My XMAS Puppy

Gus looks so cute with his new 'do, that I had to show an updated picture of our puppy, Gracie! She has a new Christmas Collar from The Monogram Shop in KC. It is red with green Christmas trees. Isn't she the cutest? We just celebrated her first birthday!



Happy Wednesday! XOXO

Tablescape...on a budget!

A few weeks ago, the family gathered at my home to have dinner. In the summer, we get together at least once a week, but around the Holidays, it always seems to be a bit more difficult. Getting together with family and friends is the best way to spend a weekend or weekday evening! Since we have lived in our house full-time for a little under a year, we are still working on collecting items to serve with, eat with, etc. I had to go out a purchase a few items (all within a strict budget) and here is the result...





The napkins were purchased from Pottery Barn (red, and on sale) and Target (white). I didn't have napkin rings, so I took some twine and tied it in a bow around the napkins. The table runner was from Pottery Barn (also on sale). And the votives were all purchased from Nell Hill's. The smaller gold and silver votives were $1 a piece and they are gorgeous! The bigger candleholder in the middle was about $4 and works great outside, too! (See below)


For an appetizer we served Baked Brie from Jenny Steffens. Very yummy, I needed to let mine cook for a little bit longer, but still quite tasty!!

For dinner, my sister made a fried goat cheese salad, and I made a beef tenderloin (courtesy of Jenny Steffens), and mashed potatoes.



We also had brownie ala mode for dessert, but no pictures of that (it was too tasty!).

Moral of the Story: Always keep your eyes open for sale items (especially after the Holidays!)

XOXO

Will you be my....

Better late than never, a reoccurring theme in my posts. Anyway, when my brother got engaged, we were all extremely excited. And then, his fiance asked my sisters and I to be bridesmaids! She asked us in a fun and creative way! Her favorite color is yellow, so she found a bottle of wine with mostly yellow decor and bought one for all of the bridesmaids! She also found a yellow dress, from 27 dresses and added our picture to the dress. On the back of the dress, she asked us to be her bridesmaids! It was a fun and exciting way to be asked to be a bridesmaid!!



Hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend! Dinner club MD went to breakfast at Room 39 on Saturday, quite tasty and worth the wait!!

XOXO

Christmas Cut

Happy Friday!

Gussy is looking very handsome with his new Christmas Hair-do! We will be spending the weekend prepping for the wonderful Holiday Season.

SPOOKIFIED Menu

Menu

Sangria
Margaritas (see recipe here)

Appetizer Platter
Assorted Olives
Olive Tapenade
Peperoncini Peppers
Romano Cheese
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
Assorted Italian Sausage

Hummus (see recipe here)

Fried Calamari
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Squid with tentacles
All purpose flour
s&p
Lemons

Simple Salad
Mixed Greens
Asparagus
Pecans
Green Onions
Grilled Tomatoes
Feta Cheese

Paella
Arborio Rice
Saffron
Fish Stock
Sausage (Chorizo & Italian)
Prawns (Jumbo Shrimp)
Mussels
Boneless Chicken Breast
Artichoke Hearts
Peas
Tomatoes
Scallions

Red Velvet Cake (we attempted to make it orange... :)
Captiva Island Bubble Room

Dinner Club MD gets SPOOKIFIED

We were so excited to all get together for dinner over Halloween weekend. For this Dinner Club gathering we invited the husbands, fiances and boyfriends to join in on the fun (lucky guys...huh?!?)

Halloween is such a fun theme so my mom and I decided we wanted to incorporate the theme throughout the night in a few
ways:

Greeted the guests with a chalkboard sign
Dressed the part - "spooky hats"
Table center pieces - Gourds and Pumpkins
Coasters (also worked as great seat place cards!)

But the truth is, theme or not, the night was all about the great food, fabulous company and lots of laughs! (the dinner menu is coming soon). We all sat in the same room (so cozy!) - "mom table" and "daughter table" and we ended the night entertaining ourselves while playing Table Topics.

And of course, Gussy didn't miss out on the fun - (check out his cute Halloween bandanna)

We can't wait until the next time!

Enjoy the Weekend... this beautiful bouquet & some vino!

During this past week, I needed a positive thought to help me get through it... I find it most helpful and very true.
"Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out."
- Jack Buck

Happy Weekend!