una buena noche

success!
what a pArTy! the ke$ha was blaring, the tequila was flowing, and pretty soon meg was doing body shots off of jessica while allie was practically passed out cold in the corner, mumbling something unintelligible about macadamia nuts.

one tequila, two tequila, three tequila . . . FLOOR
or not! but i still think a rollicking good time was had by all. i know i enjoyed myself thoroughly! it was the first time in a while that i was really able to just forget about the stress that i mentioned before and just have fun.

our theme was mexican; craig was border patrol. FUN, right??
i forgot how much i LOVE to throw parties! josh and i used to do it all the time when we lived in a house in durham (seems like forever ago — we moved out at the end of 2007 after this happened). somehow, i came to the idea that it just wasn’t going to be possible to entertain in our little apartment.

but these lovely ladies look pretty entertained if you ask me! (meg, allie, lacey, and me — RD blogger kelly was also in attendance but left before this shot was taken)

the details
one thing that i always try to do when we entertain is to have everything prepped ahead of time so that i don’t have to spend all night in the kitchen, missing out on all the fun!

i took advantage of my half-day yesterday to do just that. after an epic trip to whole foods & TJs, i spent 3-4 hours blaring ms. gaga in the kitchen while prepping everything: gazpacho, tropical salad with shrimp, margaritas, and fixings for oven quesodillas.

i brushed various and sundry tortillas lightly with oil and prepared sweet potato, sautéed mushrooms, black beans, and pinto beans to make various filling combos (with cheese, of course!)

to help with cleanup, we used disposable (biodegradable) bowls and plates. silverware and glasses we just used our normal stuff since i figured it would mostly all fit in the dishwasher! (i knew meg would be drawn to the hot sauce . . . she did not let me down!)

our first guests arrived right on time! i was so happy to greet jessica and andy at the door, camera in hand!

next came craig and lacey — two NONbloggers that i met through kath (i think?) and who are just all around awesome. (craig: i was so excited that you like girl talk!)

the six of us chatted, snacked on guac/chips/salsa/hummus, and sipped on margaritas and beer. there might have been a few photographs taken, too.

we bloggers always look so serious when we do this!
meg and chris (not shown in this pic) arrived next — chris had just finished up an exam and clearly deserved and needed a margarita.

we enjoyed a little amuse-bouche tasting of gazpacho andaluz. i think it came out pretty well!

and then came allie!

the picture might be a little blurry, but this girl is always a ray of sunshine to me.

soon after, it was time to eat. my game plan worked well — i just spread on the toppings, added cheese, and popped these babies in the oven. i put out the salad and tossed it with the dressing i had prepped, and brought out the shrimp . . . and voila. easy as (tamale) pie.

sweet endings
i had bought an assortment of sorbets for dessert (including a chocolate jalopeño variety — intriguing!), but we never got to them because meg brought cupcakes and allie came with a bounty of AllieBars that NO ONE could resist tearing into right away!

handing out the goods.
mad hatter‘s cupcakes from meg — so pretty (and tasty)!
and then things started to degenerate . . .

look at these jersey boys
. . . or heat up, depending on your point of view!

SUCH a fun night! and thanks to a 10 AM start to my shift this morning, i’m feeling bright and awake and ready to hit the gym. tonight will be another exciting evening with wicked at the dpac and a dinner date with my sister. and then this weekend brings a whirlwind of bachelorette antics in boston.

stress? you can stay buried under a blanket of fun for now. happy friday!