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Leah’s Sarasota Baby Shower

February 2, 2015 by Julie 67 Comments

Late Friday morning, I caught a plane to Sarasota, Florida for a weekend with some of my best friends from college. We all came in town to celebrate our beautiful friend Leah’s baby shower!

baby shower

(Dress info for those who asked via Instagram: On me – Trina Turk Morena dress via RueLaLa; On Leah – Maeve Lene dress via Anthropologie)

Oh Baby Baby Shower Wreath

The shower was hosted by our good friends Laurel and Merri and took place at Merri’s dad and his wife’s house. The weather was absolutely perfect for an indoor/outdoor shower so we were able to enjoy the lovely sunshine in the backyard throughout the afternoon!

Baby Shower Dresses

Baby’s breath for a baby shower… 

baby's breath flowers for baby shower

Placed in vases decorated by Laurel!

homemade baby shower diaper cake

Remember that craft project I said I had to work on last week? It was for a mini book garland for Leah’s baby shower!

book garland

I stamped little blank white tags with “It’s A Boy” or baby feet stamps and alternated them with mini homemade blue and gray books that I made simply by cutting up cardstock and old book pages.

baby shower garland supplies

baby shower garland

baby shower book banner

(You can see a great little tutorial for a garland very similar to this one on Martha Stewart’s website.)

My early arrival on Friday meant I was able to help Merri with some last-minute baby shower-related to-dos, including grocery shopping for the party food and brainstorming toppings for the grilled cheese bar which was quite easy to do thanks to your delicious suggestions on Twitter. Thanks so much for weighing in!

Grilled cheese bar

The grilled cheese bar was a huge hit among guests and also a super simple way to feed a large group of people. Everyone had fun creating their own sandwiches and playing with the tasty additions. I made a sandwich with Havarti cheese, caramelized onions and pear slices and it was heavenly.

Everyone sipped on drinks made with champagne (or sparking water for the mama-to-be) and a splash of various kinds of Italian soda.

Baby shower drinks

The blood orange and grapefruit were my favorites!

Guests were encouraged to bring a book in lieu of a card and write a message to Leah’s baby boy on the inside.

baby shower book crate

baby shower books

I brought the children’s book Forever Young that included beautiful illustrations by Paul Rogers to the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s famous song, “Forever Young.” I thought it was such a neat find! And if you have a baby shower coming up for a mom-to-be with an rockin’ sense of humor, I highly recommend this book that our friend Kaitlyn brought that had all of us cracking up. (<— Bad language – be warned!)

Perhaps the most special book that made it into the crate was the handmade book. Our incredibly artistic friend Krystal created an alphabet book ahead of time and then guests were each in charge of decorating one page of the book for baby Theo!

Baby Shower Alphabet Book

alphabet book for baby shower

homemade alphabet book

I loved this idea and even though the cat I drew for the letter “C” looked more like a cat-bunny, it was a fun little project!

Once we were done decorating our alphabet book pages and eating our grilled cheese sandwiches, we headed outside to play some games!

baby shower games

Before the shower, we were all told to send Merri baby pictures of ourselves and then during the shower, we had to try to match the baby picture to each guest at the shower! It was way harder than I thought it would be and I’m pretty sure I lost.

At least I got one right…

baby picture

Baby Julie!

On the back of the baby pictures was a quote by Roald Dahl (one of my favorite childhood authors!) that served as a bookmark guests could take home with them.

baby shower bookmark

After games and dessert, it was time for Leah to open presents before some of the guests left and our group of girlfriends was left to hang out with the mama-to-be and soak up lots of quality time with each other for the rest of the weekend.

baby shower dessert

baby shower favors

(Baby Lips lip balm shower favors = So creative! Love it!)

Congratulations again to Leah and Ricky. Baby Theo is already so loved!

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I'd love to connect with you! I am always so grateful when you let me know you tried one of my recipes or workouts and tag me in your photos or updates. Thank you so much!!!

Filed Under: Sarasota, Travel Tagged With: baby shower, baby shower food, girls weekend, grilled cheese, grilled cheese bar, lunch, Sarasota

About Julie

My name is Julie and I am a full-time blogger, new mama, fitness enthusiast (certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor) and food fanatic (mostly healthy... but also not-so-healthy) living in North Carolina with my husband, dog and baby boy. Thank you for visiting Peanut Butter Fingers! I hope you enjoy little glimpses into my life and have fun trying the sweaty workouts I frequently share and making some of my favorite recipes along the way!

« Things I’m Loving Friday #70
Sarasota Weekend Highlights »

Comments

  1. Jenn@Mark My Miles says

    February 3, 2015 at 9:59 am

    Looks like a beautiful shower and weekend. I am in the middle of helping to plan my “sprinkler” since this is our second baby. Going to steal some of these ideas for sure : )

    Reply
  2. Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says

    February 3, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Beautiful shower! So lovely you could be outside this time of year – I guess that is a wonderful part about it being in Florida. Looks like you had a great weekend!

    Reply
  3. haley @Cupcakes and Sunshine says

    February 3, 2015 at 10:11 am

    that grilled cheese bar is genius!! What a sweet party! Congrats Leah!

    Reply
  4. Carolyn Selheim-Miller says

    February 3, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    This looks so fun! I love the champagne mixers in glass decanters – they look so nice! And the lip balm party favor is a really cute idea too!

    Reply
  5. Nicole says

    February 3, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Probably the most creative baby shower ideas I have ever seen! I can’t wait to use this in the future. And tell your friend she is a very talented artist, wow! i would have the worst page in there LOL

    Reply
  6. janetha says

    February 3, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    such an adorable shower!!

    Reply
  7. Janet Pole says

    February 4, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    I LOVE THAT BOOK … the one you bleeped out.
    The sequel? You Have to **** Eat is just as good.

    You should hear the version Samuel L. Jackson does on Youtube … hysterical laughing.

    Reply
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Hi! I’m Julie and I am a mom to three energetic boys and a personal trainer and blogger living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to my blog! Peanut Butter Fingers follows my life and my interests in food, fitness, family, travel and (mostly) healthy living.
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