I absolutely adore party planning and entertaining, but in my tiny one bedroom apartment it just wasn't possible. Saturday night I had my first real party in the new house, and I think it was a success! There were some spills (a select group of people may or may not have reenacted our college days and played slap the bag with boxed wine in the kitchen, and a pink drink might have spilled on my white duvet), but it was nothing that couldn't be mopped up or washed out. I was even able to remain relatively calm and relinquish control so that I could actually enjoy myself. Surprising I know!
 |
| Get it girl! |
I didn't plan very well, and scheduled the party the same day I was running a half marathon (that I did absolutely no training for and was therefore incredibly sore afterwards), but I survived and even PR'ed shaving about 6 minutes off my previous best time! So happy I can check another thing off my 28 Things Before 28 list which I feel like I have been completely slacking on!
I was a little nervous about where everyone was going to go during the party since my house is by no means large so Friday evening I made a trip to Lowe's and gathered materials to build a fire pit so people would mingle outside as well as inside. Shout out to Molly and Maggie for helping me carry 36 incredibly heavy and dusty rocks from my car to the backyard. Also, I would just like to say hah! to the worker at Lowe's who seemed very skeptical of my ability to build the fire pit. We sure did prove him wrong, and I must say I personally think we did a pretty stellar job! Now if only I can learn to build a fire... Luckily we had some Eagle Scouts in attendance who stepped up to the plate!
Since I was a little pressed for time on Saturday with the race in the morning, my roommates and I decided to go for easy appetizers. On the menu was pesto flat bread pizza from Trader Joe's (where else?), mozzarella tomato basil skewers, coconut shrimp, crackers and cheese, hummus and veggies, and chips and guac because no party is complete without guacamole. Ever. Obviously I also had three desserts since I have a sweet tooth that is impossible to satisfy. I made cake pops for a first communion last week so I whipped up some extras while I was at it, and also threw together some cupcakes and chocolate chip brownies on Saturday. I think everyone enjoyed the food considering the plates were wiped clean when I went to clean up the next morning, but the biggest hit was probably the punch. I started with this recipe for Pineapple Lemonade Sangria, but improvised slightly. Since I got several requests, below is what I think actually went into the punch I made:
Pineapple Lemonade Sangria
1 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup Triple Sec
3/4 cup simple syrup (2 parts water to 1 part sugar)
1/3 liter Diet Sprite
1 (12 oz) can frozen lemonade
1 large (20 oz) can pineapple chunks
1 Gala apple, unpeeled, cored and cut into chunks
10 strawberries, sliced thin
1 orange, sliced thin
1 lemon, sliced thin
I think I will definitely have to do a variation of this punch at our next get together since I never actually had a chance to try it this go-around. I foresee a Cinqo de Mayo party and lots of backyard BBQs in our future...especially since my patio furniture is being delivered tomorrow!
Bring on summer!
No comments:
Post a Comment