How a hybrid party inspired me for the future

Over the weekend my friends and family attended my baby shower, virtually and in-person. 

At this moment in our pandemic reality, there are a lot of questions about what is safe, how to ask others about their vaccination status and how to find some semblance of normalcy. While I once thought a baby shower this fall would be totally back to normal, the realities of the Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy have made it clear that there is still a great amount of COVID-19 risk in the world. In trying to plan a way to celebrate my pregnancy, I landed on a compromise: We’ll do it both ways. 

We threw a virtual Zoom shower for anyone not comfortable coming to a party and an outdoor, in-person gathering for vaccinated friends and family who could make it. It was quite a lot to plan, but it ended up truly being the best of both worlds. Everyone felt safe and happy. I got to hug cousins I haven’t seen in two years. Friends from as far as Germany Zoomed in to offer well-wishes. I felt loved, and like my new baby will be well-supported. 

here. 

Today’s reads

• The new pick for Oprah’s book club is…
• It’s time to leave ‘basic’ girls and their pumpkin spice lattes alone. Here’s why. 
• Are you done with Facebook? Here’s how to deactivate or permanently delete your Facebook account. 
• These 12 Black artists are shaping country music’s future.They include Breland, Mickey Guyton and Yola.
• Attention! Wednesday is National Coffee Day! Here are all the places you can get free coffee this week. 

Today’s pet

Meet a very crafty little kitty. 

“This is OliverWendell,” says owner Lisa Cole. “He adopted me about a month ago. He’s two-and-a-half. He’s working on opening the door to the screened in porch. Fortunately, he doesn’t have opposable thumbs. In the ‘look how cool I am’ picture, he’s actually contemplating how he can jump to an off limits shelf – which he did moments after I took the picture. He has trained me well in a short time.”

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