Lindsey's Engaged!

Today’s lazy Sunday dinner party was a success! Yesterday was a loooong day with my AFAA certification exam (I am sure I did well, thanks for your help again Gina!), and I was feeling a little under the weather. Luckily, I have gotten the party prep down to a science.

My fun little centerpiece:

(yes, those are fake flowers and tissue paper hahaha! But I thought it was cute nonetheless! Need to be creative!)

And the table:

(I forgot to take a picture of the table before we started eating! this is the best I could do…)

Here’s what I did to get ready for the dinner:

1. Cleaned my house from top to bottom. I had a few mishaps, including breaking a mirror (will I really have bad luck for 7 years????), cleaning out some drawers of junk (3 garbage bags’ worth), and attempting to fix my dryer (a leak and a few frantic phone calls and I realized I need a replacement part eek!) Looks like the mirror kind of did me in! I hope I won’t have bad luck, really! It was a mirror I’ve had for like 15 years too. A little hand one. Anyway…. besides the above I also vacuumed the whole house, polished all the wood furniture, put stuff away, scrubbed the granite, and mopped the hardwoods.

2. Set the table and thought about what plates everything will go in. I picked up this bizarre habit from my aunt of labeling all of my plates with a little sticky on the day of the party so I don’t forget which dish will go in which plate. I can’t wait for plain white dishes so I can have pretty designed tablecloths!

3. Prepped the food as much as I could. I made the fresh whipped cream, cleaned up that bowl and such, cut the onion and mushrooms for the risotto, cleaned and cut the chicken, etc. I also prepped all the frutti di bosco bowls (berry bowls). Made the caprese stackers too.

4. I showered, but didn’t get dolled. As I am feeling a little sick I just didn’t feel up to it. I wore an old grey RISD long sleeve shirt my cousin gave me + black comfy GAP lounge pants. Attractive ay?

5. I began cooking for the dinner!

Having your friends over doesn’t have to be stressful. The biggest thing to remember is the more prep work you do before, the easier it is on you in that moment. By the time 3 PM came around all I had to do was cook the actual food, everything else was ready to go! And even most of the food was prepped, measured, etc. I had even prepped the coffee machine with fresh filtered water and coffee.

And it was treat night! I enjoyed a small piece of chicken, small bowl of salad, decent portion of risotto, and a few too many cookies Lindsey brought over! Luckily they were small!

I just finished cleaning up the kitchen; everything is in its place and I have a clean house to enjoy. I am listening to Aventura’s “Obsesion” album, one I listened to daily in 2004 in Firenze. I am so going down memory lane right now!! It is so strange sometimes how years of memories can just flash by so quickly. I bought my condo (my first property!) less than 2 years ago and I am already leaving in May (I am living at my dads for the last 7 weeks before the wedding). In fact, I met PB just 8 weeks after I signed on my place. Those 8 months of study abroad in Italy? That was FIVE years ago! Time really does fly!!! And my high school friend Lindsey? I’ve known her for over 10 years now! Woah!

Wherever you are in your life.. whether it be high school, college, the real world… enjoy every day, and make fun and lasting memories!!!! They will carry you through the sad days and make the happy ones even happier!

See you all tomorrow for some recipes!!!!