I have been so busy lately I feel as though I might lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.  There have been two major things happening in my life; one is that my sister is getting married at the end of May and two is that we brought home our gorgeous brand new baby girl puppy this past weekend.  Many more guaranteed updates to come on the puppy front, but first I’m back tracking to the shower (pre-puppy).

As I said above, my little sister, Connie, is getting married at the end of the month which has kept me quite busy as maid of honor and a couple weekends ago was the bridal shower which my Mom and I have been planning for months.  We reserved a suite in the Waldorf Astoria and as much as I’d like to think of myself as one that normally throws a bridal shower at the Waldorf, our good family friend is a hotel manager there and offered us an incredible deal for a fraction of the normal price (thank you Casey!!).  So we took her up on the offer and threw the party at the Waldorf.  It was everything we hoped it would be and was so much easier to have it catered than attempting to cook everything ourselves.  We started the afternoon with slender flutes of chilled sparkling champagne and crisp white wine.

The food was delicious and fresh.  We nibbled on mediterranean inspired favorites such as grilled shrimp and chicken, a delectable orzo salad, tart vinegar marinated tuna salad, grape leaves gently stuffed with cheese, caprese skewers and a medley of balsamic drenched grilled veggies just to name a few.  There were nearly 40 guests so despite the banquet-like appearance of this table chock full of goodies, we weren’t left with many leftovers.  I also thought the kitchen did a fantastic job given the amount of food they had to prepare.  All of it was fresh and deliciously spiced and cooked – sometimes you never know what you’ll get on your plate when it comes to mass quantities of prepared food, but the Waldorf certainly satisfied me…grade letter = A.

I always find the gift opening portion of the day to be interesting.  I’ve been to showers where everyone sits in silence while each package is unwrapped, painfully awkward.  Luckily my family is not shy when it comes to speaking up and the present portion of the party was festive with light chatter everywhere (sweet relief) and as always lots of laughter.  Connie made out like a bandit.  In spite of sounding like a gluttonous, overly consumptive American, the suite was a wasteland of wrapping paper and packages after all was said and done.

And to complete the process, a gorgeous bouquet of ribbons to boot.

I think it is important to note at this point that while I adore my sister and all of those friends and family that have bridal showers (and I’m sure if I get married that I’ll have my own one day), I can’t help but poke fun at the fluff and frills just a tad.  I understand why showers are necessary, but the girly factor cannot be ignored.  Gasping Oh Wow over a spatula or dramatic murmurs of she’ll really use that a lot in response to a new (umm) hand-soap dispenser do make me snicker just a little.  A lot of people take the day a bit too seriously (I defer to the scene in Bridesmaids when they give out puppies as party favors), but thankfully this shower was devoid of puppy giveaways and chocolate fondue fountains.   Our party favors were a touch more tasteful – we gave out these gorgeous scented jarred candles made by a family friend.  These were beautiful, affordable, and helped support a friend’s business – all things I’m always in favor of.

But enough with the playful mocking, I couldn’t help but have a blast.  I think my favorite part about showers is the generations of women that come together.  Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends new and old – a wedding shower is truly a collection of the most important women in your life.

The biggest shout-out I would like to make is to the cupcakes at Baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn: http://bakednyc.com/  I picked up 3 dozen on the morning of the shower and although the location is a bit of a hike, you will not be sorry for making the trek.  Please take it from a person that does not have a sweet tooth, these cupcakes are out-of-this-world.  They have a variety of playful flavors such as the Citrus Passionfruit, Oopsy Daisy and the Hummingbird, but I went with Connie’s 3 favorites: lemondrop, pistachio, and my personal favorite the sweet and salty, which is basically dark chocolate cake infused with carmel, caramel chocolate ganache and topped with a light dusting of crunchy sea salt – mouth-watering.  I would absolutely recommend this quaint bakery tucked in the southern tip of Brooklyn, they were a hit!