Operation Shower: Sea to Shining Sea

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of helping out with my second Operation Shower event, this time in Norfolk, VA. This event was organized to "shower" expecting women whose husbands were deployed and serving on the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN77) and was given a coordinating nautical "Sea to Shining Sea" theme.

Operation Shower's Chief Event Organizer, Amy Belle Isle, did another fabulous job designing the event. Nautical elements were incorporated throughout, including the graphic designs, table centerpieces, and food and dessert tables. One of my absolute favorites designed all of the graphics for the shower, Lindi of Love the Day. She rocks! Other amazing talents that were helping out with the event included Chris of Celebrations At Home, Ebony of Sparkling Events and Designs, and Deanna of 5 to 9 Events. These women made an already worth-while event a complete joy to be a part of. It is so nice to be able to come together and work with such a talented group of women for an amazing organization AND have so much FUN at the same time. Love them all!

Any guesses what Amy used to create the dessert table's backdrop? Place mats! It was such a creative idea and it looked great at the event. Not so much fun hanging it, though :)  Sugarland Bakery came all the way from Chapel Hill the morning of the shower to deliver the adorable nautical themed cake that they created for the event. These girls are seriously talented and equally as sweet themselves! Just Pop In donated the mini popcorn bags and Firefly Confections sent the cutest little cookies for the event.

Many generous vendors came together and donated so many wonderful items for this event. In addition to the "showers in a box" that each mother received, everyone was gifted a stroller, bath tub, clothing, diaper bags, boppy's, handmade booties and hats, diapers, and much, much more. It was an amazing day full of celebrating, honoring, and truly "showering" these women. They are part of a much larger group of men, women, and families that sacrifice so much for our country every day and I hope that they felt the love, appreciation, and support that everyone involved with Operation Shower strives to bestow upon them on their special day . I truly feel blessed and am grateful to have been able to participate in another Operation Shower event.

Also, a big thank you to Stephanie of Lifeography for all of the wonderful photographs. You can learn more about Operation Shower, what they do, and how you can help, here.

The girls: Chris (Celebrations At Home), Amy (Operation Shower), me  (Sheek Shindigs), Ebony (Sparkling Events and Designs), and Lindi (Love the Day).