A Hostess (with the mostess?)
Monday, April 29, 2013 at 11:11AM My Birthday weekend was epic! Let me tell you why:
- First, there were not one, but TWO furruses (a.k.a. furry four legged creatures) present at the party which made it way more bublibicious! Ada was jumping on my lap the whole evening, and Lucy was staying under the table, making sure Brian does not leave without her.
- Second, my husband cooked an eight course dinner for me and my friends.
- Third, I felt truly loved. Everyone's toasts were touching and humbling at the same time. I got lots of hugs and lots of kind words (some of which could probably be attributed to the existence of the scoreboard with everyone's name on it).
The planning really started few weeks ago when I decided to buy a dining table that can expand to seat twelve people. Once the table arrived, I got all kinds of ideas about what to put on it. The ideas continue coming in and I already know this table is going to be put into heavy use.
You can see it with your own eyes in the following time lapse from my birthday dinner. Pump up the volume:
The table inspiration came from Pinterest. How close did I get to the inspiration?
After I made the custom tablecloth, I knew the rest was all about adding a ton of flowers, gold and bling! The flowers came from SF Flower Market (where I managed to buy them in spite of being talked to only in Spanish) and I arranged them the day of the party. The cupcakes came from Julie, who designed them for Baker and Banker herself! They were fantastic white chocolate raspberry ganache filled pieces of heaven!
People nearest and dearest to my heart were there:
Guests knew they will get points for wearing salmon/gold attire to match the table. What I did not expect, however, was that this new point-collecting game will continue through the night and we will end up with everyone competing for points on the scoreboard. People got points for the weirdest things. Aria got five points for taking Ada out for a walk. With three toasts which included a dancing toast, Erin totally earned the first place:
And now onto the food. As is common with Brad's cooking, the dinner was partially improvised but the main ideas were set ahead of time. The courses were:
- ceviche
- beef tataki
- summer squash and red lentil soup with chicken, creme fraiche, scallions and chives
- arugula salad with spring corn and foie gras vinaigrette
- seared foie gras with frisee, crostini, and mango chutney
- intermezzo (coconut sorbet with strawberries)
- main course (salmon with glazed carrots)
- dessert (Julie's cupcakes and a cheese plate)
As is common with me, I properly photographed all eight courses:
After reviewing the footage from the time-lapse camera upstairs, I discovered a few gems that show just how much fun we all had. It even looks like Brian and Alex were ready to take it outside at some point. :)
Big thanks to my wonderful manus for treating his ladus like a queen and cooking for us all! Also, big thanks to Tess who was helping Brad make this dinner go smoothly.
Reader Comments (2)
I have gone through your work and I have fallen in love with it. It has all those qualities which a good photographer should have; balanced focus, selection of the background, angle, colors and so on. Actually there is something inimitable about your click which has attracted not only me but many other people as well. Keep going on.
Thank you Christina! :)