countdown to baby...

Yesterday we had a baby shower for my aunt that was, dare I say, a success! It was your usual baby shower complete with food, cake, games, gift opening...but something about it felt different. Probably because it was for an immediate family member. Plus, I must give a giant shout out to my mom who organized pretty much everything (with help from Alex's sister-in-law). This was the first shower my mom has ever thrown and she did a fantastic job. Check out some pictures...

It was rush to decorate before the guests arrived.

My mom made the diaper cakes - amazing.

This was only a portion of the gifts - with the 32 guests there, Alex really received everything she needed :D

Favors - baby scented candles

One of my oldest friends made it out to the shower too :D Speaking of which, Tiffany wasn't able to make it to the shower - sucked BIG time. But on the flip side, she is officially living in NYC again. *thumbs up*

Grandma & Mom

One of the games was to have an ice cube in a cup...with a baby inside. Whoever's baby melted out of the ice cube first would win, and they would have to shout "My water broke!" Haha. My cousin Amanda won and the baby in the cup was a boy. A sign for Alex? We'll find out soon...(It's a surprise baby).

Trying to guess the gender? LOL

This was the diaper changing game. It was hilarious. We had 3 groups of six and whoever dressed the "baby" fastest won.

The "baby" we used. At one point, the tail was sticking out of the diaper. The visual had us all laughing our rear ends off.

Well...she does have to eat for two!

Love this! This was part of my sister's gift for Alex and even though the baby won't be Irish, it will grow up in a part Irish household :D

I took a picture of pretty much everything she got, which would be too much to post, so I wanted to just show the stuff I got her LOL

The bouncy thing...monkey themed of course!

Burt's Bees baby care stuff.

A boppy pillow + crib stuff.

This outfit I found while shopping at Century 21. It just so happened to be near the checkout and I grabbed it because the giraffe on the shirt reminded me of the one on the baby photo album I also got for her.

I found these @ KMart (a place I rarely ever go to) but it was right near the closest Babies R Us so I was like, why not take a look? Boy, am I glad!

My grandma (dad's mom) came to the shower too, even though Alex is from my mom's side but my grandma was always around when Alex was growing up (we are six years apart) and she was kind of like a grandma to Alex too. And let me tell you - my grandma gives the best cards. The envelopes are always adorned with the cutest stickers appropriate to the occasion.

One of the standouts of the shower was the guessing game - each guest had to fill out a brief survey of sorts. It consisted of the birthdate, gender, height, weight and time. Whoever's guesses are the closest wins a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure at a spa. Not a bad prize, huh? Each guest put their address at the bottom to make it easy to contact the winner. Nearly everyone put boy but I know I am hoping it's a girl. Either way, I can't wait!

When it comes to book signings, I love Q & A's. It's a great way to pick the writer's mind and to hear them talk about the book a little more in depth. I've only ever been to Jodi Picoult's book signings because I don't really have that many favorite authors. And Picoult tours every March! (Very excited for her new book). I also find that Barnes and Noble is a fan of the Q&A before a signing session and Borders just has the signing/pictures.

I mention this because it's something I realized today after attending Chris Jericho's book signing with Jonathan and Parker, all the way downtown on Wall Street. Besides being a great wrestler, he's hilarious! And he can write (that is, if it is him writing. It sure sounds like his voice).

I'm mad I didn't zoom in a bit before giving the employee my camera. Oh well!

Cupid's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there...and if you're not in a loving mood, hope you have a good day anyway ;-)

Speaking of this day and whatnot, I woke up to this....

Ok so the flowers I saw last night, hence the vase...but the chocolates were a real treat, especially because the box cover reminded me of Magic Kingdom. He knows how to torture me, huh? ;-)

Speaking of the flowers, this is a classic story of how it's hard to hide things when you live with someone. Last night, Jonathan and I both got back to Forest Hills around a similar time and as I was walking out of the station, I see him buying flowers at the nearby stand. Now, I figured right away it would be for his mother since he knew I would be arriving around the same time. I approached him, saying "hey!" and his eyes flew open in surprise. Before I had time to register what was going on, he pushes me saying "No no no! Get away!" I was hysterical! We had a good laugh later about it. Definitely one of the funnier moments of the new year.

Our plans for tonight are a surprise to me. I know it entails dinner but the location is a secret. He says he's never been to this place, which is a real mystery, since a place he hasn't dined at is rare LOL.

Yesterday I went to visit both grandparents to hand out plenty of XOXOs and chocolates, and also saw my parents: Mom surprised me with a Starbucks gift card and my dad purchased me a hoodie from Margaritaville. This is a first for Valentine's Day...I normally don't get anything (not that I expect anything!) but it was so nice...any excuse for Starbucks gift cards usually is! :D

SmackDown @ Nassau Coliseum

I'm a fan of live sporting events and wrestling is no exception. A bunch of us went to Nassau Coliseum on February 1st for a taping of SmackDown but we also sat through NXT and Superstars. I've really grown to appreciate pro wrestling for what it is and not just for John Morrison's abs, LOL. John and I both brought our cameras (we have the same one) including the 55-250mm lens (we both have that too) but the security guards turned us away, saying we couldn't bring those in. Apparently they've enforced a stricter photography rule. I was pissed, to say the least. That's the lens Jonathan bought me for my birthday and I was looking forward to using it for the first time, plus I knew I would get better photos that way of the wrestlers in action. Good thing both of us brought our point and shoots. John and I agreed...it wasn't the same :(

Daniel Bryan during NXT.

Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler confront Kelly Kelly.

Rey Mysterio...one of my favorites.

The ring is set up for the 2011 Royal Rumble winner, Alberto Del Rio.

Haha, love this. Jason looks like a little kid.

My final shot in the arena. The winners of that night's main event: Edge and Kelly Kelly against LayCool and Dolph Ziggler.

Chris actually watched the entire thing with the mask!

All in all, a fun night and a pleasant start to the month.

January recap

This month was one giant case of cabin fever. Mother Nature has been unleashing havoc all across the world and our punishment was snow...and LOTS of it. Today it was more like the entire city became an ice rink. Too bad I don't own a pair of skates. Would have been useful for the walk to the train station this morning!

The month started off with Dorothy's wedding on the 1st, which I blogged about. Great way to kick off the new year. We got a visit from this cutie that day too.

Family time is always a plus.

There was dinners with my goofball sister...

And as always, trips to Brooklyn.

You can tell how cold it is based on the window.

But as cold as it is, there is still beauty everywhere.

I got to hang out with this cutie.

Even though the poor monkey wasn't feeling too well :(

On another visit to Brooklyn, Stephen joined us. "Uncle Stephen! Uncle Stephen!" Johnny yelled when he came in,

He keeps all his train cars in there.

And of course, no Brooklyn visit is complete without a trip to Roll N Roaster!

On the 23rd, I went to the bridal shower for John's sister, Diana. I was seated with a group of the funniest ladies, including an almost 3 year old, who is really just the most hilarious little girl I've ever met! So there definitely was entertainment to go around (i.e they were joking they could have a stripper there in 20 minutes if they pooled all their money together! Even funnier because of their age.) Here are some pictures of this affair. The details were so thought out too.

Yes, this was seriously the cake!

How adorable is she! I feel like she's giving me attitude here. Gotta love her!

Soon to be Mr & Mrs with their mothers.

How to keep Johnny quiet...stick an iPod in front of him.

Those flowers in the background are actually pens!

We had a toilet paper bride contest. One woman represented each table. Ours was the redhead! Isn't her dress fabulous?

Our table had worked very hard on her.

Although she didn't win, she kept hers on long after everyone else tore theirs off!

The bridal party.

If this shower was a preview of the wedding, April 9th is certainly a date to look forward to! :)

We also celebrate two big birthdays this month: my mom's (the 14th) and my Oma's (the 19th).

My mom looks SO thrilled to be having a birthday, haha.

And Alex was looking huge!

For Oma's 69th birthday, we had another gathering. Alex was under the weather so she sat this one out but we had two cakes for Oma. Hey, it's her last year in the 60s!

Oma & Opa <3

All you have to do is stick scratch offs in her card and she's a happy camper!

Speaking of births, a big congratulations to my friends Matt & Christy on the birth of their daughter Alexandria! She was born on January 11 and Stephen, Joe, Jonathan and I went to visit them the following day.

She was a little peanut!

What a beauty.

Lots of great moments this month. Some documented, some not. February promises to be just as great.