Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Hello there!

Seeing as my CPR (residency permit) is still not done and I am past my 7th month of pregnancy, I am doing anything to keep my mind off of the stress that this situation caused. I do not want to really get into it because I am trying my hardest to keep my state of mind positive for my little jellybean. 

So what have I been doing? Planning the baby shower! I have become obsessed with DIY (do it yourself) projects. I have always felt that gifts are so much better when the person has put some thought and effort behind them. When done right, DIYs make the most adorable, thoughtful gifts anyone can receive. I think now that I am getting ready to be a mommy, I am more into these things than I have ever been. 

So the baby shower. I thought I would keep it low key and budget friendly. Let's face it, a baby is on the way, one shouldn't be spending lots of money on a party. I thought a BBQ/Braai at home with close family and friends was the best option. However, I do want it to be both memorable for Indiana and I but also our guests. So when planning a party you need the check list. Mine is as follows:

1. Food/Beverage

2. Party Decorations

3. Party Favors

4. Games/Activities

5. Invites

6. Thank You Cards

So far, I am just in the planning stage because the party wont be for a while. I browsed online and found the cutest, FREE, baby shower invites that you can save on your computer and print them out. Seeing as life is busy for most people and some of the people I would like to invite are not in Bahrain, I will be sending out E-invites. This saves money and caters to our new social media oriented world we live in. So I made the cutest little, pink, invite to send out to everyone and have it saved on my desktop ready to send out once the date of the shower is set. Line item number number 5 is checked off! YAY!

I will do the same for the thank you cards. Need to do some more online hunting for the thank you card I like the most. 

For food, we will go to the fruit/veggie and meat market for the main food in order to save on costs. The market in Manama, close to the souk, has the freshest meat and veggies ever! The variety is also better than every grocery store I have been to. Then we will do the basic BBQ food. We will grill some steaks, lamb chops, and maybe some chicken. I thought it would also be great to grill some veggie kabobs. Then there will be salad, potato salad, dinner rolls, fruit and veggie snacks with dip, and some other things that I have not yet planned. 

As for the drinks! I took to Pinterest! This is by far my new favorite app for like everything! I found the cutest ideas for the beverages!! I love the idea of orange sherbet with some bubbly instead of the traditional mimosas. Another idea is to freeze orange juice into ice cubes and put those in bubbly! Then I found some amazing virgin, pink, cocktail ideas that are pregger friendly so I can enjoy as well! I also want the traditional pink lemonade and sweet tea in pitchers and serve everything in mason jars. Hopefully mason jars. I am having a bit of trouble finding mason jars so we might have to change that up a bit. 

Desert, my dear friend is sorting out for me because she bakes the most amazing cakes and cupcakes. She is also bad ass at cake decorations. 

My favorite brainstorm session so far has been the party favors. I want to find little metal tins that look like water pales. At the bottom of them will be pink confetti and on the outside will be stickers that say Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, That's what little girls are made of and then the date of the party. Inside I want to put things that represent sugar, spice and everything nice! So I want little baggies of sweet tea, homemade vanilla sugar body scrub and then other cute little things I have not yet planned. I will go to Anwar discount store for the bags and containers as well as party decorations. 

So far that is what I have planned. I will share pictures of the final product once they are under way. 

I now have to go tale my chicken out of the oven so I must sign out! 

Can't wait to tell you more!

xoxo