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Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts

Tuesday

My Baby Sprinkle ... Welcoming Baby R #2!

This past Sunday afternoon, my girlfriends threw the most beautiful, generous, special baby sprinkle for me to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our new baby.

It was held at Dogwood Southern Table, which is a newer farm-to-fork restaurant in the heart of South Park in Charlotte. The brunch menu is ... oh my goodness ... spot-on. I chose a country ham bowl that included sauteed greens, rice, a delicious sauce, a fried egg (I prefer mine over-hard -- even while not pregnant), all topped with pink pickled onions.


I kept the invitation list fairly small, just inviting a few Charlotte girlfriends, the grandmothers, and the aunts. Ian's sister was unable to come from Ohio and my middle sister was unable to come from New York, but my youngest sister, mom, and mother-in-law were all in attendance which was really special since they all drove in for it. 


Laura even took all of the photos from the day which helped me to relax and have fun but to relive the day through pictures later. Laura -- I love you for this!


Here are some other highlights of the day. I received some great baby gear, gender-neutral clothing, and diapers galore! Two girlfriends even spoiled ME with gift certificates for a mani/pedi and a hair blow-out ... so sweet and thoughtful. 















The favors were provided by my sweet friend Lindsay and were something I'd never seen before. They were little plantable seeds in the shape of buttons! She brought these gorgeous flowers and the hand-lettered sign as well. So unique and beautiful. 




The best part of the day was just chatting with everyone and getting excited for this sweet new addition to our family. Most of my friends seem split 50/50 on the gender. Moms of little boys seem to feel I'm having a boy next, and moms of little girls are thinking we'll have more pink around our house!




Thank you again to my lovely sister Laura for capturing these special photos and for being the most fun person to share a pregnancy with!


And to my sweet girlfriends who hosted this day, you mean so much to me! It was truly the most generous baby shower I've attended, and you went above and beyond to ensure that everyone was well fed, hydrated adequately with mimosas and coffee (ha!), and spoiled with yummy buttercream cupcakes. Thank you for everything, you are the best lunch bunch girls!

My Sister's Baby Shower

Saturday was filled with friends, family, and lots and lots of baby blue!

My sister Laura's first baby shower was held at my house, and it was so lovely. Laura is currently 30 weeks pregnant, and she and her husband are expecting their son at the end of May. 

Here are some snapshots of the day!



Cupcakes came from Gigi's here in Charlotte, and the petit fours were from Tiffany's Bakery in Columbia, SC. I chose a cream cheese icing with baby booties on half of the cupcakes and a pale blue vanilla buttercream icing with white sprinkles on the other half. Both were on the traditional wedding cake base. 



I have to brag on this fruit dip that Laura's sister-in-law made ... it was simply a mixture of marshmallow Fluff and sweetened condensed milk. Deeeelish!


We had white wine, prosecco, and water infused with mint, cucumber, and pineapple.  


I had the lisianthus bouquet delivered a few days before the shower to give the blooms more time to really open. I ordered these from The Bouqs, my go-to flower deliverer! (You can use this link for $10 off of your first order!) If you are looking for this exact bouquet, it's called White Knight. Having flowers delivered was a huge time-saver. 


Favors for the party guests were these iced sugar cookies that matched the invitations. 


I already had this chalkboard banner on hand from Michael's, so I used my Bistro chalk marker to customize it with the baby's name and then just copied the baby carriage from the invitation on either side. 



The shower was at 3pm, so we kept nibbles light and all snacked on everything while Laura opened gifts. 











My mom and her two sisters joined Laura for a little baby bump action :)



I loved cohosting this special day for my sister with her sister-in-law, and the best part was seeing how excited everyone is to welcome this sweet boy to our family!

Thursday

Two Sausage Appetizers For Sunday!

I love to eat (you know this) and I love menu planning for events. Sunday's big football game is getting me so excited to cheer on my beloved team and also eat my little heart out!

These days, as I'm watching my diet a little more closely, I've been making sure to combine any carbohydrates with ample protein. I had an opportunity to partner with Johnsonville to share a few recipes with you today that I will be making for Sunday, and all of these recipes will fit in with my adjusted diet and still be really delicious for everyone else!

The first one is a recipe that my aunt made for us a few years ago. It's been a staple for get-togethers in our family since! It's part salty, part sweet, and part citrusy-garlicy. YUM. 


Roasted Sweet Potato and Sausage Bites 
with Lemon Garlic Aioli

Ingredients:
Johnsonville Brats
Sweet potatoes
Mayonnaise
Garlic, minced
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and peel sweet potato and dice into cubes. Toss in a bowl with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper until evenly coated. Place on a foil-covered baking sheet and roast for approximately 15-20 minutes, flipping once or twice to ensure that all sides brown nicely. 

In a skillet, cook the whole brat a few minutes on each side until it's nicely browned. Remove from skillet and slice with a sharp serrated knife. Return to pan and cook thoroughly. Once cooked, drain on paper towels.

For the lemon garlic aioli, you will mix a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with lemon juice, a tablespoon of minced garlic, salt and pepper. There's no "wrong" way to make this, just sample it from time to time until it tastes great. 

Skewer together a roasted sweet potato cube with a slice of the Johnsonville brat and serve with the lemon garlic aioli as a dipping sauce. Easy and unique!


Wait ... something seems to be missing from the photo above. 


THERE. That's much, much better. ;)

But truly, these are such an easy appetizer and great for a pick-up and go snack. 


Next up on our menu is the classic gameday appetizer -- sausage balls!


Sausage Balls

Ingredients:
1 package Johnsonville Ground Sausage
4 cups grated sharp cheddar (two bags)
3 cups Bisquick

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well with fingers until all ingredients are combined. Form into tight 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet coated in nonstick spray. Bake 18-20 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. They are also great for breakfast straight out of the fridge ;-)


Thank you so very much to Johnsonville for allowing me to share two of our gameday recipes with you today. You can follow them on Instagram as well for some delicious recipe inspiration (jvillesausage)!

GO PANTHERS!

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