thank heaven for little girls.

Once all the craziness of Christmas had wrapped up, you would think there would be a moment to recover, BUT there was no rest for the weary this go around.

The very next day I had to race home, unpack my bag from Christmas and re-pack it for a little road trip down to my second home to attend two showers for my cousin Lianna and the soon-to-be-born Sophia Rose. Since she lives in Virginia these days, I was thrilled to be able to attend both of these showers because it meant I got to be a part of the celebration AND I got to spend time with one of my favorite girls.



Her sisters hosted her family shower on Sunday and I was able to lend my services in the form of baking, cooking and game-planning. The girls requested my baked spinach-artichoke dip and my strawberry cake mix cookies. Naturally, I was happy to oblige and delighted to contribute to the spread.




I was also delighted that Michelle was able to join along with her little Mere-bear. She (Dora that is) took a particular liking to my Aunt Linda and I believe she fancied my fousins as well. And what's a family get together without copious amounts of pictures?







The shower included lots of eating, mingling, gifts and games. There was the traditional "guess how big the baby bump is" along with a hybrid version of Scattergories. Obviously, you cannot get us together without incorporating some sort of game. It is the fousin way.







The rest of the day was spent lounging around, sipping wine, playing games and watching movies...all my favorite activities!

The next day it was time for yet another shower. On a side note, I should probably be keeping a running tally of all the showers I attend. It's probably grown to a fairly sizable number. But that's neither here nor there. What WAS here and there was a delightful champagne punch being mixed by the lovely Elisa.




There was also a glorious food spread right out of the pages of Gourmet Magazine. Check out the presentation with the whole crab right there on the plate. Gorgeous.



Once we successfully devoured the savory eats, it was time for the mommy-to-be to survey her loot, soak up words of advice from the shower attendees and fall victim to a game involving baby products and a blindfold. She took it all in stride and never lost her expectant glow.




The remainder of my stay in Austin involved more games (Scattergories, Scrabble, Spades and other incredibly random card games), vino, movies, bread baking and all around good times with my dearest fousins (and aunt, uncle, Mimi and cousin-in-law of course).




Stay tuned for my New Years post. I may get caught up to the present some day...