An Honestly Beautiful Baby Shower

No, we did not coordinate our outfits.

Last Sunday I threw a baby shower for one of my dearest friends.  Maya and I were roommates in New York, and we've weathered many of life's ups and downs over the years.  It should clue you in that we are kindred spirits considering we decided to move in together while enjoying our third round of martinis in the VIP section of Spy Bar.  We've come a long way since then - she's a lawyer turned news anchor, we're both happily married, and she will soon be the Momma of a little boy - but we're still as close as ever.  Maya lives in Sydney, Australia now, so we only get to see each other once a year, but we always make it count.  When I heard she was expecting a little dude, I was super excited to throw her a baby shower.  I had dreams of throwing a Pinterest-worthy shindig at our house, but since I'm trying to be realistic about how much I can handle while also parenting a small, very active child, I opted to host a tea at The Peninsula instead.  Friends, I am so glad that I did not try to throw the shower at my home.  By the time it was all said and done, the cost was pretty much the same as if I'd had it catered, and I didn't have to clean anything up once the guests went home.  Everyone had a great time, and it made me so happy to celebrate Maya's baby boy.

Aren't the floral arrangements gorgeous?!  They are tightly-packed bouquets of carnations.  I had nothing to do with them - it was all The Peninsula's doing - but it totally looks like I planned the whole color scheme.  The coral looked so beautiful with all the different blues in the favor bags and the place cards.

I ordered a printable place card template from Etsy and then input all the guests names.  The template was only three dollars, and I will totally use it again, so that was definitely money well spent.

I printed a bunch of photographs of Maya and her Husband as little kids, and a few of the two of them as adults, and then I used tiny blue clothespins and clipped all the pictures to a long length of blue and white striped ribbon.  I topped off the photo collection with a 3D ultrasound of Maya's babe.  All the guests enjoyed seeing the photographs and laughing about the awkward 1980's hairstyles.

The Honest Company generously donated the favors for the shower, which was seriously amazing.  I absolutely love their products, and I was so excited to share two of my favorite goodies with the shower guests.  Inside each of the favor bags was a travel size hand sanitizer spray (a necessity when you are a parent) and a full size of their Face and Body Lotion.  Friends, if you have not tried The Honest Company products, I urge you to do so immediately.  You can order yourself a free sample pack of the items that interest you and then get signed up for a monthly delivery.  I have not been disappointed by anything of theirs that I've tried.  I'm especially partial to the sunscreen as it doesn't have any ingredients that are toxic for little ones.  I use it for Noah every day in the summer, but I also use it on myself and the Hubby!

The polkadot gift bags were from Vine American Party.  I loved that they were appropriate for a shower, but not babyish.  I hate babyish stuff.  Seriously, no baby animals, please. 

Maya is having three baby showers - one in Los Angeles, one in New York, and one in Sydney - so all of the hostesses got together to create a box of wishes for Maya and baby.  It will be a fun surprise for her after the last shower when she gets presented with all the well-wishes from her friends and loved ones across the globe.

A great time was had by all.  In fact, they asked us to leave because they had another reservation for our table.  Hey, at least we weren't thrown out for public intoxication and drug use like in the old days.

Winter Weekend Wonderland

Christmas in Hollywood, circa 1962

Happy Friday, my lovelies!  We have a busy weekend full of one year old birthday parties (dear God, please let them have booze) and Christmas tree shopping.  Yes, we are the kind of Jews who celebrate Christmas, and it's totally okay if that makes you uncomfortable.  I'm planning to make the most of my returning health by running myself ragged, so hopefully my flu doesn't make an unwelcome encore performance.  What do you have planned for this beautiful winter weekend?

Here are a few things that peaked my interest this week:

Los Angeles at Christmas time feels like a real Scrooge compared to New York, but here are some fun holiday-themed events around the Southland.

Chocolate Coconut Pie is going to be happening in my kitchen.

Tips for throwing a themed party (I'm taking notes, since I'm planning Noah's first)

It wouldn't be the holiday season without a viewing of the Last Christmas video.

The House of Cards season two trailer.  Cannot wait!

How to rock "Radiant Orchid", the color of the year.

Let's have a persimmon margarita party!

The best design books, perfect for all the chic people on your Christmas list.

I may just get crafty and make some gold animal straws for Noah's birthday party.

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

One Sick Mother

I'm over at Laughing My Vag Off today with a piece about the special kind of hell it is to be sick when one has a child.  It's not pretty, folks, and I lay it all out for you.  Here's hoping that you're all in perfect health and that you survive the holidays without catching anything.

xoxo

Motherhood FAIL of the Week: Baby, it's Cold Inside

I'm baaaaaaack!  I am finally on the mend and aside from a persistent cough, I look and sound much more like my old self.  I'm proud to report that the first thing I did after emerging from my sick bed was to make a HUGE batch of latkes, so I'm pretty sure that I win the Jewess of the Year award.  I can't tell you how happy I am to be back in the land of the living, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my health than to regale you with a fresh tale of my Motherhood shortcomings.  It's been a few weeks since I confessed to one of my failures (what with the whole Holiday Gift Guide and all) so I'm sure you're waiting with baited breath to either feel superior or possibly call Child Protective Services.  Here's hoping it's the former.

We're finally getting some cooler weather here in the City of Angels.  Apparently the temperatures have been downright frigid, as I've seen a number of folks walking around wearing down jackets, knit caps and gloves in the middle of the afternoon.  I don't personally find a high of 60 degrees to warrant heavy-duty winter wear, but I'm not a native Angeleno, so I guess my blood is thicker.  I will admit that it does get a bit chilly at night, and since we live in an old duplex that doesn't seem to have insulation or windows from the current century, it gets pretty cold in our house.  We have central heat, but the lack of insulation and the wind-tunnel windows pretty much negate the intermittent hot air that blasts out of the vents.  Unfortunately, the Muffin Man's room is the coldest in the house.  I'm not particularly sure why, but I have a feeling it's the specific confluence of there being three windows and a heating vent tucked into the corner of the room, but whatever the case his room often feels like an igloo.  I always dress him for bed in a fleece onesie with socks and an undershirt underneath, but in the morning my kiddo's little hands are like ice cubes.

Last week we had some lovely warm weather during the afternoon, so I opened two of the windows in Noah's room to get some fresh air.  I have to say that one of the things I really do love about living in Los Angeles is that I can have the windows open during the winter.  I detest stale, over-heated air, and I used to run around my New York apartments opening and closing windows in the dead of winter trying to get some "fresh" air while attempting not to freeze to death.  Anyway, I guess the weather was warm enough last week that I left the windows open behind the blackout shades while Noah napped.  Apparently I did not put up the shades after he woke up from his nap, and I didn't bother to check to see that the windows were closed before I put the kiddo to bed that night, because it turns out that I left his windows open all night long, allowing cold air to rush through his room with abandon.  Thank goodness that we do, in fact, live in a temperate climate, because if I had succeeded in convincing the Hubby to relocate to the East Coast I would have had a child-icicle on my hands.  I mean, honestly, what kind of Mother doesn't check to make sure the windows are closed in the nursery before putting her son to bed?!  This kind, apparently.  Amazingly, Noah slept through the night without incident, and so far he hasn't come down with any sort of cold, so I guess he wasn't harmed in any way (other than psychologically).

When I discovered the following morning that I had left the windows open all night, I was appropriately horrified.  You'll be happy to know that I now make it a point to always check to make sure the windows are closed before putting the Muffin Man to bed, and we now have a lovely space heater that keeps his room toasty warm all night long (before you comment or send me hate mail about the dangers of this please know that it is a ceramic heater that shuts off at a specific temperature and it's not near any curtains and blah, blah, blah).  Now if only I could find some sort of "Bad Mother" gadget with an alarm that goes off whenever I'm in danger of making a terrible mothering mistake, we'd really be in business.

Monday Flues

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and that no one got injured during a Black Friday stampede.  I'm currently down with the flu, so I'm afraid the exciting blog post I had planned for today about the fabulous baby shower I threw is just going to have to wait until I am no longer coughing up a lung and I don't sound like a man who has been smoking two packs a day for the last 30 years.  Anyway, I promise some thrilling posts when I'm back in action, but right now I'm going back to bed.

And just in case you were wondering... no, I did not get a flu shot.  I don't particularly hold with them, seeing as I'm a dirty hippie and all, but now that I've had the experience of sickness coupled with caring for a child, I just may change my tune.

xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel like I just keep wishing you a happy something this week, but nonetheless, I hope you have a beautiful holiday filled with good friends and loving family.  May your turkey be moist, the pies sweet, and good wine be flowing freely.

I have so much to be thankful for this year, but mostly I'm thankful for my healthy little boy and my prescription for Xanax.  What about you?

xoxo

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah my Lovelies!  I love the Festival of Lights, mostly because it gives me an excuse to eat fried foods for eight days straight without feeling guilty, but also because the story of the miracle of the oil is inspiring.  I had planned to make latkes tonight, but I'm down with the flu, so I have a feeling we'll be getting take out from Greenblatt's instead.  I promise not to let my illness keep me from posting cute photos of the Muffin Man in his "My First Hanukkah" bib, so be sure and check out my Instagram once the sun goes down.

Do you prefer your latkes with applesauce or sour cream (or both)?

My favorite no-fail gluten free rugelach recipe.

The Maccabeats are like the Chosen People version of Pitch Perfect.

Here's my favorite Hanukkah video to get you in the holiday spirit (NSFW or children or the easily offended).

Have a wonderful night and don't eat too many sufganiyot!

xoxo