A Baseball Themed Baby Shower

Where was I last Sunday?

At a very fun baseball themed baby shower at the Terra Events Gallery in San Francisco hosted by Dream a Little Dream Events for our friends Michelle and Francisco who are expecting their own little (future) baseball loving fan.

The flowers were by Asiel Design and the rentals by Hartmann Studios

I'd never been to Terra before. There is an upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs is larger and runs pretty much the length of the building. The downstairs is scaled back into smaller areas.
We were in the downstairs which was is a really nice size with warmly colored wood walls that kind of glow from all of the natural light flooding in through the windows on two sides of the room.

IMO this is the mark of a great even event planner. There was lemonade for a nice sweet drink, wine for the refined and spring water. Choices! I can't tell you how often I've felt left out in the past when the choices are only wine or soda. I'm a water girl, though I did partake in the lemonade that day because it was a celebration after all :)

Cake Coquette created the adorable baseball cupcakes in three flavors. So cute right? I tried the red velvet and it was delicious!

"♫" ♪" Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks... ♪ ♫"

And it's probably been over two decades since I've had Cracker Jacks. They tasted exactly the same as I last remembered them.

There were hot dogs served in this super cute hot dog and bun steamer.

Before I could even blog this photo I showed it to my friend Carl who is planning a party at his house... And he already went out and found one to rent for his party too. I don't know about you but I've always loved the softness of freshly steamed hot dog buns.

That was my carpool buddy that day, photographer Orbie Pullen. It was fun having someone to talk to on the way up to the city because it's an hour long drive each way and I almost always make the drive alone.

There was a nacho bar. I must confess I don't think I've ever had nachos like this before. I've always leaned towards the more gourmet type of nachos. But I tried the spicy Velveeta cheese and I really liked it!

The giant windows on the west wall were like a giant light box making it really fun to take pictures in the room.

There was also big tubs of popcorn!

I love popcorn. What could make it better?

Velveeta spicy cheese! It tasted amazing. It could qualify for our next funky foods dinner!

Yup, I poured the spicy Velveeta over the popcorn to make cheese corn. It was awesome. It was actually created by a friend's daughter who generously put some popcorn on my nachos earlier... But then I had two more plates of just popcorn and cheese.

Pssssst: Don't tell Jamie Oliver. We were all pretty sure he would not approve :)

There were two candy buffet stations.

I passed on the Gummy Pop Corn but had a few pieces of red licorice. It's always been one of my favorite candies.

There was even a DJ playing music videos from the 80's on the screen to the left! Ha! Thanks to DJ Ruben Palma of BFL Productions, It was great. There was George Michael Faith, B52's Love Shack, Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Journey Don't Stop Believing, you get the idea. The music and videos were an absolute blast!

This photo by Orbie Pullen

And that's Michelle opening part of my gift. I think reading to kids is so important and I knew she liked sushi so baby's First Book of Sushi couldn't have been more perfect. It's one of those board books that have the thick, waterproofed pages so it's ok if your baby gnaws on the corners or drools on it a bit. It's really cute with fun little verses to read aloud:

"I'll take yellowtail hamachi

and a red maguro slice.

Big, BIG futomaki

has so many grains of rice!"

So here's the thing, when I give gifts I like to find them at small, independent businesses rather than use the registries at the big box stores. I always hope that people won't mind that I go a little rogue off the registry but it's important to me to support local and independent companies whenever possible.

The Boombino newborn mittens are made with no pesticides, dyes or scratchy tags and the washcloths are, I think, the softest ever. They were from Pedagoggy Toys in Vancouver, Canada.

And the Baby House Socks were from Ayla Boutique in downtown Campbell, CA. They are  so cute and with their anti-skid bottoms will be practical once baby Julian is up and running.

Cards de Luxe created the cute signs and tags.

Congrats to Michelle and Francisco and thank you to Kathryn Kalabokes for designing and hosting this very fun shower.