Baby Shower - HK Style

Back Row - Natasha, Rina, Me, Ayu, Mel, Sally, Beth. Front Row - Naomi, Chi

Beth, Rina, Natasha

I honestly look forward to attending showers.  Whether they are wedding showers or baby showers, you're inevitably celebrating a big life event with someone that you love... however, I have never been comfortable to be on the receiving side of such events.  I managed to kibosh every mention of a shower prior to our wedding, and I had fully intended to avoid all showers for our first baby simply by living on the opposite side of the world to my lifelong friends and family.  My plan was genius... Enter HK friends: Beth, Rina, and Natasha.

These girls wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.  They were insistent, and to be honest, my resolve dissipated whenever I would walk into the big baby store here and feel entirely overwhelmed at how many crazy products there are for things I didn't even know existed.  I was feeling quite scared and very out of my element with what I actually needed to do and buy in order to care for a baby, so the thought of getting some help started to have some real appeal (which I think is the whole point of a shower... late learner over here).

My wonderful friends here organized the most stunning and wonderful day!  Firstly, no one had to guess how much weight I gained, what my circumference was, or which poopy diaper had which chocolate bar smooshed in it; all games were scrapped... thank you!  Instead, the venue was a gorgeous spa on the south side of HK Island, where there was a stunning outdoor gazebo with seating, food and drink, and a dreamy set of spa chairs where we could all get various treatments done. In short, the day was heavenly.

I opened generous gifts from friends which really did have us feeling much more prepared for the little baby's arrival (I didn't even have diapers or onesies before this... amateur).  The biggest surprise of the day was an amazing video that was put together by my friends and Rina's husband, Dustin.  They contacted friends and family from home and everyone who sent back a video was included with their well wishes and words of advice.  The video had me laughing my head off and sobbing with tears (ah, pregnancy hormones!).  If you have some time, the link is posted at the bottom of this entry...

Watching the video together and my various emotions below...

As baby Foley is due on Saturday, and we are now far more prepared than I was, it seems like the right time to say THANK YOU!  So thank you to my friends here in HK who threw me the shower and attended the shower.  Thank you to friends and family from home who participated in the video.  Thank you for all of the kind comments on facebook from everyone and the words of encouragement over the past several months.  Being this far from home for such a big life event could be very scary... but I feel so cared for, loved and supported that I think all will be well.  My mom and dad also arrived last night, and having them here will be wonderful.

Much love to you all... and I promise to post news soon!

LINK TO VIDEO:

My friends here who orchestrated this (Rina, Beth, and Natasha) ask for you not to 'judge' them. These girls are the ones downing glasses of wine throughout the video... they are awesome and I assured them that no friends of mine would ever judge someone for being an enthusiastic drinker.  :)

You are invited to view Dustin Leitch's photo album: Trish's baby shower, Jan 27, 2013

If the link does not work, try pasting this into your browser.  Generally people struggled with opening the video on any mobile devices, but most laptops and desktops seem to open it just fine.  Enjoy
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=109489825380448122699&target=ALBUM&id=5838296766337900865&authkey=Gv1sRgCN2Or7aP_pHlgwE&invite=COeNws0D&feat=email