One of my best friends had a baby not that long ago. She’s in New York, and there’s a "sip & see" for her this Saturday. The closest I’ll get… is there in spirit.

Another of my closest friends is pregnant, with a New York baby shower mid-May. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it.

Instead of wallowing, I’ll be toasting… And I’ll be hosting. A much newer friend is pregnant, here in Texas, with a baby boy. Perfect. I offered to host a baby shower because I love to entertain, love bringing people together, and mostly because I want the parents-to-be to feel special and know they’re loved. And now, the (self-inflicted) pressure is on to throw the most darling French Country Baby Shower (she was born and raised in France). There will be no "taste-test your way through which melted candy bar is in the seat of this diaper," game. It’s a coed shower, at 2pm (so it’s not a brunch), and really, that game sounds foul given any number of circumstances. Mixed company or not, it’s usually all about the pitcher cocktails, table settings, and tea sandwiches. At the last baby shower I attended, there was an empty scrapbook, where each guest created a page (where the new parents would insert photos once they had them)… I naturally loved this, as it gave people something to do as the mother-to-be opened her gifts. I also loved the mix-CD of bedtime lullabies (one we still use today when the sprouts go down for a siesta).

In particular, I am loving the idea I found on Martha Stewart’s site, where guests leave with a white bar of chocolate and a recipe on how to melt it… as if one wouldn’t do so on her dashboard here in Texas.

So please, I welcome any ideas, any centerpieces, any unique tea sandwich combinations, any parting favor ideas, or games (kinda lame, no?) you’ve got. Here are some I’ve found so far. I’m sure whatever I do toile de jouy will be involved. We have a long sunken dining room with a 10′ 3" dining room table (I think a runner is in order). I’m also all about the small touches: the Tiffany blue satin ribbon tied around the stem of each (plastic) champagne flute. Is that bad? We’re expecting about 40 people, and I don’t–if you can believe it–own 40 champagne flutes and am not about to rent silverware, stemware, or any other ware. Sturdy paper plates are in order.

A YEAR AGO: Seeping With the Enemy
3 YEARS AGO: Leaving on a Jet Plane
4 YEARS AGO: Jimmy Olsen’s Blues