A Surprise Bridal Shower

Last weekend I went to California with my mom and sister to throw my soon-to-be cousin-in-law a surprise bridal shower. 

And since it's over now and the social media blackout has been lifted, I'm totally gonna blog about it.

My mom and aunt (the soon-to-be mother-in-law) have been sneaking around, planning this shower since October and we were all so excited to see it come to fruition!

We made our way out there on Friday and was fortunate enough to spend the day hanging out with our family that are usually all spread across different states.

We had lunch at a cool local BBQ restaurant my cousin Jeff knew of. 

It was delish AND we had the back patio to ourselves!

AND they had mac n' cheese.

Anything that has mac n' cheese always gets two thumbs up in my book. 

After lunch we made our way over to a really cool, really huge farmer's market in the Hollywood area.

And when I say "made our way" I mean very slowly.

Inch by inch.

And I was reminded why I could never live in California.

It's rush hour, every hour in California.

With God as my witness, I solemnly swear I will never again complain about rush hour 

traffic in Phoenix.

Amen.

So anyway, when we finally (and I do mean finally) got to the farmer's market it was pretty dang neat! 

There was fresh produce, and fresh meat and seafood and all that good stuff, but I felt way more compelled to take pictures of the desserts...especially when they looks like this:

We had such a good time hanging out all together for the afternoon!

We were even quiet whenever Brittany, the bride-to-be called, just like good boys and girls.

She didn't even know we were in town!

...another cousin pic for the history books.

Love.

Saturday was the big day! 

We spent the afternoon getting ready for the shower and before we knew it, it was go time!

Sister, mom, and me

Believe it or not, we all managed to actually keep it all a surprise. 

She had no idea!

Sneaky snakes we are...muahaha!...Ignore my obnoxious cackling in the video

The theme of the shower was time. 

So each person was assigned a time of day and had to pick out their gift accordingly. 

For example, I had "lunch time" and got them a panini-maker-grill-thingy (it's a technical term)

Someone else had "bed time" and got her the comforter set she registered for

...and so on and so forth.

Girlfriend did pretty good!

   

We also played a few games, of which if I may mention, I totally won.

I never win anything, so when I do I have to make it known.

One of my favorite bridal shower games is bridal trivia. 

Brittany was asked questions about Jeff and every time she got one wrong she had to put a piece of bubble gum in her mouth.

Usually those creating the questions try and make them trick questions so the bride-to-be ends up with a mouthful of bubble gum.

I can attest to this, cause it totally happened to me.

True story.

My mom had me play this game at my shower and I was doing so good she started pulling random questions out of nowhere and I ended up about gagging (and maybe even drooling a little) on all the bubble gum in my mouth.

So maybe I should retract my earlier statement:

This game may be one of my favorites when other people play it.

Brittany was a trooper though, she did good.

Brittany and her bridesmaids

My aunt Trudy, the soon-to-be mother-in-law

My mom, Aunt Trudy, and Aunt Marsha

              

The soon-to-be cousin-in-laws!

Group photo!

Operation surprise Brittany with a bridal shower: success!!

Before we left on Sunday we all got together one more time for some breakfast and (duh) more photos.

Oh, and sidenote, I'm a little totally in love with Jeff and Brittany's dog, Marley.

He's amazeballs.

And I want one.

I want a Marley.

The always necessary "big arms" pic!

Can't wait for the wedding in July!