monkeyin' around...a baby shower

Well, I rowsed myself from my sickbed (no one ever accused me of not being dramatic) in order to do some quick decorations for my friend Sarah's baby shower. She's expecting a boy in a couple of weeks, and a few of us girlfriends celebrated Saturday evening with a little baby shower. It's her third baby, but we believe that every baby is worth celebrating (not to mention it's an excuse for a party and presents!)...no matter if they're the first or the fifth babe in the family!

So, I threw together a monkey theme that was loosely inspired by Curious George. One would have expected me to decorate with bananas instead of lemons and limes. Actually, even I would have expected that! But I was at Costco, and the prices were reasonable for these huge bags of lemons and limes, and they were the colors I wanted, so I went for it.

The centerpiece was a large vase/hurricane filled with lemons and limes. You can't see much of it in this photo, but they are sitting on top of a folder from Target that had my colors and a monkey on it - and it was on clearance - so I used it. :-) Then, I used three small drinking glasses which I filled with some azalea branches from my friend's yard, and one lemon in each (on toothpics to keep them from sinking into the glass too far). I added some cute little stuffed monkeys (after wrenching them out of my children's hands - sorry guys!) and a few votives for good measure.
In the car on the way to the party, I decided I would just unfold the paper napkins and use them as placemats (can you tell this was much more last-minute than I normally operate?). I layered the plates over a second napkin - this one's actually meant to be used as a napkin - and threw the favor on top. They're individually wrapped biscotti, tied simply with some cute ribbon I already had that sort of matched.

All in all, it was simple, sweet and fun. It just so happens that Sarah's two kids already love monkeys (as do mine) so she could fully appreciate the theme. And she got to take home one of the stuffed monkeys from the centerpiece for her third monkey on the way.

Thanks for your sweet inquiries about my health. I am finally (after 8 days) feeling much better, although still stuffy and tired. I am a very sharing and generous person, though, as evidenced by the fact that my husband now has whatever I had. I can't help it. I just give, give, give.

Anyway - stick around - tomorrow I'm going to let you see my living room. Never before seen online. Shocking, I know. Anyway, we'll take an "exclusive" tour (don't worry, it'll only take 30 seconds - I don't exactly have a mansion!).