scenes from a weekend: (phew)

It’s Sunday evening, about 7:15 as I start typing this, and the little one is in bed with the rest of us soon to follow. I had two big events this weekend, and my body is really feeling it. Saturday morning was the Open House at F’s school, and since I’m the chair of the Foodies Committee there, I was on deck for the reception for that event. And this afternoon I co-hosted a baby shower for a dear friend, with lots of food and family and friends. All good things, but I’m not complaining about being in my pajamas before eight.

Lest you think I’m some sort of entertaining queen, I will tell you that I am not. I haven’t hosted a shower in at least a decade, and the school events I work on come with a committee of helpers. I’ve never really thought of myself as the super hostess type, and I’m hardly comfortable (or capable) of managing food and décor and greeting/conversating/directing all at the same time. But when I was driving home today from weekend event #2, I started thinking about the various food related parties I’ve thrown or helped to throw in my life, and maybe I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes for the simple act of putting together a nice menu, executing the food and serving it in a way that people enjoy themselves while eating it. It’s taken a lot of practice, but I can usually manage to pull it off, especially with a good back up team. I left the kitchen in complete disarray this morning, and when I got back home tonight, the kitchen was spotless, the rest of the house was clean and in order, and dinner was heading to the table. It may be hard for me to give myself credit, but hopefully I give everyone else enough of it.

…..

For the shower today, we divvied up the food – I did the sweets, and my friend did the savory dishes. We planned the menu together, and then I planned the Open House around some of the things I knew I’d be doing for the shower. I made my favorite gingerbread cookies for both – these cut so beautifully, and they are sturdy, but still soft to eat.

One batch also makes a lot of cookies, so I made Soulard stars for the Open House and onesies for the shower. I really like the quilted pattern on the onesies.

I even used the same flowers, adding a few more white and yellow arrangements for the shower today.

Today was sort of a gray day here, but the colors of the food were so pretty.

We were really fortunate that a friend of mine graciously offered up her home for the shower – it was a larger crowd than my house can currently handle, and we still have a lot of unfinished projects going on in the center of our house. It did make me excited for the possibility of having a little more flexibility in the future for entertaining. And it made me even more excited to think about having a better organized space for baking and cooking and serving piece storage! The wheels are turning, turning, turning.