I was asked to plan a very simple baby shower for a colleague at work so this is what I did. 

I love those giant balloons. 🙂

For dinner I made bruschetta with homemade herbed ricotta cheese (no picture), 

Roasted beet salad with truffle goat cheese,

Truffle tagliatelle pasta

Porcini mushroom and rosemary crusted beef tenderloin with port wine sauce

Another fantastic time with friends!

For appetizers, I had sliced salami, cheese, fig jam and crackers in one plate and dates & gorgonzola cheese drizzled with honey on the other.

Roasted butternut squash salad with warm cider vinaigrette

Cowboy rubbed rib eye with chocolate stout pan sauce

The rub recipe was amazing.

penne cauliflower and cheese

8 adults, 4 bottles of wine… I say we had a good time. 🙂

I’m getting ready to host a dinner party tomorrow. When I’m planning a party the first thing I do is buy fresh flowers and set the tables. Nothing transforms the room and gets me in the mood for party like beautiful floral arrangements.

I jumped through hoops and hurdles at LaGuardia airport yesterday after the big snow storm and barely made it out to Florida last night. Phew. I didn’t think I’ll make it.

Hello Orlando.

For this year’s jewelry sale, I invited my friend Amy, who became a consultant for Beautycounter to join my holiday party.

Ready to party with ladies!

We had a little impromptu party with Chloe and Shane’s friends in our backyard before going out trick or treating.

Somehow it always turns into a spa party with Chloe’s friends.

Chloe’s a musketeer and Shane’s a wizard.

Our living room turned into a photo studio.

Getting ready for the count down.

Andrew handing out bright red juices for the over tired kids…to take it everywhere in the house… Hmmm, you didn’t think that through, did you?

Cheers!

Kids ready for bed at around 1am…

For our annual photo-shoots backdrop.

We literally decide to host this year’s New Years party during our ski trip and we returned yesterday. As soon as I woke up this morning, I went through everything in my craft/decorations closets and pull these out.

Since we had less than 24 hrs to prepare, we went 90% store bought for the food and I made 1 star dish, 

Seared petite lamb chops with rosemary balsamic reduction

Plus, I can also rely on my friends to bring food. 🙂