A Shower for Jaymo

Sorry, but you will always be Jaymo. I'm so happy I got to do this for you today, despite the trouble I had with some snappy workers when I first got there :( I can't wait to be a part of your BIG DAY on July 26th!

 

    I guess I can't blog about her shower if I leave out the part where I checked over her very pretty, very classic invitations fifteen times, making sure I did everything right. I somehow missed the part where I put that the shower was SATURDAY, June 22nd instead of Sunday (facepalm). So I spent three hours last Monday writing out greeting cards to send to the entire guest list. Needless to say, placenta brain is starting to get to me.

    I don't think I should go very far into what I had to deal with when I first arrived at McAlister's, but just know that it may be the last time I host an event there, at least on a Sunday! Grrrr! Anyway, once we got everything set up, it looked beautiful! Again, I have no idea what I would do without my precious mama! She is a master decorator and punch-maker! She makes the BEST punches!

     This is embarrassing, but I put Jaymo's corsage in the freezer overnight instead of the refrigerator, so I ruined the flower. I just threw the flower away and put the pink ribbon around her wrist as a "corsage" :)

     By the way, is she going to make one gorgeous bride or what?!

 

     She got soooo many beautiful and useful gifts; her roommates from Baptist College in Memphis even came. One of my gifts to her was the "world's best can opener" as mandated by me of course; I've had mine since I was a freshman in college, and it has been the best can opener I've ever owned! We went through them like dirty socks at my house growing up!

 

     We also got her some gorgeous turquoise, monogrammed towels and washcloths. I remember the one thing I registered for that I was soooo excited about were monogrammed towels; I got tons of towels but never bothered to get them monogrammed!

 

     I bring these cookies to almost every event I host or attend. They are just plain sugar cookies from Old Towne Bakery by my house in Olive Branch. I'm not even a huge fan of sweets, but these are the best cookies in the world, and Old Towne does such a cute job decorating them. These were actually supposed to be heart-shaped, but I stayed on the phone with the baker for so long last week, that somehow that part got lost in translation. Even still, they were gorgeous as always!

 

     I can't say enough about Jaymo's mother, Mrs. Rita, though many of us know her as "Mama Rita." She is the kindest, most sincere woman, and it's obvious that she has passed many of these traits down to her precious daughter. She is so much fun to be around, and I'm really thankful to have other Christian women like her in my life to look up to; Rita is definitely a role model to all :) I also can't get over how much Jaymo seems to resemble her pretty mama every time I see her. I hope she knows that this is most definitely a compliment!!!

 

   Next to Mrs. Rita, I suppose my mother, "Bev," as we call her, is pretty grand too :) I have no idea what I would do without her. She is teaching me how to be a great hostess this summer; I'm definitely learning from the best!

 

 

     Lastly, I suppose me and my high school BFF just had to have a few pictures together. Years from now, I'll show these to Vaught and tell them these were his first pictures with Aunt Jaymo! Our friendship is definitely among the strongest I have, and of all my friends, I think I have to say that Jaymo and I are the most alike. She transferred to Hickory Flat in February of my junior year of high school (she was a sophomore) in 2008. One day, she happened to sit down beside me at the lunch table. She didn't even ask if she could sit there or anything, so I turned and looked at her, a little stunned (it's a small school--we had our own "assigned" seats). I looked her up and down, with her cute clothes, perfect hair and makeup, and the most fabulous Coach bag I had ever seen. It was real, too. I learned to befriend the girls who carried "real" handbags; we were two of a kind. I pointed down at her purse and said, "I like your Coach purse." She smiled at me, as if surprised that someone at this school knew what a Coach bag was. It was like this light bulb went off in both of our heads: we were instantly friends, and over the course of the next few months, we became best friends. I have no idea where I would be had this amazing girl not entered my life!

 

Our friendship in one photo: "Which side is your best??"

 

    I am SO happy to have been able to host such a lovely shower for you today. I'm so honored to be a part of yours and Josh's special day next month. Thank you for being an amazing friend to me all these years; I love you more than words can ever explain.