Family shower

Aunties Sandra & Sharon decorate the food table.

Dear Emi,
Your Auntie Noriko is the party planner in the family. She and her housemate, Sunny, are known for throwing such bashes as their recent Pickle Party and last year's screening of "Once," which was prompted when they found individual-sized, plastic popcorn containers at Target. So it wasn't a surprise when she jumped at the chance to throw my baby shower.

Soon, my inbox was littered with emails about menu ideas, including smoked salt edamame, green tea cupcakes and mini cheese cakes with wine gelee. When all the culinary issues had been settled, she peppered me with another flurry of emails, hounding me to set a date. Before long, she knew exactly what dishes to serve, how to wrap the button cookies in glassine bags to give away as favors and had purchased tickets for her flight home.

All this before I was barely 13 weeks into my pregnancy.

The weeks dragged by, and the day I'd get to celebrate your impending birth with the women in our extended family seemed a long way off. Gradually, I grew bigger and rounder, and preparations for the shower began in earnest. Auntie Noriko went through a few drafts of the invitations, while Pau Pau and 'Jiichan got the house ready, hiring a handyman to paint the living room and dining room as well as clean up the backyard.

Meanwhile, at home, Daddy's summer vacation was winding down and he had to make one last, big push to get your nursery ready. In the span of a few days, he cleared out all his books, papers, computer, desk and an old love seat that Chase had long ago claimed, then spent a day painting his former den a bright green - Ralph Lauren Pale Apple II, to be precise. Your room was far from finished, but the heavy stuff was done, allowing us to breathe a little easier.

Early in September, Dr. Chan announced he wanted to start seeing me every two weeks now that I was in my final trimester. "Once you hit 37 weeks, you're in play and can give birth any time," he told us.

After that the weeks just flew by. Before I knew it, the weekend of my shower had arrived. I picked Auntie Noriko up at the airport early Friday morning and we headed to Pau Pau's, Chase in tow. We spent a very pleasant day shopping for groceries and checking out the new "lifestyle center," a posh outdoor mall, then headed back home to begin cooking.

Auntie Noriko started by coloring the fondant using food dye - a few drops of red for pink, yellow and blue for green. After we rolled out the fondant, we made cherry blossoms and leaves using specially-shaped vegetable cutters I'd bought at Nishiki Market in Kyoto. Later, I went home and baked green tea cupcakes, which we decorated the next morning with the sugary flowers and leaves.

(For those green tea lovers out there, here's the recipe I "borrowed" from Chockylit's now-closed cupcake blog):

Green Tea or “Matcha” Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar

2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons matcha

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
3. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs/egg yolks one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to batter and mix to combine.
6. Mix matcha in with the milk. Add to the batter and mix until combined.
7. Pour into paper cupcake holders.
8. Bake for 22-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

By 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon, Pau Pau's house was full of Moritas, Foos, Gees and Frosts. It was a warm day, so we stayed inside where it was nice and cool thanks to the air conditioner. We had plenty of food - tea sandwiches, sushi, chicken wings, Pau Pau's famous Chinese noodle salad, pot stickers, etc. - and everyone seemed to have a great time.


We even played a few shower games that Pau Pau organized. Aunt Kathy and Auntie Midori really got into the one with diaper pins. Everyone received diaper pins decorated with pink beads that they had to clip to their clothes. If you caught someone saying the word "baby" she had to relinquish her pin to you. Nana Billie barely had her pin on for five minutes before Aunt Kathy confiscated it, and by the time I opened presents she had a nice collection pinned to her blouse. The battle really got going when Auntie Midori caught Aunt Kathy using the b-word, then had to give them all back a few minutes later. We all got a good laugh out of the whole thing.

I have to say, though, the best part was opening presents. You totally raked in the goods, Emi. You should've seen the pile of cheerfully wrapped gifts that covered the living room. There was the ultra cool, green umbrella stroller from Aunt Sandy & Uncle Justin, and the adorable onesie and burpie embroidered with your first name, Zoe, that Auntie Sharon, Christina & Liana found for you at a consignment shop for kids. They also scored a cute Cornwall onesie - a nod to your Frink Cornish roots. I fell in love with the organic, stuffed monkey Christina bought for you at a very nice toy shop in La Jolla. Everyone was so incredibly generous - I couldn't even fit everything in the car!

Auntie Sandra, Auntie Sharon and the girls stayed the night, and after everyone had gone home we all ate homemade chili with Auntie Midori & Uncle Ike, who stayed to visit a little longer before making the long trip home. It had been an exhausting couple of days, so I also ended up spending the night, probably the last time I'll be able to do that, at least in the foreseeable future, huh Emiko?

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast on the patio before I took Christina and Noriko to the airport for their flight back to San Diego. I drove home, thinking how it had been the perfect baby shower. Later, I reexamined all the beautiful things people in our family bought for you, growing all the more excited as I realized you'd soon see for yourself how much everyone already loved you.