Zarrelli Home: Happy Birthday Sis!

I got my sister on my brain a lot lately. Probably because we spent Easter with her and her husband this past weekend and today is her 31^st birthday. (Jae, if you are reading this Happy Birthday Sis!) My sister Jillian and I are 15 months apart. Growing up one school year apart wasn't much fun. We hung with different crowds of friends and we weren't very close during our adolescent years. But, things change and one day you wake up and realize your sister is your best friend. I know there isn't a thing in this world that we wouldn't do for each other. So, when Jill asked me to be her matron of honor when she got engaged to her now husband Mike of course my reaction was yes. And with that yes meant I’d be throwing the best shower anyone could ask for. Jill isn't a real girly girl even though surprisingly she was the girly girl when we were growing up. So I knew Pink wasn't a choice of color for the shower. I struggled with the theme for some time and then it hit me. As much as she wasn't a girly girl she always did love one thing when we grew up….Tiffany’s…anything from Tiffany’s was a sure win win as a gift for my sister. Maybe it was that little blue box but whatever it was I knew that ultimately decided the theme for her shower. A Tiffany style party.

My father and step mother were gracious enough to open their home to me to host the party. Jill and Mike’s wedding was planned for Labor Day weekend so we had the shower the end of July. It was a perfect day. Sun shining, no rain and not too much humidity for a middle of the summer afternoon. I had most of the party catered (used three different caterers which I would never do again…just too much work that way) and we made some of the appetizers ourselves. Jill’s other bridesmaid helped out with the games and making some of the food. I was smart and spent a couple extra bucks to hire someone to help set up, clean up and make sure everyone was taken care of food and drink wise. Best decision I could have made because I wanted to be able to enjoy the day with my sister and by hiring someone I had the flexibility to relax and mingle with her guests. Would advise anyone throwing a big event (and by big I mean anything over 20 guest) to do this!

Since the theme was Tiffany’s I wanted the look to be diamonds and pearls and to tie the Tiffany’s blue back in to the décor. I shopped early (around Easter time) and bought the prettiest robin’s egg blue plates with a silver scalloped trim. People went nuts over them. The plates came from Party City and yes they were plastic but they certainly did not have that cheap plastic look. They were exquisite and worth the $10 a package I paid for them. I also came across jewels for the table (faux pearls and diamonds) and faux pearl necklaces. When every guest arrived we gave them a necklace and a glass of the signature cocktail. (The recipe is below or can be viewed at http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Blue-Champagne-Recipezaar?columns=3&position=1/11 ). Online I found this website www.smartyhadaparty.com where I came across these pearl napkins rings. I knew they would look great and make the paper napkins and plastic forks not look so picnic-y. And flowers….keep the flowers to the theme. We did all white flowers and incorporated some hydrangeas from the yard as fillers (and only because we ran out of the white flowers).

Jill wanted a yellow cake with fresh strawberries and vanilla pudding so I ordered her a Tiffany gift box cake with just that. I was extremely impressed when this cake arrived from Kelly’s Sweet Rewards…a place I actually looked at for my wedding cake a year earlier. We tried to keep the menu light and more geared towards women. Not knowing what the weather might be I wanted to avoid hot foods that were heavy. I went with some assorted tea sandwiches, some quiches, and lots of hors' dourves. In addition to the cake we had two fresh fruit platters and some of the guest were kind enough to bake.

For the favors I got bath salts and filled little glass corked bottles. I had labels made for each bottle that read Jillian & Co with the date of her shower. We played the purse game and a Bingo game while Jill opened her gifts. People raved about the food and the party and I think it’s a day Jae (which is what I call her) will never forget.