Operation Shower: We Salute You!

Last Tuesday was a real treat as Pam and I joined Operation Shower along with their sponsors, party planners and brave military families to shower moms-to-be in a baby shower like no other.

While many of you may have already heard about Operation Shower, the story of how it came to be is really beautiful. Founder and Chief Shower Officer, LeAnn Morrissey has an uncle she is particularly fond of. While he was deployed overseas, she would send care packages often wondering if he really enjoyed them or even got them.  When she finally inquired “What can I really do for you?”, he told her that four of his men had pregnant wives back home and they were all going to miss the births.  He wanted LeAnn to simply check in on them, maybe with a card. We’ll LeAnn took it a step further and packed up a giant box of baby goods and treats for each woman with the help of  friends and family. She shipped them off with a simple note explaining her connection to them. Needless to say, she made quite the impact.  Three years later and with the assistance of event planner Amy Belle Isle, the generous support of the March of Dimes, Kmart, plus many others, showers are being delivered to expecting military moms one box at a time and then some!

We arrived at the stunning Torrey Pines golf course in San Diego as if it were already Spring (sorry to rub it in for those sitting in piles of snow!). A few dads were on hand while most were deployed overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and even Japan. Baby Jack was just a week old, arriving early. Maybe he knew he was going to be a guest of honor at this beautiful shower?

“Sunshine Farms” was the incredible theme created by the original blogging party gal, Jen Sbranti of Hostess With The Mostess.  Yellow, red and navy accented with hay, daisies, jam jars, tin buckets and wheel barrows, never looked so chic. It was a real honor for us to experience a “real-life” HWTM event and to finally meet the very lovely Jen in person.

And then there were the desserts…The oh so impressive Sweets Indeed styled cupcakes galore, caramel corn, banana cream pie, mini pies, cookies adorned with farm animals and individual homemade pies for each expecting mom. While munching on the sugary sweets we just kept thinking, how does Marie stay so cute and tiny? She did an incredible job.

Project Nursery came to the event to provide one lucky mom with an entire nursery package of choice by our friends at NoJo. Melissa Goldsby (seen here with Pam and LeAnn) was the winner and we’ll also be providing her a design consultation. She happened to choose one of our favorite sets, “Jungle Tales“. Melissa was able to Skype dad somewhere in Southeast Asia later that evening and great news, he was just as thrilled! We can’t wait to help them with their dream nursery.

Jennifer Delonge gave away the most adorable Ava chair in an apple green ikat print – BIG hit! Chris Bolton below is the jewelry designer that has Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and Trish McEvoy buying up a storm. Ah, we knew we had good taste! lol.

When it came time for presents, the boxes where filled to the brim of amazing products. In addition, Kmart gave each guest a state of the art car seat and six lucky mothers walked away with brand new cribs. To top if off, savings bonds were given out to a few lucky babies by Farmers Insurance.  We all couldn’t help but feel like we were watching an episode of Oprah as this all unveiled before our eyes.

Most of all, we were thrilled to experience it, enjoy it and donate in our own small way. We feel very blessed to be protected by the men and woman who serve our country. A big  thank you to these military families and hats off to LeAnn and Amy of Operation Shower. You’re making a wonderful difference!