Showered with Love!

Saturday, August 20th, two of my friends Kate and Sarah, threw me an amazing baby shower for baby girl #2! I invited a lot of my "mommy" friends and it was such a fun day. Everything was decorated in a shabby chic style, and guests enjoyed a lovely brunch complete with heart shaped biscuits, chocolate croissants (my fav!), artichoke strata, mimosas and bellinis. It was fabulous!

adorable candy table with yummy striped marshmallows, purple jelly beans and a cute piggy bank that guests got to deposit well wishes into!

Violets!

Staci Russell

from left top, me, Shiva Miller, Staci Russell, Cherise Beard,  Sarah Mann and Kate McNamara

me and Leah

my preggie mommy friends Kate and Shiva!

my lovely hosts, Kate and Sarah

purple jelly bean favors!

Later that day I went to my another baby shower for my friends' Courtney and Beto. This is the first baby and they are keeping the gender a surprise! How Fun! They had sooo much yummy food and it was really fun. This was at the Rose Garden. So beautiful. xo

Expecting parents! Courtney and Beto

Penelope had so much fun playing with the other little girls

Quack, quack!

On August 4th James, Penelope and I flew to Seattle to see my friends Christy and Andrew. Christy is one of my oldest friends. I met her in grade school back in Louisiana. She is a true little Cajun girl. We started hanging out when I was in the third grade I think. Growing up our moms were best friends as well. So I feel like no friend knows my family better than Christy. Its so fun hanging out with her and her sis because we spend all our time reminiscing about the past, laughing at our families and inquiring about what our old friends are up to now. Christy and her husband Andrew are expecting their first baby in December. I am so excited for them because I know they will be such great parents. They were so great with Penelope too! I used to watch how Christy interacted with her little cousins growing up. She was the fun older cousin that they all looked up to. From way back then I knew her kids were going to be so lucky to have her as a mom. Here are some pics from our fabulous weekend with them. Enjoy! 

I stayed up till 1:30am the night before our flight trying to finish this baby blanket. They are expecting a boy.
His name will be Jackson Brave Bauman. The blanket is made out of that super soft minky material. I made it extra thick too by putting a layer of quilting batting inside. The only thing I was disappointed with was how my corners turned out, but this was my first attempt. So practice makes perfect right? :)

A wedding taking place near Pikes Market.

I love the energy of downtown.

Andrew and Christy were so great with Penelope. 

Most people know I have a slight obsession with chocolate croissants.
I love the ones from La Panier near Pikes Market. They make an excellent latte too. 

Christy and Pen hanging outside the original Starbucks.

                                                        

We had lunch at Cafe Champagne.
Here is Pen stuffing her face.

Later that night Christy's little sis, Bonnie, made us a legitimate Cajun shrimp boil. YUM!

The two sisters jamming out in the kitchen.

Shrimp boil consists of peel and eat shrimp  and potatoes and corn that have been infused with the flavors of shrimp and Cajun Spices. We dip the shrimp in a mixture of mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup. Extreme cajun here.

Bonnie Ann, Christy's "lil" sis. She was on the cheerleading team with me in High School. So adorable.

Saturday morning we started our day at this adorable coffee shop some of their friends own.
This place had a great kids area complete with sanitizing wipes, tons of toys, a kids table, books etc.
Penelope loved it.

Next we visited the EMP museum. So cool.

checking out the avatar exhibit

We absolutely loved the instrument labs upstairs.

There were these cool sound proof rooms where you could pick what you want to do (percussion, voice, jam session etc.)
We had several "jam sessions" which were very fun. Christy, Bonnie and I grew up singing in church. In fact, Christy and I were part of a "trio"- oh yeah. Big time. LOL
It was fun to relive some of that.

Here we are jamming out something crazy stupid. It seems especially weird since theres no music on the video (it only played in our headphones). Penelope was just staring at me like, "what the heck?!"

jammin out preggo style

after that we rode the "ducks"- this is like the Landshark here in SB only on steroids
an absolute fabulous tour.

our tour guide was hilarious

another wedding

gas works park- this place is gorgeous

on sunday Christy took us to the market in Fremont
This is a great little farmers market, but what's also cool is that they have an antique section as well.
I didn't get a chance to browse as much as I would have liked because Penelope was so super hyper here.
she was running all over the place grabbing everything and trying to get behind the booth stands where the vendors hang out.
Crazy!

James enjoying a local soda- I think this one was a pomegranate flavor

after the market we hung out with Sarah's sister Kristen at GasWorks Park

this was an old gas plant the city decided to leave up
its the only plant of its kind left
its considered a piece of art and is striking against the rolling hills and water
It has been featured in several movies including "Ten Things I Hate About You" with Heath Ledger

Penelope in her Stella McCartney outfit!
It even has "wings" that attach to her wrists but of course she wouldn't have that!

blanket in nursery shot :)

for our last night in Seattle we celebrated over at Ivars on the water in Seattle
Here's a shot of the pregnant bellies!

yes another birthday celebration! LOL

and last but not least Christy could not let us leave without some proper Seattle coffee
she took us to Stumptown Coffee on Capitol hill on our way to the airport

Christy and Andrew, thank you so much for such a great weekend. You guys were excellent hosts but the best part was just getting to spend some quality time with you. We love you guys so much and hope everything goes well with the new baby. Congrats!