Triple Date Night

Tonight was one of those nights when I can't help but notice that I'm not so young anymore. I mean, I'm young enough to still slightly envy those fist-pumping, solo cup holding, night starts at 10 p.m.-aged people... but I'm old enough to be so thankful that tonight I had a fabulous evening - filled with food, friends and some delicious vino, and was home in my jammies by 10:14 p.m. - perfection!

The evening was hosted by the newlywed Betty (who by the by lives in the cutest apartment in one of my very very favorite cities!)

She had a fabulous menu planned, pappardelle (homemade!!) with mushrooms, braised short ribs, and a chocolate pecan tart. All ridiculously delicious.

Mushrooms...
Homemade pasta...
And a big ole bottle of zin from Ponte winery - mmm!

Birthday!

It was my fabulous hubby's birthday celebration today... and would you believe it, I forgot to take pictures!! For shame!!!!

So, while I took ZERO photos, I can share the other numerical factoids of the day:

18 people

9 racks of ribs

7 chicken breasts

30 rolls

3 quarts of pasta salad

1 fruit salad

1 green salad

1 dozen cookies

2 quarts of salsa

3 kinds of cheeses

4 football games

2 layers of german chocolate cake

5 bags of leftovers

1 happy birthday boy

Note: Picture was from last year... just imagine him 12 months older!

Chocolate and Lemon

My brother's birthday was Monday, and as the nice sister I am, I asked him what his favorite flavors were, and then scoured the internet for an appropriate tasty dessert that would be worthy of his birthday.

(He is after all getting pretty old... so I should do nice things for him...)
The only problem with my brother's taste preferences is that they're... well... ODD! He likes chocolate and lemon. Really? What kind of combo is that?

It turns out... a really. really. good combination! Introducing, a chocolate and lemon tart!

Mmmmm... I want to eat it again! Oh, and my brother called it his favorite dessert ever. EVER.

That's right, I'm a good sister.

NOTE: I modified this slightly, mainly due to time constraints. The recipe called for individual tarts... and I made one big one. Also, the recipe called for chilling the dough and then rolling it out, however I pressed the dough into the pan and shaped it until I was happy with how it looked. It turned out fine... and since I didn't graduate from Le Cordon Bleu I felt comfortable with the shortcut.

Poor. Neglected. Blog.

In the past couple of weeks I haven't blogged... but I have...

Seen my niece Ava!
Had my kitty cat shaved for the summer.
Made a froggie cake...
Had dinner with all my brothas...
It's been a busy couple of weeks! I need to blog more! There's been too much going on!

Sneak Peek... Baby Shower Centerpiece

Can't believe July 1 is this Thursday! When my coworkers and I started talking about throwing our friend's baby shower that date seemed really far away, but it's this Thursday!

Here's a peek at the centerpiece, not 100% positive if this will be the final incarnation of her Princess and the Frog centerpiece, but I've got five of these suckers and I'm thinking they'll be cute!

Baby Shower Invitation/Inspiration

My coworker is having a baby girl! And that means that I get to team up with the ladies to throw the most fabulous baby shower possible in a conference room.

Facts:

• After two boys she's having her first baby GIRL.
• She herself is NOT a girlie-girl.
• Despite not being a girlie-girl, she's into the pink because... well... she's having a GIRL!
• She's diggin' frogs for the nursery.

I found this image and love it! The elephant is "showering" the frogs, and it's PINK!

I'm thinking this is the inspiration for the shower.