Snow. Shower.

What do you get when you cross a thin layer of snow and ice,

icky rain and old windshield wipers, too little sleep the night before, followed by too much coffee the morning of, fur-lined snow boots and daringly high heels, pink
carnations and baby's breath, toll booths that could bankrupt a Rockefeller, fifty women dressed in pink and black, one really tall dimple-faced guy in a Ravens polo, a lot of prayer and Kleenex,


darling shoe-shaped white chocolates, a show-stopping leopard print chair and a tiara, delicious food, thick gloves and thin stemware, a heavy microwave and a light Christmas ornament,

with a petite dimple-faced sweetheart of a girl who thought she was just going to breakfast at Chick Fil-A before an 11:15 premarital counseling appointment at her church?



You get a surprise bridal shower in New Jersey, that's what!



Ben did a super job of getting Dee there without her suspecting anything. She expected to see our daughter later in the afternoon at her wedding dress fitting with bridesmaids, but she was clueless about the shower.


She dressed in casual pink and black (her signature colors) and looked adorable, as usual. But her twin sister had brought her a leopard print jumper and black high heels and black sweater to change into.










He stuck around just long enough to eat lunch and publicly honor her with a few words.

I had the distinct privilege of hearing so many good things about my son from ladies in that church who have gotten to know him over the past year.

I heard the following.

1. "So you're Ben's mom! He is
such a mature guy. Really a great match for Deirdra."

2. "Ben is a real man's man. A strong leader. I can't imagine him saying, 'Whatever you say, dear. Whatever you want, honey.'' I chuckled, "No, not at all. On the small things he'll compromise, like wearing pink in the wedding, but on the big stuff he sticks to his convictions."


3. "Deirdra used to babysit my girls and we all just love her. When she told me she'd met this great guy and fallen in love, I had to meet him. Had to see if he was good enough for our DeeDee. Don't worry, he is!"

4. (From Dee's mom) " I could not have picked a better man for Deirdra if I'd tried. He treats her so well. When you're a single mom, that's just extra important to know your girls are being taken of. Ben is an answer to many years of prayers." Dee's mom knew he was special when he helped pack, carry, and load up boxes and stuff into her car after her other daughter's wedding. "He is so helpful and such a gentleman. I don't know how we could've done it without him. I knew at that moment he was a keeper."

Dee's twin sister, Siobhan (pronounced "Shuh-vahn") knows her better than anyone. The shower was perfectly decorated in a very Dee way. Check out this chair, but first the story behind it.

As you know, twins have this mysterious "thing" between them --a sixth sense, I guess--that they are really in sync with each other when they're miles (or states) apart. Siobhan was looking at Craigslist for furniture for her own place when she spotted (no pun intended, truly) this leopard print spiked-heel shoe chair. She emailed her mom the link. "We've got to get this for Dee. It would be great for her shower and her house!" Of course this was all hush-hush. Siobhan bought it for $30 really fast. A few hours later, she got a text link from Dee. "Check out this chair. I love it! Ben would kill me if it came in the house, but isn't it great?!"


















photo credit:
Ambrey Zaun

(The shoe chair and all the ones with brighter lighting are her pictures. The others are mine.)









Cupcakes courtesy of her friend,
Katie, who has her own cupcake
business. One word for these:
Wow.









The prayers of blessing meant so much
to us. Marriage will be a big adjustment, but maybe moreso for Dee since she will be leaving all her friends, her mom, and her church in NJ. Thankfully her sister lives ten minutes from their new apartment.





















One woman asked if I was embarrassed as Ben's mom to see Dee opening
lingerie. I jumped up with my camera and said, "No way! If it leads to grandkids, I'm all for it!" (I'm all for it anyway, but I can hardly wait to have grands of my own.)




























Hugs and kisses for the soon-to-be Mrs.