New Years Dinner

We typically throw a pretty large theme party for New Year's Eve, but this year, we wanted to host a low key dinner for our closest friends. Instead of spending weeks working on homemade decorations as I usually do, I acquired everything I needed during a whirlwind shopping spree at Party City. Cheap silver tinsel garland looked much fancier when lit by our christmas light canopy and a couple small spotlights!

The deer was decked out in some festive New Years attire.
The simple table setup- we were excited to use our new Laguiole steak knives!
Most people use tiny culinary torches for meringue- I go right for the big guns and use our outdoor blow torch!
AJ looked quite dapper while fixing himself a champagne cocktail.
For dinner, we had a rosemary and garlic leg of lamb, roasted root vegetables, and macaroni with truffles, bacon, and gruyere.
Dessert was a four layer lemon chiffon cake with a lemon creme and caramel filling, topped with a fluffy Italian meringue.


After dinner, we spent the night dancing and (unfortunately) singing.
We always close out the night with scotch and cigars on the back porch.

a very cabin christmas

Of all the parties we throw each year, the holiday party is my absolute favorite. It has the biggest turn out, everyone is always dressed to the nines, and the decorations can stay up for an entire month. This year I went for a cozy cabin theme- I picked up tons of discounted flannel from the fabric store, raided my parents' basement for old winter sport gear, and stocked up on taxidermy and animal pelts.

Pillows were covered with flannel, and every animal in the house got a little plaid scarf.

I switched out some artwork for vintage ice skates, badminton rackets, and (of course) deer.
My concrete deer got his own little Christmas tree.

I made this house for last year's winter wonderland themed holiday party, and I was shocked to find it survived a year hanging out in our scary basement.
My grandmother's punch bowl was used for Adam's incredible eggnog punch, which is always a party favorite.

The dining room lighting is the best part of our Christmas decorations. Last year, Adam and AJ installed tiny hooks around the ceiling for evenly spaced rows of lights, and the hooks are perfect for hanging decorations all year round.

ghoul city

I can be a total creep, but I'm not so good at being creepy in the ghoulish sense. This year, I threw my first Halloween party, and I achieved a level of creepiness that I previously thought was impossible. Even if my guests weren't terrified, the kids that live next door definitely were.

I wired together this freak laboratory using old keg parts and other things I actually had laying around the house. Added a little food coloring and dry ice, turned the lights off, and voila! Creepy.

This ghoul was set up in our foyer- I made him using a balloon, a few coats, and one strategically placed lightbulb.

Then it got a bit demented. My housemate and I tore apart thrift store dolls, blacked out their eyes, and wired them together with hangers to make a chandelier and garland.

We used our projector to screen old Hitchcock films on the ceiling throughout the night.

We made bats from faux leather and picture wire and filled the hallway.

The bathroom walls were covered with psychotic rants, and the radio was set to a low static.

For the treat table, I made vanilla cupcakes, ghost sugar cookies, peanut butter cups, and my version of a Crunch bar- chocolate pralines topped with ganache. Don't worry, we had candy corn too.

We set up our homemade photo booth so everyone could take photos of their fantastic costumes. As usual, it got out of hand!

an engagement tea

I threw this tea party over the weekend to celebrate my friend Serra's engagement (to my brother, of all people). After throwing a couple unusually themed parties, I couldn't wait to plan a classic feminine bash like this!

All the mismatched china, silver pieces, and lace tablecloths were found during an incredibly successful vintage shopping expedition to Michigan. I don't even drink tea, so I had a long list of tea accessories to hunt down!

During three insane days in the kitchen, I made four different tea sandwiches, currant scones, clotted cream, a four-layer cake, berry tarts, chocolate tarts, lemon meringue tarts, profiteroles, chocolate macarons, and raspberry macarons.

A chalkboard described the variety of loose leaf teas, which I certainly knew nothing about.

I despise cutting the cake! All that hard work, ruined in one quick second. I butcher it every time. At least this one had a surprise inside...