Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas or soon-to-be mamas out there! I am getting past the weddingweddingwedding stage in life, and starting to hit the babybabybaby stage with friends. In Vegas there was a lot of talk about kids. This weekend I was surrounded by baby news. I’m celebrating a friend’s baby shower and received exciting news from other close friends that they’re expecting! I’m having fun celebrating this big life moment with all of my girlfriends who’ve hit it already. In fact, earlier this year I threw one close friend a fun baby shower in Chicago and wanted to share some baby shower decorations and a recap.

You might recognize the mom-to-be if you’ve followed me for a while. Keep reading to see who it was!

The mom, in the blue dress, is Amanda – my former blog partner when we wrote at 2 Girls in 2 Cities! We’ve been friends (and at times roommates) since college, and kept in touch long distance through our blog while she lived in Washington, D.C. I was so excited when she decided to move to Chicago with her boyfriend! They got engaged and I was lucky to be in her wedding party last November. You know what they say, “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes…” Well it was no surprise when Amanda announced she was pregnant. She’s wanted a large family since I’ve known her. The time leading up to her giving birth was certainly exciting and a time to celebrate! So I turned to our favorite nail salon and handmade cosmetics store, Mojo Spa, to honor Amanda and her impending little one.

Mojo is the perfect place to host a party because it’s a very accommodating. Not only is it easy to walk around and browse or have several nail appointments going at once, they also have a lounge area for party setup. The staff was super helpful in finding decor that I needed and keeping our perishables refrigerated.

Baby Shower Decorations – Pinspiration

When I started planning Amanda’s baby shower, I had to turn to Pinterest. I had never thrown a baby shower before and had only been to one other recently (that Amanda’s mom had thrown for her). Once I opened Pandora’s box of baby shower decorations, it was hard to choose! I selected one idea of gifting the mom baby books because Amanda and I love reading and often recommend books to each other. (Amanda’s baby is now six months old and he loves reading, too!) To personalize the books, I bought faux-library checkout slips and holders so people could write notes on them and stick them on the inside cover.

I purchased a lot of the decor using Amazon Prime. I’m obsessed with blowup number and letter balloons so got the word “BABY.” I sabotaged myself with the “B” in this set. I poked a hole in it by accidentally trying to use the straw to blow it up! Can you tell it was deflated? haha

The baby shower took place in the fall, so I added seasonal touches that also corresponded with Baby B’s sex (boy).

I just had to have champagne as the party favor. It’s Amanda’s and my favorite. She couldn’t drink it at the time of course, but I made sure there was an extra bottle for her to save to pop after Baby B was born.

One of my favorite parts about Mojo Spa is their nail techs who do amazing nail art. I’m still obsessed with these evil eyes!

The best part about the baby shower was something I didn’t even plan. It fell on the weekend after Amanda’s last day at work, and unknowingly was just the pick me up she needed. After the party, when we were going home with our props and leftovers, she confided that the finality of leaving her job had made a bigger impact on her than she’d expected. Having a girls night out in the city was just what the doctor ordered. And I had a great time, too! I loved the way the baby shower decorations turned out and I’ll never say no to a great mani.

Hope all you moms have great memories of your own baby-to-be celebrations!