r e c o v e r y

Ahhh.... What a BBQ!!! (I wish I had taken more photos...)

It may take me a few days to fully recover! We had more than 30 guests at our BBQ! It was a BLAST!!! I hope that our friends had as wonderful a time as we did! Although I am totally exhausted today I am already looking forward to planning another one in August. I feel so lucky to have such a great bunch of friends. They are all such nice, thoughtful, funny, interesting people. The party began around 4:00 and lasted until around 11:30 or so. There was relaxing in the spa, "competitive" billiards, a little Rock Band (Tim... we needed you! Next time! You'd be impressed... Julie was rockin' out on those drums and guitar! Maybe next time we'll get her to sing!?!), AND lots of just hanging out enjoying each other. Nearly everyone we invited came... only a couple of invitees were out of town and unable to join us (Art! and Jared!). Hopefully they'll be able to make the next one! :)

I am sad to say that our dear friends Nathan and Zhanna weren't able to make our BBQ... they had some excuse about the commute was too long or there was traffic or something. (They recently moved to Connecticut, this is NOT an excuse!) We missed you! :)

I don't know how I made it to volleyball this morning... I was definitely even more tired when I got home! Cami, Norm, and I relaxed in the spa for a couple of hours and just enjoyed being lazy. It felt great. On the way back into the house I couldn't resist taking photos of my succulent that has been blooming so beautifully for the past few weeks. I LOVE the colors... sage and a peachy orange. I wasn't certain if I would be able to capture the delicate and unique nature of the bloom. I hope I have. I also took some photos of one of my hibiscus plants that had a blossom open today. The petals and stamen were perfect. I posted a couple of macro shots on flickr.

I am very excited! I was featured for the first time in a treasury today! Thanks so much Mizzdraconia! I feel very honored to have one of my listings noticed and categorized with such wonderful "chocolate" themed items. :)

What a terrific weekend it's been!

more party preparations

The backyard is ready! The grill is ready! I was starting to get a little nervous about the grill... Norm got a new grill recently. We changed over from propane to gas. We had a plumber out to put the switch on the gas but we didn't have the right hoses so he didn't hook up the grill. Norm got all the parts he thought he needed but needed a professional to make sure we didn't blow up the neighborhood! I'm so glad that one of our dear friend's dad (the professional) was able to come over and finish plumbing the gas for us. Super nice of him to come on a holiday too! I'm so glad that it's all hooked up. This party will be our "break in" for the new grill. I had been teasing Norm that our BBQ was going to end up being a pizza party if it didn't get hooked up soon! :)

I posted a few photos on flickr of our new backyard furniture arrangement. It's amazing what a new arrangement can do! I loved how we had it before... but now it just seems perfect! We replaced the outdoor rug and I LOVE it. I found one that had swirls that imitates the swirls in the paisley pillows on the couch (plus it was 50% off!!! Hallelujah!). The new lights around the exterior added a nice touch as well. The torch lights on the coffee table are new also. We have matching torches that are on the hill side of the pool. I can't wait to see them all lit up tomorrow!

It was baking day today. Here are SOME of the cookies I made today! I made oatmeal chocolate chip, Reese's and Snickers filled butter tarts, lemon bars, AND cheesecake. My house smells wonderful... sniff... mmmm.... Tomorrow I have TONS to do! Norm is in charge of the BBQ and I handle all the other stuff. I guess I better make it an earlier night as I'll be up early. It's party day... almost! :)

party preparations

Today was easier than yesterday! I'm glad all that shopping was done yesterday... I did have a couple of items that had to be picked up but it was simple stuff, ten minutes at the store kind of easy.

My sous/pastry chef (Cami) and I made the BBQ sauce and mixed up two types of cookie dough. Norm and I put some new fresh lights (the old ones were definitely ready to be replaced!) up in the backyard. It looks sooo pretty. I'll have to take a photo to post as soon as we're finished putting the outdoor furniture back. It's those little things that feel so special. We had such a lovely time this evening getting those lights up and figuring out how we were going to arrange them. Our backyard is small but it's lovely to sit back in the gazebo and watch the kids swim in the pool. It feels homey and comfortable. I love it!

I contained myself today... I almost went out on a tangent of wanting to make all these little candle arrangements... Luckily, I got past that initial crafty add-another-item-to-the-list thing. Pheww.... that was close! I would have really stressed myself out in trying to get everything accomplished! :)

I kind of feel like I should have done more today (probably due to that close crafty call)... but I think things are going pretty well. Tomorrow Cami and I will do the baking and prepare a couple of other items that can be made ahead of time. Of course... there's still the question as to whether any one will show up! ;)