Friendsgiving!

Our first friendsgiving potluck took place last Saturday and was a smashing success. Food and drinks and toys and kids and chatter everywhere, a cozy fire outside, a soul music playlist...seriously, such a great way to kick off the start of the holiday season.

 T and I invited several of our favorite friends and their kids to come party potluck style the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I took care of the main dish in addition to preparing a couple simple sides and an appetizer. We bought a few 6 packs and some soft drinks, made a boozy apple cranberry punch and pretty much relied on our party to fall together. And it totally did.

I made these bomb chicken thighs with chorizo and orange zest (no potatoes this time), a green salad, delish green beans with garlic, pine nuts and basil, minestrone and a bruchetta appetizer. Our guests came through with a cheese and cracker plate, creamed corn, cranberry brie bites, two macaroni and cheeses (!) and lots of different desserts and drinks.

After most people had eaten (we kept it casual - it wasn't a sit down dinner or anything), we made smores and had drinks by the fire.

It was such a chill, nice evening. Can't wait for next year's! Here are some tips I've learned that might help for planning your own friendsgiving, or large gatherings in general:

• Don't try and be a hero. Make what is feasible for you and rely on friends to help out. We specified on our invite that guests were to bring a side, app, dessert or drink to share. As the hostess I was able to make a big main dish and regular sized sides knowing that our guests were going to contribute. 
• Pick easy dishes and dishes that you can prep in advance. I had my minestrone done in a flash earlier that day. I also parboiled my green beans and had the garlic for them minced so that before our people arrived I could saute them together really quickly and serve warm. The main chicken dish took hardly any attention at all - you basically throw some things together and forget about it while it bakes.
• Clean your kitchen as you go! And make sure before you begin cooking that your dishwasher is empty.
• Fire! Build a fire outside if you have the means. There's literally no better tool to get your guests gathered together and chatting. Everyone wants to be by the fire. Plus, smores.
• Make a good playlist!With songs that people like; ones that are easy to listen to. I love Led Zeppelin and Wu Tang but that's not the best music to have conversations over. For this party I went with a 60s/70s soul vibe and picked the songs myself. You can listen here, or Spotify has a bunch of great playlists available.
• Let things go and have fun. People will move your flower centerpiece arrangements in order to talk with the people across from them. Kids will drag toys into the living room, wine will spill....whatever. Have a good time and deal with it tomorrow. :)

Happy holidays!

Baby Love - A Simple School Themed Shower

One of my best friends (one of my oldest friends, too - we've been buds since we were 9!) is having a baby in July! A girl baby, at that! Woop! This is a little extra exciting because among my friends and family it's been boy after boy after boy these last few years. I'm thrilled baby K will be adding some feminine energy into the mix.

As soon as she announced her pregnancy, myself and two of our other friends pretty much decided that we'd throw the shower. We knew we'd really have to step up our party planning game because the mama to be is really the queen of crafty and we wanted to do her and baby proud. I think we succeeded!

We held the brunch shower in my backyard over the weekend. Mama to be is a teacher, so we thought it'd be cute to include some school-ish details with the décor.

I made these cute little vases by gluing and tying crayons to some jars. I also purchased some mini pink pencils to use as well. Centerpieces generally consisted of a couple thrift store golden books, a small floral arrangement, a handful of wooden blocks from the dollar store and an apple. Cute, ya?

We also spray painted some cans and decorated them with alphabet and number magnets.

We found some cheap thrift store picture books and flash cards that we could use as garland. I punched some holes, strung some ribbon and bam. I also made some using scrapbook paper. These hung over the food table, drink station, patio tarp thing and the area behind where the mama sat to open her gifts. My sister and I also made a few tissue paper flowers and one of those paper chain things just for kicks.

For brunch I prepared a spicy sausage, kale and gruyere strata, a zucchini, tomato, parsley and fontina strata*, three kinds of simple croissant sandwiches (turkey + avocado, ham + havarti, salami, mortadella + provolone), a big garden salad with a lemon vinaigrette, caprese skewers, a fruit tray and yogurt parfaits. The grandmas-to-be brought an assortment of mini desserts and co-host M made a yummy, boozy punch with basil, raspberry lemonade and lots of orange juice and champagne to make your own mimosas. She had a ton of left over mason jars from her wedding which we used as glasses for our guests.

*I'll post my strata recipe another time. Do you make strata? They save my life when cooking for a crowd. They are so easy, so adaptable to any taste and they can be completely prepped the night before. They actually need to be prepped the night before. Such a hit. Thank heavens for strata, I say.

A few weeks before the shower I snapped some maternity photos of the mama and daddy to be. One of the co-hosts had them printed and framed and placed around some of the communal tables, along with some fun framed baby photos of the expectant couple.

We had a few different cards printed out with different prompts on them for the ladies to fill out - What's your favorite thing about being a mom, What's your favorite thing about your mom, and What's your favorite motherhood memory. Mama to be actually had a hand in this by letting us know early on that she didn't necessarily want "advice" from her friends and family, but would rather they share a special memory with her about being a mom or about their mother. I thought this was such a great idea. Our friend and shower co-host is going to compile the responses in a scrapbook. In addition, I made a little "Dear Baby" template where guests could write a little note to the baby if they wanted.

We aren't really big on organized games, but we did want something optional and fun for the guests to participate in - other than, you know, stuffing their faces and drinking mimosas. We contacted the grandmas and asked them to share a few funny stories/quirks about their kids. We chose a handful, printed them out on cards and had guests guess which of the baby's parents the story is attributed to. The winner received a couple outdoor lantern candle holders. Pretty simple.

Since baby's name is Adalene and baby's mama is a teacher who loves rice krispy treats, my sister made some as favors with an icing A on them. We figured our guests deserved an A for their attendance. ;)

 All in all it was a super sweet day. I can't freaking wait to squeeze that baby's face off.

And if you care:
Invitations here
Spotify playlist here

Christmas 2014

My favorite thing in life is to gather with the people I love to eat, drink and be merry, so naturally the holiday season is my jam.

This year we bought a $20 tree from the grocery store because Christmas tree farm trees are just stupid expensive. And I think it looks at least as lovely as any $100 farm tree.

 

 

 

 Every year over Thanksgiving dinner (this is how food-centered my family is!) we discuss what we'll make for Christmas dinner. We like to go all out with holiday food and never do the traditional turkey and potatoes or anything like that. We always go for all the way homemade and it's almost always Italian. This year we decided on Nana Stizzo's roast cooked in tomato sauce and pasta. The day before Christmas Eve my sisters, parents and I made fettuccini to be dried and saved for our Christmas dinner. Despite the photos, Van actually was not very helpful to the process.

We enjoyed a ham dinner on the Eve at T's dad's house. I made these bomb-ass potatoes. Van was gifted some Lincoln Logs and a Daniel Tiger stuffed animal that says "Hi Neighbor!" and "Do you want to make believe with me?". He loves it. And the farm dog figure that comes with the Lincoln Logs...the logs themselves mostly piss him off because he has a hard time matching up the ends. :)

After dinner and the exchange of gifts we headed to my friend's parents' house for some drinks, desserts and SANTA. I love that Santa shows up at this annual Christmas party for a bit because it'll be a cold day in hell when I wait in some mall line to pay $ for a picture of my kid on Santa's lap. Nope, no thank you.

singing carols with auntie kristel, waiting for santa

he told santa he wanted candy for Christmas. last year he asked santa if he knew how to play Christmas songs on the piano.

Christmas morning was fun, but rushed. I really need to remedy this for next year. Tony's mom's family gets together for Christmas day brunch/lunch which is really gnarly for us because we are such late birds. We basically force V out of bed each year, rush him through gift opening at our house, run him across the street to my parents house for a gift exchange, and run him back home to change so we can get out the door and to T's family's event. He's a really good sport about it, but next year I'm going to advocate for a little more time to ourselves Christmas morning so Van can relax and eat breakfast and play with his cool new stuff before having to put everything away to go to see T's family. I'll figure something out!

Nonetheless, he really enjoyed himself.

After brunch and games with T's family we headed to my parents' house to enjoy the fruits of our pasta making labor a few days before. It was as good as we hoped it would be. I had so much fun playing Heads Up at brunch that I made some of my family play it on Christmas night. We exchanged gifts with my sisters, ate hella food, and drank a bunch of wine...good times. The best times, really.

playing grocery store with granddad and his new cart and "food" from aunt rachel

The Freakin' (Wedding, Birthday) Weekend

This year I got to spend my birthday in lovely Santa Barbara celebrating my oldest friend's wedding. despite my kid puking in the car on the way up and crapping on the floor of our rental home (seriously...and it wasn't totally his fault. i can explain later...) it was a really fantastic weekend.

we took my sister and brother in law along with us so they could watch van while we were at the wedding. it was so nice to have them not only to babysit the night of, but just to offer help throughout the weekend. i feel so lucky to be surrounded my family and friend/family that are always around and willing to help out with van. i think that's the best way to grow up. i digress....

we got into Santa Barbara and checked in to the really great house we rented from a vacation rental site. it was awesome and quiet had an incredible view of the city. after settling in, we had a few beers and headed out to dinner.

we combed State Street and landed on this place. it was really good! the ambiance was nice, and they gave us a bomb dessert because they felt bad about accidentally adding tomatoes to my brother in law's salad. hah! van was exhausted and stayed asleep pretty much the whole time.

the next day aja and shea took van out shopping and to the beach while tony and i attended the wedding. my friend Kaitlin and her husband Matt both have ties in the wedding/event industry. needless to say, their celebration was off the chain. i didn't take too many photos, but did manage to snap these two of their stunning table décor and the area where the dinner was held. the ceremony took place at the Santa Barbara mission, and the reception was at the Bacara Resort and Spa. both venues were so pretty.

                

 in addition to all the superficial aspects of the wedding, the toasts were great and the overall vibe was really loving and warm. it was one of the best weddings I've ever been a part of.

on sunday we packed up, went to lunch and took van to the ocean once more before we hit the road. this little bugger is so fearless, i tell you. he was all up in that water.

 the drive home was LONG. we needed to stop and get something to eat, but the only place for miles and miles was Pea Soup Andersen's. if it wasn't in the middle of freaking nowhere, no one would ever go there. this place could not exist anywhere else. their specialty is pea soup, for christ sakes. the waitress was old and mean and they gave tony two bottom buns on his hamburger.

we left for Italy three days after returning from our long Santa Barbara weekend because we are crazy like that. it's been an eventful month. chaotic, but worth it. i'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Enough with the Labels, Okay?

i'm over it. and when i say "labels" i mean literal, physical, handwritten or typed out or chalkboarded labels and shit, labeling items that don't need labeling.

like cutesy little drink tables that label things like "beer" or "wine." or taco bars with labels like "lettuce" or "salsa." or shelves in bathrooms with labels on them that say "towels."

labels should be there to help us out with things that might not be so obvious. so if there's a mystery keg, go ahead and make me an artsy little label that let's me know what i'm about to tap, such as "downtown brown" or "shock top." help me to know which of the salsas at your party is spicy and which is mild. label things vegetarian, vegan or gluten free. that's helpful. is this sun dried tomato hummus, or roasted red pepper hummus? thanks for the little folded card in front labeling it, i couldn't tell by looking at it.

"i'm gonna put a bird on a bird, put it in a jar and label it."

you know portlandia's put a bird on it? i said awhile ago that i wanted to make a follow up called "put it in a jar" to clown on all the silly things in jars. mundane things or ordinary thoughtless things that somehow become special and funky and "indie" (i hate that word) because they are now in their cool jar home.

like this nonsense. cute, but come on. there's not enough basil there to create anything meaningful.

once i make my "put it in a jar follow up", i'm going to follow that up with "label it." anyone have fred armisen's phone number?

We're Having a Party

i love me a good party. my sister, mom and i spent our weekend prepping some of the decorations for our nana's 80th birthday party next weekend. i found this party online awhile ago that really inspired the look for my nana's party. we even went with shades of green for ours too.

my talented friend christina designed the invitations. we made them into postcards to save a little cash on mailing. a ton of family told me just to do evites for something, but i love receiving something beautiful and printed and hand addressed in the mail.

my pretty nana...no idea what year. she looks like she might be in her late twenties? early thirties?

we made vertical hanging garland out of scrapbook paper circles and some hemp twine stuff i bought at michael's for about 10 dollars. 

every few circles is a scanned photograph of my nana.

we also used the hemp twine stuff to wrap around mason jars and various vases to be used as centerpieces. we stamped some round tags with nana's initial.

mark it with a 'p'

usually when i plan parties i worry about whether or not the decor will look good. i'm really not fretting about this one at all. i think once everything comes together, it will look awesome!