Iggy's
That's Parisa's arm
Setting up for the party with Morgan and Vanessa.
Forever 21 minidress, Si Style beaded vest (from Meghan’s Clothing Swap!), vintage earrings (a gift from my mother-in-law).
To keep costs down at cocktail parties, I serve just wine (a pinot grigio and a fruity, lighter red like a pinot noir), and one really delicious speciality drink. Upon arrival, each guest was handed a sugar-rimmed, personalized wineglass filled with a PAMA/champagne concoction, and during the party I wandered around with pitchers refilling glasses (so much easier than having everyone make trips to the bar every time they need another cocktail).
I swear, I should have been shooting a PAMA commercial during the party. “Jordan, what IS this extraordinary drink?!” “This is the most delicious cocktail!” “Oh my god, I LOVE this PAMA stuff!!” Direct quotes. Swear. It’s really, really good - I thought it might be too sweet mixed with the champagne, but it adds just the perfect amount of fruitiness.
PAMA CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
Combine 3 parts champagne and 1 part PAMA. Serve in a glass with a sugared rim and garnish with berries, if desired. You can also play with the proportions, adding more or less PAMA as you like.
Morgan made these adorable wine glass markers so that we could tell our glasses apart (this came in handy after round four or so).
Some of the trinkets that we set out for Parisa and a bowl of favors for all the girls from The DVine Line (little teacup charms on silk cords, keychain links, or cell-phone hooks paired with fortunes). I mentioned DVine in my Holiday Gift Guide - it’s a really adorable company run by an equally adorable lady. They sell things like tea steepers and the abovementioned charms, but also hold “Tea Parties” like the DVination Tea, which incorporates Tarot card readings.
DVine products generously donated by manufacturer.
Ninecakes / Parisa’s Bachelorette
I met Betsy from Nine Cakes at the Wedding Crashers event that Morgan and I attended a few weeks ago, and was psyched when she offered to send over some cupcakes for Parisa’s bachelorette. They’re almost too beautiful to eat…but that didn’t stop us.
At our wedding we decided to forego cake in favor of whoopie pies, because I rarely think wedding cakes taste all that good. I am reconsidering this opinion based on Nine Cakes’ description of the “Sweet and Salty Turtle”: “Valrhona dark chocolate cake with layers of cloud-like caramel buttercream, sprinkled with toasted pecans and fleur de sel.” Hmm…a vow renewal is sounding good right about now.
Whew, what a weekend. Parisa’s bachelorette extravaganza started Friday night at Morgan’s apartment, where we welcomed the lovely bride-to-be with bachelorette-y paraphernalia, cupcakes, and cocktails, and finally came to a close with Sunday brunch at Wicker Park.
(Notice the late start I got today? After two nights of staying out until 3 - hey, I’m an old lady; I don’t do the “going out” thing much anymore - I required a solid 10 hours of sleep.)
A great painting tip from Younghouselove: when choosing paint colors, make sure to check out how the paint chips look on the actual surfaces you’ll be painting, as the angle at which the light hits can significantly affect how the color turns out (a color can look quite different on a ceiling from how it looks on a wall).
Also, the couple who writes the site is just about the cutest ever - I want to pack up Kendrick, Lucy and Virgil and go live with them.
After rolling the dough into a log, cut into pieces as shown above.
