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Party

Holiday Dinner Party Recap

December 22, 2014

Every year we look forward to hosting two of our favorite people – Kevan and Anita around the holidays.  It is so fun to menu plan, decorate and cook with my mom and sisters, and the final product this year was our best yet (according to my dad)! Here were some of the highlights:

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Our menu:

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A few fun notes from the party:

  • When making stuffed mushrooms gently slice off a sliver of the mushroom cap (which will become the base of the stuffed mushroom) to prevent any movement or toppling over.
  • An easy placecard idea is to tuck a twine wrapped bundle of rosemary and cinnamon sticks with a rustic name tag into the napkin.
  • Do a seating chart.  I know people feel a seating chart is too formal, but putting thought into creating a seating arrangement that will yield the most fun and interaction is key.  We also prefer a “don’t sit couples together approach.”

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Christmas Decor

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Christmas Decor

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Stuffed Mushrooms

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Do you have a favorite holiday party you attend or host every year?

 

Tasty

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

May 5, 2014

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I LOVE Mexican food.

If I had to eat one genre of food (without having to worry about my waistline), Mexican would win by a landslide… enchiladas? Quesadillas? Tacos? Oh goodness…

Chicken Enchiladas

Well in honor of Cinco di Mayo, I wanted to share some of my favorite Mexican inspired dishes that I’ve shared on the blog… take your pick for a yummy dinner for tonight!

Chicken Sopecitos

Starters

Mexican Salad

Mains

Fish Tacos

Don’t forget to check up my round-up of favorite margaritas from last week’s Fun Drink Friday!

Tomato Salsa

Party

Easter Brunch Recap

April 21, 2014

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After my parents 30th anniversary party, my sisters and I have been itching to have another party… while we couldn’t pull the funds for a 30 person sit down party, we COULD make it work for a fabulous Easter Brunch.  Here were some of the highlights:

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Menu

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We finally had a great reason to pop open my parent’s magnum of Veuve Clicquot, and nothing gets the party started more than a large format of champagne.  Once the bubbly is flowing, we set out the pickled eggs and caviar bites (PS we recommend omitting the sugar from the pickled egg recipe).  

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Champagne

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We spent a couple more hours snacking, sipping and putting some last minute touches on our meal. After opening our Easter baskets, we were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor and celebrate the real reason we were all together today. 

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Party

Wedding Week – Decor and Details

July 10, 2013

Now the real fun begins… decor and details!

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Flowers

We were lucky enough to have a gorgeous venue, but that didn’t keep us from indulging in flowers.  I wanted a neutral palate for the wedding but wanted the focus to be the flowers… fun pops of color against a natural setting.   Instead of giant centerpieces, I suggested going with a daintier, more eclectic set up of various flowers, vases and textures.  This differently helped in the cost department as well.  As I mentioned earlier, multipurpose arrangements (that can be used in the ceremony, then moved to the reception) are another great way to cut cost.  If you are attached to a particular type of flower (i.e. peony), that may not be in season during your wedding, ask your florist for other options that are in season, which can help keep you in budget (we substituted garden roses for peonies and I was just as happy).

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Details

This is where I had the most fun.  We wanted people to know they were at OUR wedding… so this was a great way place to add monograms, personalized napkins, fun favors, customized menus, etc.  Cost can really add up but here are some of my suggestions:

  • Invites/Programs: We used Minted.com for our Invitations.  They do a great job of customization without breaking the bank (we also bought a $100 gift card for $50 on GiltCity.com).  They also offered ceremony programs in the same suite, so we did that to add a fun touch to the day.

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  • DIY Menus: I went to DaFont.com and downloaded similar fonts to the ones used in our invitation suite.  From there I used publisher to create napkin bands with our menu on it (I picked up thick craft paper from Michael’s that I used for any DIY printed project for the wedding… so cheap!).

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  • Ceremony Favors: We passed out bubbles, sunglasses and fans (not needed on our dreary wedding day unfortunately) and made fun little signs to put next to them.

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  • Personalized Details: TheKnot.com had some super affordable personalized items. Some things we picked up – personalized napkins, lollipops, etc.

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  • Seating Chart/Place Cards: I hand wrote our seating chart on black poster board (I was hoping it would look like a chalkboard!?), and then printed place cards and tied them with raffia around small paper bags that we placed a baguette in.

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  • Other: We also created DIY straws with our favorite saying, a fun photo collage of pictures of us, sparklers (that we forgot to use) for the end of the reception, a DIY drink menu with our reception’s specialty drinks and DIY glittered letters to delegate the gift table.

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  • Lawn Games: We bought a corn hole game and ladder golf to bring to our cocktail reception.  It was a great way to get everyone interacting, and what better way to get people acquainted than with some friendly competition?!

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*Images by John Plus Louise Photography

 

Party, Tasty

Summer Soiree

June 24, 2013

BBQ

Our town hosted Dancing on the Ave this past weekend, and J and I wanted to kick-off the event (and summer) with a BBQ! Here was our menu:

Stay tuned Friday for our pitcher drink recipes that we sipped on!