Showered by the people I love, with love

I am feeling so pleasantly overwhelmed by the love, kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity that has recently been bestowed upon me by my friends, family, and co-workers. My sister coordinated a Baby Shower for me, and my co-workers surprised me this week with another shower. A little bit about each:

My co-workers lured me to a "company fun day" last week, which turned out to be a surprise Baby Shower. I usually schedule and organize such events, so it's pretty amazing that I didn't suspect anything! We had some delicious food, including bruschetta, black bean quesadillas, chicken with a thai peanut sauce, cajun shrimp, and an amazing cake. This cake was three thin layers of chocolate cake, with raspberry preserves in between, frosted with a buttercream/raspberry puree frosting. It was a beautful, rich, and delicious cake! I donned a pre-pregnancy 2-piece tankini-style suit and stayed cool & weightless in the water.
We all sat outside by the pool in the sun, enjoying strawberry daiquiries (mine was virgin), food, and each other's company. How lucky am I that the entire company is so excited for me and Dan, so anxious to meet our baby, and so supportive?

My sister headed up a team of women to plan a fancy, yet perfectly simple shower for me two weeks ago. She recruited my friends Deborah, Kate, and Bonnie to manage decorations (a garland of photos of Dan & me as children, tea-party aprons for all to wear, amazing bouquets of flowers) and favors (individually packaged strawberry plants). She worked with our sister-in-law, Chefanie Stephanie to develop a menu (fruit kabobs with lemon curd, mini-cheesecakes, quiche, salad. My mother made truffles and chocolate-dipped strawberries. My mother-in-law hosted the shower in her big, sunny living room, with china and linens. My sister-in-law Jamie created a cake that looked like a bassinet.



And, my friends from All Over showed up for this event. From Virginia and Vermont, DC, Cape Cod, Rhode Island...truly, from All Over. I realized how many truly wonderful, amazing, funny, smart and caring women I have in my life, and I feel so blessed! I know the baby shower tradition in the US puts a lot of focus on gifts and games, but I really think the most important aspect for me was creating a true feeling of connectedness with other women. That feeling has struck me since the beginning of this pregnancy - that I'm sharing in something women have been "doing" for years, decades, centuries...since the beginning of humanity. And, what a powerful feeling that is. To have the opportunity to bring that down to a personal level, and know how connected I am to the women in my life, in my world, in my experience is something that will (I imagine) help me through the rest of this pregnancy and through labor.