Oh the Cuteness!

Here in Oakland we have a monthly event downtown we all affectionately call First Friday. It's when all the galleries are open late to debut the new collections, and over the years it has become quite the place to be, especially for hipsters. We like to go for the people-watching as much as the art. Parking is a pain so we decided to ride down instead, and we were invited to my favorite local bar for happy hour beforehand by my dear friend Vanessa ... Needless to say we never made it downtown. We spent the whole evening at the Heart & Dagger Saloon , munching on goodies form the nearby restaurants and having a super goofy time. Dennis always makes me laugh so hard when he takes my photo. Actually, he always cracks me up. Anywho, this is one of my favorite outfits. I tried doing my hair up, but it just wasn't working so I let it be. The dress is old from Target, the belt was on sale at Urban Outfitters for three bucks, the scarf and sweater are from my mom, as well as...

Alright, recipe time! I have just a few I want to share, starting with the snacks: Mini Meatcakes (Recipe makes aprox. 36 mini meatcakes, maybe more.) I was inspired by a large-size version of these I found at Whole Foods once upon a time. I was so bemused by the idea, but theirs were pretty bland. I just made this recipe up as I went along, so feel free to improvise with the spices as it suits you! 3 lbs ground beef 1/2 of a white onion, very finely chopped 2 stalks celery, also very finely chopped. 2 eggs 1/2 cup herb-garlic breadcrumbs 2 cloves of garlic, mashed 1/2 teaspoon each seasoned salt and pepper 1 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 package of garlic-herb instant mashed potatoes, made according to box's instructions You will also need either mini muffin tins or little individual silicone baking cups, mini muffin liners, a pastry bag, and a large star tip for it. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients except mashe...

Whew! I finally finished the editing of all the photos from the housewarming party! You can check out the entire set on my flickr here.  It was an amazing party. I really hope everyone had a good time, I know I did! We decided to make it a mid-1960 ' s themed cocktail party, so we asked people to dress in the period and bring hors d ' oeurves that were very 60 ' s. Everyone brought amazing food and drinks, and in addition Dennis and I made some fun stuff and big jugs of cocktails! Here are a few highlights: Alex looked amazingly lovely. Taken by Vanessa. Look at Adam! He has a vintage bowling shirt and the greatest pants I have ever seen - hounds-tooth polyester bell bottoms. Swoon. All of the rest of these were taken by me and Aubrey on my camera. Here is the jug of drowning mermaid (recipe is coming in part 2), and all the drink accouterments including paper straws, swizzle sticks, and frilly shiny things that served no purpose whatsoever...