Mountain Brewery onesies! These are officially from Hayden, the owners' son, so that our cupcake can represent her soon-to-be favorite spot.
After all this, (and I know it’s ridiculous to have another shower, but... ) we do live in Boston, and my friends here wanted to do something too. So my friend Aisha, who I’ve known since college and now lives five minutes away, volunteered her apartment and my Bostonian BFF Katie claimed all cooking responsibilities.
I think a friend at this shower said it best, when I told her that I’d been apprehensive about everyone having fun because not many invitees really knew each other coming into the shower; she replied, “Yeah but you and Anil always have such cool friends, everyone is interesting and laid back so we always have fun.” That’s a paraphrase, but I think it’s so true. I looked around the room and saw a fashion designer, an opera singer, an anesthesiologist, an ER doctor, a social worker and awesome mom of a one-year old (who behaved beyond beautifully), a linguist who just finished her PhD, an aspiring professional chef, and I could go on and on but then I’d just be bragging. Thanks for being cool, friends!
And because there was now a theme of surprises, I shouldn’t have been so shocked when my friend from high school (aforementioned fashion designer) walked in the door, having taken a bus that morning from New York City. But I was shocked! So again, it was a day to really celebrate all of the wonderful people that Anil and I have been lucky enough to know over the years, and to be amazed and thankful at how excited they are for us and our crazy future of parenthood.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
Now I just have a million thank you notes to write. And a lot of really adorable baby socks to wash. Couldn’t be happier to do both.
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