World, meet my little sister, Hannah.
She's not so little anymore.
She's an incredible horseback rider, a science nerd (she's about to wrap up her Bachelor's in Biology from Oregon State University), and totally rocks it in 4-inch heels!
Congratulations, Hannah! I can't wait to celebrate you crossing that stage in a few weeks!
As you may remember from one of our recent posts, Brandon and I are pretty serious about food and building community around a kitchen table.
When we first got married, we began hosting potlucks in our 900 square foot apartment. We decided we didn't want to "disappear" during that first year of our marriage, and so we emailed a bunch of our friends, told them that dinner was at our place and to bring something homemade.It was amazing.
Even though so many of those folks around the table had been friends for years, it was amazing to see those relationships solidify during our post-college years. We all had a passion for food (some for eating, and others for cooking), but ultimately, we just loved being together.
This is a tradition that has continued, in some form or another, since those early days of our marriage. Whether a potluck for 15 people, or a an extra friend or two around the dinner table, I'm most content when our kitchen is full of friends.
So, when I saw this dinner online a few months back, I was immediately inspired.
Once again, I emailed a bunch of friends, but this time asked who was interested in throwing the most extravagant dinner party ever.
And boy, was it extravagant.
Katie, Stephanie, and Charlotte decorated with burlap, green bottles, and mossy candleholders. Melissa assisted in the decorations, and also painted the portraits of our 13 guests on rocks. Her husband, Jon, handpicked the beer and wine. Stefan was our house mixologist and created a handcrafted cocktail especially for that night, including homemade bitters and orange infused sugar cubes. Janelle and Sydney were two of our talented sous chefs and Adam created our night's playlist.
Jessica and Jon (yep, two Jons) created the menu for a truly extravagant 5-course meal: bruscetta, marinated olives, and goat cheese, roasted kale tomato soup with rustic rosemary rolls, baby bok choy and avocado salad with a sweet soy vinaigrette, handmade sweet potato ravioli and grilled asparagus, and a chocolate cake served with rosemary honey oranges.
(Yes, those are all the recipes. You're welcome.) :)
Astute readers will also notice that it was a completely vegan night, which is pretty astounding if you ask me. We had one vegetarian in the group, as well as a dairy/egg allergy in another, so Jon and Jessica were careful to make sure that everyone could eat everything. My hats are off to you both.
Anyways. Enough talking.
Here are the photos from that wonderful night.
Such a privilege taking photos for this family.
Leana and I go back about 8 years - we went to college and grad school together, I was a bridesmaid in their wedding, and I came and saw their boy, now a full-fledged toddler, when he was but a day-old in the hospital.
Now, they are adding a sweet girl to the mix in a few weeks and I couldn't be more thrilled.
So grateful to have you three in our lives! And we can't wait to meet this new little one.
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