baby shower weekend

alas my day-job work week will finally be over today. the words "joy,excitement, relief" come to mind after having a week that seemed endless. the weekend brings an opportunity to spend OODLES of time in the kitchen and i couldn't be more excited. me and my siginificant other will be catering her cousin's baby shower.the cousin has all ready had the baby- her third- and it's a boy. the theme is going to be Carolina blue her husband's favorite college basketball team. if it works for them, it works for me. i'm just excited about getting to cook, doesn't matter for who.
delana will be in charge of the cake since baking is her calling, not mine. i'm sure eventually i'll start to work on improving my cake and cookie skills but for now i'm content just being the taste tester. she's decided on a traditional white cake with a buttercream frosting which she's pulled out of her go to Baking Illustrated book which comes from the makes of Cook's Illustrated. it's an awesome book for anyone learning to bake or trying to tweak their baking skills. the only thing i've made from it has been their pizza dough and it is quite yummy but i think i ultimately prefer King Arthur Flour recipes when it's time to whip up some pizza dough. she's also making her version of a chicken salad pulled off from the Food Network. She's made some customizations that I think are even better than what's on the site. it's very yummy on some jumbo sized, buttery,flaky crescents. ill be sure to post the recipe first opporunity i get this weekend.
my job is to make everything else. the must haves are my famous corn and pepper dip, spicy tortilla chips, and a spinach and artichoke dip. i've fortunately been given room to throw in whatever extra dishes i want and i've decided to go with:

1. polenta fries inspired by 101 cookbooks
2. parlsey pesto pasta salad tossed with rotini and some cherry tomatoes
3. a cilantro pesto also with some rotini (spiral noodle) or farfalle(bowtie pasta).
4. a roasted red pepper and chickpea dip
5. homemade pimento cheese- again i'm in the south so have to incorporate a traditional southern dish somehow.
6. pita chips- quite possibly a seasoned mix? maybe some cumin? and a honey glazed mix
7. a cream cheese fruit dip.

the shower is saturday so come sunday, i'll be sure to come back with an update of the final menu as well as recipes and pictures to match. if you have any menu suggestions, please comment and share. what's your favorite party food to have in general?