Love Shower, Part 2

For those of you who were wondering about the title of this post, "Love" is my mother's last name...not a cheeky reference to the types of gifts I got at this shower. :) There was definitely a lot of love in the room though from my mom's family and my friends from high school, college, and beyond! Thanks to everyone for making this such a great day!
As I mentioned before, this was a "travel" themed shower. Each passenger...I mean...guest...received their invitation in the mail in the form of an airline ticket. I keep forgetting to bring my ticket over to scan, so I'll try to post a picture of it later. It was the cutest invitation I've ever seen!

Jenny put together a collage of pictures and set up a mileage pole for all of the places I've visited ...and one I will be visiting VERY soon! Look closely and you'll see St. Lucia!
This picture is Jenny trying to figure out which way is "north." I thought this was a pretty ingenious and creative way to use a music stand and a pool noodle in a bridal shower.Our friend, Betsy, misread the departure time on her ticket and showed up an hour early...so we put her to work! Betsy used her creative talents to decorate the house with balloons and airport signage.

Luckily, most people ignored the signs...

My mom made a special dish from every country I have visited! These two were my favorites...the Yorkshire pudding and the Akara from South Africa. It's ironic that my two favorite dishes came from a country that is definitely NOT known for its cuisine (I'm talking about you, England!) and another where it is customary to leave stew on the stove for three days straight.

Here is a spreadsheet of all the recipes in case anyone wants to try them at home!

Bridal Shower Menu
Food - Recipe	Website Link	Country
Smoked Ham Salad on Gruyere Potato Coins	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Smoked_Ham_Salad_on_Gruyere_Potato_Coins	Switzerland
Belgian Loaf	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Belgian_Loaf	Belgium
Canadian Bacon Appetizer	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Layered_Canadian_Bacon_Appetizer	Canada
Cheddar Ale Pub Spread	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Cheddar_Ale_Pub_Spread	Ireland
Apple Clafoutis	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Apple_or_Pear_Clafoutis_(an_Easy_French_Dessert)	France
Cheese plate	England, Ireland, Switzerland, France
Akara	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Akara	South Africa
Scottish Meatballs	http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Scottish_Meat_Balls	Scotland
Yorkshire Pudding	http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,137183-236204,00.html	England
Cupcakes	Sam's Club - wedding samplers	USA

We also previewed some cupcakes from Sam's club...we're thinking about getting these daisy-cakes for our cupcake tower for the wedding. They were yummy, but a little TOO flower power for me, so we're going to go with just white on the tower for the wedding.




After food, Jenny jumped into teacher mode and led us in a few games. We had varying levels of success on the game where you had to translate "I love you" into different languages...I was on the "not successful" level. :(
Then I opened gifts and tried to guess what area of the world each represented. This is Elissa's gift...the splatter screen, bacon cooker, oil and vinegar holders, sink scraper... all are used for cooking, creating, or removing....grease...or Greece. ;) In the background of the picture, you can see Betsy's "search and find" method of decorating...can you find the Scottish and Canadian flags?
Then, feeling (and looking!) like a rock star in my white movie star glasses and light up tiara, my friends and I went out to a fabulous tapas restaurant in Kalamazoo and enjoyed a girls' night out on the town. I won't be blogging about the rest of the night, but trust me, we were very good! :)I really do have the best friends! Thanks everyone for all you do for me!!