Events: Parties

My coworkers and I (I work at Starbucks btw) love food. And parties. So we've had a lot of food-related get-togethers over the past few months. They usually turn out beautifully, even if we plan them last minute. So without further ado, here are our parties!

"Pretentious" Tea Party:
We had a "pretentious" tea party to kick off our party list. Each attendee picked out a tea to pair their food item with. Here's the delicious spread:

Tia made Black Tea Brined Chicken (easily my new favorite chicken) and a Cranberry Feta Salad, Caitlin made Vanilla Orange Biscotti, Ariel made Coconut Macaroons, Caitlyn made Fresh Fruit Tarts, Pickle Wraps, Lemon Bars, Watermelon Pickles...there was so much good food! I provided all the teas and place settings. We even made sure to all dress up and wear fancy hats, that seemed like a must for a pretentious tea party.

Baby Shower:

Caitlyn, Natalie, and I threw a baby shower for our co-worker Caitlin (who now has a beautiful baby girl!) Caitlin really loves anything French (she speaks French too) and so we decided to go with a Parisian theme for the party itself.

I whipped up the invitations.

Caitlyn made the decor and prepared most of the food. I baked and hand painted, thank you to my assistant who helped expedite the painting process, the cakes (Red Velvet, yum!)

And then Caitlyn stuck her arm in it (good job) but I didn't mind, the food coloring stained her skin so I got mine. Haha!

Here are a few of the lovely ladies who attended with the Baby Mama. 

(from left to right: Me, Caitlyn, Caitlin (baby), Tia, Andrea, and Amy)

Oktober Fest:

We also really like LOVE beer, so of course we had to have a party solely about our favorite beverage.

There was so much food and beer. I can't even begin to start on everything.

Ramen Party:

Instead of your traditional Halloween party, we decided to have a Ramen party instead. Ramen and I have a long an healthy relationship, unfortunately its nearly impossible to find ramen of any kind in West Michigan (yes, a Ramen shop recently opened up nearby, but it's not traditional ramen and this make my heart sad). Caitlyn and Chad lived in Japan for five years so they understand my love affair with ramen and shared my need for it.

Chad made the ramen from scratch (it takes two days) and it was pretty dang close to exactly what I wanted.

I made Onigiri (riceballs) and Caitlyn made Gyoza.

I told you we really love food. I'm so glad that I got in touch with this amazing group of people. We have so much fun any time that we get together.

Our last party is going to get its own post, so keep an eye out for that.

Toodles,

-A.