Last Saturday, I threw my very first baby shower for my sister. Oh yeah, did I mention that I am going to be an aunt? 🙂 This will be the very first baby in the Phamily so everyone is ready to spoil the kid rotten. (My mom has already filled a hamper full of baby clothes and socks).

          For the baby shower, I decided to go with a pink and gold hot air balloon theme using geronimo balloon-inspired balloons and whimsical animal decor throughout. Baby’s breath and daisies were both budget friendly and simplistically beautiful to vamp up the mantle. I knew I wanted a clean and simple look, but the details were more tedious than I had anticipated. Everything was handmade down to the very last gold boxed favor and pennant. And after all the animals were sprayed painted, all the fringe hand cut, and the diaper cakes made, I think everything turned out so beautifully.

          My sister and I have thrown enough parties to know that there is always a table full of leftovers by the end, so we decided to serve our favorite dishes and desserts so that we could actually enjoy and finish the leftovers if guests didn’t. We had steamed baos that guests could choose from a variety of meats of Peking duck, Korean pork and bacon, and roasted pig, Vietnamese style. Everyone in the family chipped in and made the rest of the menu which included papaya salad with beef jerky, Dad’s good ol’ stir fried noodles, and a plate of assorted veggies and cheese and meats. For dessert, I splurged a little on macarons (salted caramel, apricot, and raspberry flavored) and mini bundt cakes. (For budget conscious desserts, I also recommend petite madeleines that you can buy at Costco. Everyone loves them and leftovers can be eaten with cup of hot coffee for the rest of the week!)

          For baby shower games, guests were asked to design baby onesies and guess what the baby would look like using different baby features and facial features from the parents-to-be. We also played Guess the Celebrity Baby, which a lot of people were surprisingly  not so good at. Maybe I read too many tabloids? Oh and of course, the guys had to participate in the Poop Game where they had to guess what type of candy bar is in each diaper.

Now all we have to do is wait for baby in a month or so. Exciting times ahead!

If you are wondering, yes, a Stegosaurus is one of my favorite animals.

Vroom vroom! This one’s for the dad. The diaper motorcycle is very easy to make thanks to this tutorial here.

Can that baby robe get any cuter?