Celebrating the Parents-to-Be: Conclusion

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. Yesterday afternoon, we heard an excellent interview between Matt Zoller Seitz (editor in chief of the excellent Roger Ebert website and TV critic for New York magazine) and the one-and-only Matthew Wiener, "Mad Men" creator extraordinaire. The topic of discussion was the rise of advertising in NYC and it also brought perspective on Jews coming into their own post-World War II. The event took place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

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Today, we conclude our baby shower discussion with a few more ideas I found online, along with some more games from the shop.

As I mentioned last week, throwing male-only or co-ed baby showers is a growing trend. If the weather is warm, a popular idea for co-ed baby shower is a "Baby-Q" Bash. From Pizzazzerie, here are bottles of soda from the "Pop Shoppe." The colors were inspired by the expectant baby's navy, brown, and white nursery. For party favors, boxes of s'mores with heating instructions were given to the guests.

From The Cake Blog, I love this idea for a "Milkaholic Sip & See" shower. The decorations were done in the simple, minimalist style that I like. As you can see, the table featured lots of milk and cookies and cow prints, which tied in with the theme so well.

From the blog Once Cool Pick, guests got to take home "Badass Brownie" mixes in these cute tubes. 

Are you the type of parents who want to find out until the big day whether the new arrival will be a boy or a girl? There are a lot of parents who want to be surprised, and this adorable "What Will it Bee" shower is perfect.  love these onesie cookies with a cute little bee on each.  Courtesy of The Cake Blog.

How many of you love sock monkeys? Sock monkeys date date back to the Victorian era and are a popular shower theme. Here is a retro-themed shower hosted by the owner of Posh Paperie, which features the monkeys in little Radio Flyer red wagons. How retro is this?

It's now time to present more games from the shop:

This new listing is the traditional predictions and advice cards. In the first sample, I've used a variation on the "Cute as a Button" theme. Sample #2 features a colorful circus tent background and a cute baby elephant.

Next, we have a game called "The Great Hospital Scramble." This is a take on the popular JUMBLE game. Party guests unscramble items from a typical baby registry. They will then unscramble the letters in circles to reveal words of advice for the new parent.

Also new from the shop is a game called "Name that Nursery Rhyme Character!" In this party game, guests need to guess the identity of 20 nursery rhyme characters based on hints given. This is another great game for a book-themed baby shower.

On Wednesday, I'll present the rest of the baby shower games that we offer. We will also start working on Bingo games for the shop next week.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: Women's History Month comes to an end tomorrow. Did you know that until 1978, a woman could be fired from a job if she became pregnant?That year, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed. Since then, U.S. employers with 15 or more employees are legally bound to provide the same insurance, wages, and additional support to a pregnant woman that would be given to any employee with medical leave or disability.

In other news:

The Dan Feyer dynasty continued as he took home the ACPT trophy for the sixth year in a row. He beat rival Tylar Hinman by a mere half- (some say quarter- ) second. Read all about it here.

Congrats to Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, and Michigan State for reaching the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament! The games will take place on April 4th and 6th at Indianapolis. Check out The Bleacher Report for lineups and predictions.

I've just received breaking news that Gene Saks, the Tony-winning director of "Mame" and several Neil Simon plays, has passed away at age 93. Saks started his career as an actor and his professional relationship with Simon began in 1967. Married to the late Bea Arthur for 30 years, they adopted two sons. He also had one daughter with his second wife, who survives him, along with three grandchildren. Here's a video of Mr. Saks directing the movie version of "The Odd Couple." May he rest in peace.



Wednesday's blog topic will be Easter and Passover. The shop will be closed from this Friday through Easter Sunday. We will reopen on Monday, April 6 at 6:00 a.m. EDT.

Have a PRINTASTIC day!

Kathy

More Super Bowl XLIX Random Facts and Trivia You Should Know

Of the 186 million people who watch sports, close to half follow football more than any other sport. Here's the question of the day: Which are the best and worst football cities for sports fans? Wallet Hub crunched and analyzed the numbers based on the following metrics: number of NFL teams, performance quality of the team, ticket prices, stadium accessibility, number of championships won, number of sports bars in the area, fan friendliness, franchise value, attendance, and viewership rankings.

Green Bay (home of the Packers) was ranked #1. Rounding out the top ten were East Lansing, Pittsburgh, Denver, Tuscaloosa, San Francisco, Dallas, Cincinnati, Boston, and Minneapolis. I was surprised that New York City was only #39. That's probably because our football teams actually aren't in New York, but in New Jersey. The worst city for the gridiron is Las Vegas, home of the odds makers. The results include the best and worst for each of the above metrics. Click on the above link for a complete listing, and also check out their infographic called "Super Bowl By the Numbers."

The X-Factor: What would Super Bowl be like without its celebrity fans? Patriots' fans include Gisele Bundchen (gee, I wonder why), Maria Menounos, Elton John (!), Mark Wahlberg (also obvious), and Elizabeth Banks. Among those rooting for the Seahawks are Chrissy Teigen, Macklemore, Chris Pratt, John McHale, and Rainn Wilson.

Comedian Kevin McHale will host a Friars Club roast for Terry Bradshaw, and Kevin Hart will be cracking jokes at tonight's Madden Bowl. The singer Charlie XCX will sing for the troops tomorrow night and perform at ESPN's bash as well. The ESPN party promises to be the hub for some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. DirecTV is hosing a three-day music festival, which began last night and culminates tomorrow night with a show by Snoop Dogg and Imagine Dragons. Some parties are by invitation only. DirecTV's Super Saturday night will feature Rihanna. Rolling Stone, Maxim, and Playboy will host private parties as well.

Separated at birth: Check out these pictures of Super Bowl participants who look like celebrities.

It's time for the usual lists:

Party Idea of the Day: Looking for something beyond the usual hot dogs and nachos? Health.com lists some creative snack ideas that sneak in the "good stuff" (i.e., fruits and veggies). This watermelon helmet with fruit salad, courtesy of the blog One Crafty Thing,  is adorable.

Today's birthdays: Adam Lambert (33), Andrew Keegan (36), Sam Jaeger 38), Sara Gilbert (40), Heather Graham (45), Ed Burns (47), Roddy Frame (51), Nicholas Turturro (53), Judy Norton-Taylor (57), Diane Delano (58), Irlene Mandrell (59), Charlie Wilson (62), Marc Singer (60), Bettye LaVette (69), Tom Selleck (70), and Katharine Ross (75).

Holidaze: Celebrate Sudoku, word searches, crosswords, and more on National Puzzle Day! Because our shop is all about the fun puzzles we offer, this is the holidaze for us! There are many puzzle tournaments held during the year, the biggest being the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), which is the weekend of March 26. After six years in Downtown Brooklyn, the tournament is moving back to original home in Stamford. I competed in five ACPTs. Although I never even reached the top half, my score improved each year. Because the tournament falls on the weekend before Passover, I will probably sit out Stamford this year. In the week leading up to the tournament, we will have some fun facts about different types of word games and puzzles.

What Holidaze will be complete without a foodie celebration? Today is National Corn Chip Day,This is one food I definitely stay away from because I can't eat just a few at a time. Corn Chips are a snack we have enjoyed since they were invented by Fritos in 1932. Who can forget the (now un-PC) 1960s commercial? The great Mel Blanc was the voice of the Frito Bandito.

We mourn the loss of  Colleen McCullough, Australian author of the best-selling novel The Thorn Birds, which became an epic TV miniseries. She passed away at age 77 after a long illness. 

Tomorrow is Freebie Friday and we have another fun activity to keep the kids occupied while the adults watch the Super Bowl.

Have a PRINTASTIC day!

Kathy