Here Comes The Shower ....

At yoga this morning, my instructor was talking about how there has been something off in the planets that has been very negative for the past five weeks. Supposedly, it ends tomorrow or the next day, and things will look up at that point. I don’t know how much of that I believe, but she makes a good point in the number of people who’ve gotten sick lately and just can’t shake it. And since it also affects mood… I think I’ll use this as the subconscious excuse for being so negative lately. How does that work for you?

I will say that my organizational skills have definitely been off for the last month plus. This post is a perfect example. Had I been on top of things, I would have gotten this out earlier in the week or last week. Of course, it just occurred to me today that I hadn’t posted it.

Tomorrow is the shower for the wedding I’m in. As MOH, I’m hosting it – not a shock. She’s a non-traditional bride in that she isn’t into the planning and all the girlie things.

I still don’t have my bridesmaid dress (navy satin with the sweetheart neckline and asymmetrical skirt). We’re lucky that the place she decided on was past their busy season when she finally decided on the color and material (did I mention, it’s satin?), so it only takes six weeks to make the dresses versus the usual ten. Otherwise, I might be wearing just my undergarments to the wedding!

She also doesn’t have her cake yet. Or the string quartet (her dad really wants it) for the ceremony. Or the decision on whether or not to convert to Judaism. Or her shoes. Or her dress tailored. Or the first dance music chosen. Or her playlist completed. Or favors decided on. Invitations went out a week and a half ago – to more than 300 people. To be honest, none of those things really matter – ok except for the Judaism one – but they’ll come together in the end. They’re just examples of how she’s atypical.

She also doesn’t want her shower to include any of the normal shower things. We’ve been prohibited from the fun games. None of the usual activities. No lingerie allowed. She’s allowing the traditional bow bouquet only because another bridesmaid and I insisted that the 8 year old who’s coming to the shower would looooove to be in charge of that.

Sounds like a fun shower, doesn’t it?

I live out in the suburbs, and my friend (and several of her friends) live in the city. I’d host at my house, but that’s far for the majority of invitees to come. My friend doesn’t host things at her house, so that’s out. I finally found a location that I’m hoping will work out. Has anyone ever heard of WineStyles? They’re a new franchise around here, but I know people who have been there for other events, and they’ve loved it.

Essentially, we get to have a wine tasting for our little group. They’ll even pour grape juice for the eight year old (the other bridesmaid’s daughter). The store puts together tasting notes for the five wines they’re opening for us, along with a scorecard for us to keep track of what we do and don’t like about each wine. We decided to do a bottle of dessert wine as a favor that the store will wrap up beautifully for us, which fits perfectly with the “theme.” Did I mention that my friend is also anti-theme and her future MIL is a complete theme person?

We’re bringing in our own munchies, so of course we’ve gone overboard with the present-shaped cake, tray of cheeses, olives, hummus, pitas, veggies, nuts, chocolate fountain, fruit, pound cake, etc. And yes, I did say chocolate fountain. That was one of my Christmas presents this year from my husband, but oddly I haven’t found occasion to use it yet. That actually may be the highlight for me. I love playing with new cooking tools and gadgets.

We will open presents, obviously, in addition to the wine tasting. But I’m somewhat afraid that it will be boring or awkward, as many of the nine guests don’t know each other. I’m still debating whether or not to do nametags. It’s a small enough group that I think we may not need to. But should we try to do anything else? Maybe invent some kind of game for the wines – e.g., who can taste the most notes of each wine that match the tasting cards for another small prize (chocolate?) or who can come closest in guessing the price of the wine being drunk or?...

I have my fingers crossed that it will be fun, but … help!