Phoebe Or Phoebo?
It’s been 26 years since the last episode of F•R•I•E•N•D•S aired, but I’m still watching reruns as if I can’t recite every single word and laughing hysterically as if it’s the first time. And since I can pretty much always find a way to compare my everyday life to a scene from the show, it only made sense to for us to find out what Baby Eberhardt will be in our very own episode, “The One With The Gender Reveal.”
"If it’s a girl, Phoebe. And if it’s a boy Phoebo."
Being mindful that we’re still living in the middle of a global pandemic, Brad and I decided to have a small gathering of close friends and family at a pavilion in Centennial Park. It’s hard enough not being able to have Brad join me for doctor’s appointments as we experience pregnancy together for the first time, so we’re trying our best to celebrate this new time in our lives as normally as possible, while being extremely cautious of health and safety.
Guests were welcomed and asked to wear a mask (either pink or blue!), choose a gender specific name tag – to help name our baby – based on characters from the show, and reminded to use hand sanitizer and practice social distancing.
If you read my 1st trimester recap, you know that me and baby are loving Chick-fil-A right now. So naturally, I requested their catering for the reveal. Everything was going perfectly, until my dad pointed out one minor detail that the rest of us had completely overlooked – our reveal was scheduled for a Sunday (when everyone knows Chick-fil-A is closed). But thanks to the extremely kind and helpful team at Chick-fil-A Executive Park Drive my craving was satisfied. They went the extra mile breaking down all their catering-size trays into individual portions, allowed my parents to pick up very late on Saturday evening (the day before), and only partially baked the hot items, allowing my mom to finish baking Sunday morning preserving the freshness of everything!
Of course, all of the Chick-fil-A menu items were renamed to reference a F•R•I•E•N•D•S moment. Plus, we snagged the limited release, on theme, Duclaw Brewing Company Hazy Double IPA, P•I•V•O•T, for guests to enjoy! And no party of mine would be complete without treats from my favorite, Kupcakes & Co. They completely nailed these custom themed cookies – equally as delicious as they were beautiful!
My best friend, Kelly, was the keeper of our gender for almost six weeks! Total payback for when I got to be the secret keeper for her three years ago. She’s just as big a fan of F•R•I•E•N•D•S as I am. When I told her the theme I had decided on, we came up with at least 10 different ideas on how the actual gender reveal could happen, with a nod to the show. But finally, settled on one that couldn’t be beat. For anyone completely confused by our banner reveal, watch this.
It’s NOT a boy! Baby Girl Eberhardt is due in January.
The funny thing is, Brad and I both knew that whatever the banner said – boy or girl – it was actually the opposite because of the “not.” I anticipated this in the moment, reacting immediately, while Brad was still a little confused, which actually made it that much funnier. We are both thrilled to be welcoming a baby girl – and for the record, no, we are not naming our child Phoebe.
To top everything off, my mom came up with a genius idea of live streaming the event so that other friends and family members, who we would otherwise love to share the special moment with, could join us virtually! Thanks to a Zoom webinar, we made this happen.
The crazy COVID times could not steal this special memory from us. We are so grateful for everyone who helped make“The One With The Gender Reveal” possible and who joined us in person or virtually to celebrate Baby Girl Eberhardt. In the spirit of Chandler Bing…could we BE anymore excited to meet her?! Definitely not.
