So it's safe to say I've worked my full 50 hours this week... and then some (regular weekend morning stuff I have to do). Point is, everytime I got home, especially after kickboxing, I was absolutely exhausted and let my apartment get messier and messier everyday... and that just doesn't fly in Lilie's world.
So I decide to throw a fondue party. That'll motivate me to clean my place up. And I did. Last night (Saturday) I invited Leo, Lyndon, Ben & Renée (Japan, China, China & Spain) over for dinner, and we had tons of fun. And this is when I realized, in a way, that I love entertaining. Well, scratch that, I love doing dinner parties (I really don't think I'm the most "entertaining" person out there). But I love preparing everything, making sure my apartment is clean, everything is organized... especially since this was a group that hadn't been here before. It all has to be perfect. I like to impress, ya know. It went really well, we had good conversation, we laughed a lot... I heart great company. the Cheese fondue was great, I decide to be daring and in addition to bread, I had grapes, granny smith apples, mushrooms and red bell peppers (leftovers, really! lol). I also made nice cantaloupe and strawberry fruit cups for dessert - as you can see below. I finally found a use for my martini glasses:
Friday night I actually had "Shabu shabu" which is basically a Chinese fondue - and it's brilliant. Instead of deep frying everything like a fondue bourguignone, she used vegetable broth instead. It was so yummy! Very different. my friend Lynn is from Singapore, her husband's from Germany, and we had my friend from Malaysia and older woman from Korea over too. I love the diversity that's around me - so many different cultures, and oh-so-much yummy foods that I've never experienced before. Here's what a shabu-shabu table looks like:
So that's about it! This morning I went to a place called "Bloom" for breakfast in West LA, and it was pretty good... owned by a French guy... and suddenly, out of nowhere, the Blues Brothers started driving down Pico Blvd...
Fun day. I'm about to head to volleyball. One thing I want to say though - I'm really, truly, so grateful to have friends out here. I mean, nothing beats being with my babe or my parents or other family and friends... and I've only really known my friends in Cali for 6 months... but really, they're awesome. They're so friendly and hospitable... and when I know I've got the potential to be a depressed wreck, it sure is nice to know that they're there for me when family and loved ones are farther away... and for sure, when I move back to Salt Lake, I'm going to miss them a lot. Utah friends are really hospitable too, don't get me wrong... it's just different out here. Anyway, I'm rambling.
Speaking of rambling, another reason why I love dinner parties now... is because I found a killer deal on clearance dinnerware. I think I just need to find cute placemats (mom, the forest green provencal ones you gave me don't really match anymore), and I'm in business and will throw more parties, that way it'll force me to cook, discover my own culinary talents... I just need test subjects. who wants to be my test subjects???
Updates on who's coming to see me... Mom, Brent & some Frenchies from Cavaliere (or Cavalaire?) are coming on Thursday to discover what is great California after they discover Salt Lake, Vegas, Bryce, Zions and the Grand Canyon. It'll be great to have them over for a few days!!! Then, Babe's sister will be coming back from her mission from Brazil on the 15th - so he's gotta be there for that... then the plan is for him to come live with me for about a month until he needs to get back to register for school. Then, the week before Thanksgiving I get to hang out with Dr Mookie & friends for a few days... Mid-December I get to see JR & L, and Christmas time will come... and a beautiful week's vacation will enable me to spend time in Salt Lake with family. How awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment