bridal shower ideas?

i was supposed to go meet my mom and aunt for pizza and to talk about the bridal shower they want to throw, but mom got caught up at work and we had to reschedule.  which is good because  i was also supposed to look up ideas for a theme, but i only came up with a few.  a recipe/cookbook shower would be nice; we can never have enough recipes!  plus, it's kind of cool to see what other people like to cook.  i heard about a "stock the bar" bridal shower and i thought at first, "awesome! booze!" but then i got to thinking, and realized that with all that booze in the house, maybe i wouldn't get any work done on wedding preparations.  you know if forced to choose between a dirty martini or making tissue paper pom poms, i might go with the olives and vodka.  we could actually use some real, grown-up furniture, so i thought maybe asking people to bring ikea gift cards would be nice, but i worry that that is too specific and too greedy sounding.

i'll admit having a shower isn't my idea of a good time (i have successfully avoided going to a lot of bridal showers because the games and forced girl-time can be a bit much, also what the fuck is up with toilet paper dresses?! that's a waste of toilet paper!), but you know what i have learned about weddings?  they are all about "me" and "my" day, unless of course, someone disagrees.  or one of my mom's friends tsk-tsks my choices.  or i decide to do something that maybe isn't super traditional.  i'm just going with the flow now.  do you have any good ideas for a relaxed bridal shower?  if so, you have to let me know, or else i will force you to eat tea sandwiches and make ribbon bouquets.  (i know i'm not supposed to plan or have anything to do with my own shower, but i've already been drafted! at least i can contribute some ideas, right?)