Surprise Spa Baby Shower!

I am feeling super spoiled this month! Last Sunday, my dear friends Jaime and Rachel threw me a surprise baby shower at Revel Spa in San Francisco!

I love the idea of surprise parties, but I thought I would never get to have one because I am always really excited to plan my own birthday parties and even our anniversary and holiday celebrations. So I am especially thrilled that I got to experience such an awesome surprise baby shower!

I did know that Jaime and Rachel were talking - more like whispering - about throwing me a baby shower, but I didn't actually realize they intended it to be a surprise party. I figured that eventually they would ask me for a guest list or to set a date or something and when May rolled in and I hadn't heard anything I figured they were really busy and that maybe it wasn't going to happen. I mean, they are busy women with babies of their own.

So when Rachel texted me asking if I wanted to join her to go shopping on Sunday I didn't think anything of it. She said their afternoon plans had fallen through and that one of our favorite kids consignment stores was having a sale. She suggested that our husbands could take our sons for a stroller walk in nearby Golden Gate Park while we shopped. Sounded totally reasonable to me. The fact that she was suggesting that her toddler ride in a stroller during his nap time should have been a red flag, but I am a very trusting person and I was ready to believe that maybe Sagan could nap in his stroller after all.

The store happens to be around the corner from a restaurant that James and I really like so I told Rachel that we would have lunch there first and meet up with them afterward. It felt like my idea.

This happened to be the day after we took the maternity pics at Montara Beach and so James says to me that morning, "Why don't we take a few more photos in the park after you guys go shopping?" He said this knowing that I would always be up for another photo shoot and that it would cause me to get dressed up (so I would look nice for the shower, but I didn't know that at the time!). So I picked out a sundress and insisted on choosing coordinating shirts for him and for Calvin. I thought time wasn't a big deal because shopping and going for a walk aren't exactly time sensitive. Because of that, I made us late and inadvertently made myself late for the shower!

Some of the ladies getting started on their mani/pedis before I arrived.

Late or not, we had lunch at Social Kitchen & Brewery as planned and a couple more slightly weird things happened that should have tipped me off... James parked at a meter and I said it would make more sense to look for free parking if we were going to be around for the afternoon. He said there wouldn't be any parking and he'd rather just pay. That would never have happened normally. He would have made us walk blocks and blocks rather than pay the meter under normal circumstances. But I ignored it. During lunch, Rachel texted me saying that she ran into our friend Becca who had a salon appointment and that she was going to hang out at the salon with Becca until I was finished eating while Sagan was asleep in the car and Ben (her husband) was with him. It did occur to me that it was a pretty weird coincidence to run into Becca, but again I am very trusting and gullible so I bought it. After lunch I told James that I would walk over to meet Rachel and that he should text Ben to find him and we'd just re-connect later after Rachel and I went shopping (again, still believing the entire fake plan for the day). But James insisted on walking me over to the salon which I thought was unnecessary, but I went with it.

The way this salon is set up, there is an entry room with a sitting area, register, and counter for choosing polishes. There are two large doorways that lead into the room where the magic happens and they can be closed from view with curtains. So when we walked in, there was one woman there to greet us but I couldn't see who else was inside. I was expecting her to ask if I was there for a manicure and I was all ready to explain that I was just there to meet a friend, but instead she told us that someone was waiting for me. And I'm thinking, "Ok good, Rachel and Becca told her I was coming."

She pulled back the curtain and I saw Rachel sitting inside... as expected... but then I saw my friend Laura who lives like half an hour away and a wrinkle of confusion creased my forehead. As I scanned the room the next person that registered in my brain was my cousin Pam... and the wrinkle deepened. I am so glad that no one got a picture of my face at that moment because I probably looked totally confused and lost! But quickly (at least I hope it was quickly!) I realized that this was in fact my baby shower and I don't remember what I did exactly, but I hope I smiled or laughed or at least did something somewhat graceful because I was totally in shock!

Trying to regain composure and choose polish colors :) I was still giddy from the surprise!

The element of surprise was a total success! And the spa baby shower was awesome. What a great idea for a baby shower. Everyone was pampered with manicures and pedicures, Jaime and Rachel served sparkling drinks (non-alcoholic, of course) and yummy treats including a homemade chocolate cake from Jaime, and no one had to play cheesy party games.

The real cake...

...and a diaper cake! Also made by Jaime, and decorated with goodies for the new baby and me!

 James and Calvin stayed long enough to say hello to everyone and snap a few photos. And it turned out to be ok that I was late. A few people were still having their nails done and two of my cousins arrived after me.

Since we are having another boy and we don't need more baby clothes or toys, Rachel, Jaime, and James arranged for my friends and family to chip in to buy us this awesome double stroller that I have been drooling over for months! It's the Contours Options LT Tandem Stroller in Valencia yellow and after much research and online shopping for double strollers it is the one I had my heart set on. Thank you so much to everyone who helped out with this gift! We are so grateful!! And I am so excited to have this stroller!!

And of course a HUGE THANK YOU to Jaime and Rachel for planning and pulling off this special day for me, and to my husband James for aiding and abetting them to make it possible. Thank you to my dear friends and cousins for coming to celebrate, and to all the husbands and grandparents who took care of babies that day so that my friends and cousins could make it :)