Dinner Party

Dusting,
Vacuuming,
Prepping food,
Creating the perfect playlist,
Seating arrangment––it’s important to consider who’s NOT talking to who.
Lighting candles,
Stocking the bar,
Friends arrive:
Small talk, greetings, meeting new friends;
Drinks are served––now the fun begins.
Laughter, gossip, food, and more booze;
Tis the season to be jolly.
...tonight marks dinner party number FIVE... four more to go!

Dinner With Friends

When preparing a birthday dinner for yourself;
Remember:
Inviting friends to a restaurant is so much easier.
Still, it is nice to share my grandma’s spaghetti and meatballs with my inner circle.
In honor of Gram’s birthday––I went all out.
Tomorrow, I’m going to sleep all day.

Dirty

Washing the dishes the morning after a dinner party is dirty, smelly, and it’s much more difficult to scrub away the caked-on shit;
Similare to recovering from a hook-up in your twenties.

Note To Self:

Dinner Parties are hard;

I need a staff!

The Aftermath...

Cleaning up after a dinner party is similar to rummaging through a teenagers bedroom-
Everywhere you look there is a stack of something gross and crusty.
Half-eaten containers of food underneath furniture.
Overflowing trash bin.
Board game remnants strewn about.
And a funky smell fills the air... What is that?  It's nothing that was prepared by me!
#CleanUpIsGross

The Problem With Food...

If you overeat, you'll gain weight.
(Tough to remember when you've prepared a steakhouse dinner with friends, and devour three times the daily allowance of: butter, salt, bacon, potatoes, French bread and handcrafted Nutella!)
#ThatsLife #ItWasWorthIt!

Tis' The Season

I'm overeating,
And drinking too much,
Laughing a lot,
And growing a gut!

Terrific Tuesday!

It's going to be a terrific Tuesday I can tell;
The birds are chirping,
The sky is blue,
I'm enjoying a cup of coffee on my balcony.
Then off to work, meetings all day-
But looking forward tonight,
Dinner with friends downtown,
Balancing work and play!

Dinner Party with Friends!

Pop the cork,

The dancing begins,

Appetizers passed,

Then dinner with friends,

Lot's of champagne, wine and food-

Went to bed early...

Got up late!

The Trouble With Alcohol...

Dinner parties are always fun with friends;
Especially when booze are involved!
You laugh,
You gossip,
You compare your shitty week-
You say outlandish things that stop everyone in their tracks;
Until spontaneous, gut-wrenching outbursts erupt!
You go to Tweet it, and the table glares...
I get it! No social media during dinner!
I wake up the next day...
I can't remember a damn thing!
That's the trouble with alcohol...
It's all fun and games, until you wake up and forget who you are.

The Day After a Dinner Party

Too much wine;

Need more sleep.

Puppies up;

They need to pee!

Ugh!

It's going to be a long day...

Spaghetti Dinner

One of my favorite childhood memories is Sunday Dinner!

Waking up watching. Watching cartoons until mom or dad told me I had to get in the shower and get dressed... Then off to church.  

Once church was out, I was eager to get to my grandma's house.

I'll never forget the smell when I'd walk into the house!

The aroma was so enticing I could hardly wait to dig into a huge bowl of spaghetti and meatballs!

As I got older, I sat and watched both of my grandmas prepare their unique recipe for the sauce.

Eventually, I started making the sauce with them...

Now, I'm on my own.  I've created a nice hybrid of both recipes that either grandma would be proud!

I love having friends over for my version of spaghetti dinner.
(Even if it's not Sunday...)

The aroma is the same, and so is the love from which it was prepared.

But I don't think it'll ever taste quite as divine as it did as a child!

Working 9 to 5... Is No Way To Make a Living!

I spent the entire day working on the computer.

God, I'm so thankful I don't have a 9 to 5 office job-

If I had to stare at a monitor five days a week, all day long you would NEVER see me on Facebook or any other social website!

Don't even get me started on the stupid rainbow spinning track wheel!!!

Now, it's time to release the day;

I'm really looking forward to a lovely dinner party with friends tonight.

As for tomorrow...

Well, that will come soon enough.

Sundays

Chillin' on the sofa,

I've got a puppy on either side of me.

Switching back and forth between Discovery documentaries

and Family Guy on Netflix.

The cool ocean breeze is blowing in through the living room window.

Taking a little catnap before a dinner with friends...

I LOVE Sundays!

Six Word Essay On Dinner With Friends...

Booze, food and laughter- perfect night!

Dinner Party Pain

Throwing a dinner party while in extreme oral pain isn't recommended-
However, if you're a professional... like myself;
All you need is four Advil, three glasses of cheap red wine, and the funniest friends you know!

Dinner Party in The Hollywood Hills...

Amazing house;

Wonderful people.

The wine is poured;

Dinner is delicious!

Half finished Domino's game-

The foyer makes an excellent stage for a Sound of Music singalong;

Which blows up into a full Broadway review show!

Brilliant personalities fill the decadent home.

I love this group of people!

What an exceptional evening...

Spaghetti Dinner!

Both of my grandmas are Italian, so you can imagine how wonderful Sunday Dinners are with my family. As a kid, I remember stuffing my face with endless amounts of spaghetti, meatballs, Italian sausage, braciole, various meets and cheeses... and more bread than you'd believe!

The dinner was more than just food though. It was a wonderful day of family, friends and fighting. (The fighting was not the best part, nevertheless, it was a major part of my childhood.)

As and adult, I love going home to visit my grams' and spend quality time with both of them in the kitchen. Over the years, I've slowly started to incorporate both of their techniques into my own unique hybrid of their delicious and savory recipes. (My food is never going to taste as brilliant as either of my grams' cooking, however, I'm not going to give up trying...)

Now, I look forward to having my own Sunday Dinners in Los Angeles. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like, but when all of my friends come together, our evening is a harmonious blend of laughter, food and yes even a little fighting!

Tonight, I'm hosting a spaghetti dinner. I've made over twenty meatballs, two pounds of Italian sausage, two pounds of stew meat, three pounds of spaghetti, all the appetizers you can dream of, and of course five bottles of wine!

The most important thing in my life is my family- and my friends are very much an extend part of my family.

I'm so grateful to both of my grandmas for sharing their love of food and family in perfect balance. It's the perfect Italian marriage!

Perfect Cocktail!

Nothing says; "Perfect Dinner Party!" Like a delicious summer cocktail.

Tonight, I'm pleased to present:

A crisp Gin and Tonic with hand picked fresh mint, raspberries marinated in red wine, and a twist of lime!

Crisp. Fresh. Delicious.

Go Summer Dinner Party!

Dinner Parties Are Fun!

Arrive at a lovely home you've never been to before;

Usually in the valley...

Enter into a group of people already happily socializing-

Wine, wine, wine;

Small appetizers passed,

Outdoor dinning room, perfectly landscaped-

One guest always brings that "Next Best Thing" in Hollywood-

She makes you laugh too hard-

Industry talk until everyone is "over it..."

Desert comes with more wine!

Everyone is merrily carrying on-

Dinner Parties are Fun!