Life Before Kids: A Dinner Party

Last weekend we threw a dinner party--this time though-- it was ADULTS ONLY. With other neighborhood parents, we gathered at our house to toast an evening of good eats, good drinks and NO KIDS!!!

Our children go to school together so we all know each other as families but not really as individuals. Which in turn, led to our first toast, getting to know each other as more than just parents.

We started the dinner off with a spoonful of my homemade cantaloupe ice cream. Whenever a recipe calls for a sweet cream base, you know it'll be tasty! After the second course, shrimp ceviche, we headed outside to the patio where we each grilled our own pineapples and beef BBQ sticks, filipino style. 

About three weeks prior to the party Eugene woke me up out of a deep sleep with a manic look in his eyes that could only be attributed to someone who has spent the entire night surfing the web and sure enough he wakes to tell me that he has ordered a TABLE! TOP! GRILL! as in, "we can cook a course ourselves--think of the possibilities Gina!" Tired and annoyed, I rolled back to bed and a week later, this was delivered.

I gotta keep an eye on this kid. Before I know it, our dining room table will be one big hibachi grill and he'll wow the kids with the onion volcano trick. But for this purpose, I gotta admit, it was pretty cool.

I totally dropped the ball in the picture dept. and barely took pics during the meal. In fact, it can all be traced back to doing this shot of Limoncello out on the patio which made me a little loosey goosey and a tad forgetful.

We headed back inside and enjoyed three more courses of amazing food, of which I have no pictures. But, trust me, it was good. A pasta dish, a 3-inch steak and a lemon tart to finish it off.

Glass after glass we talked and laughed and learned more about each other. We swapped stories of how shitty our kids could be sometimes and how great it is to be parents other times.

When our four hour dinner ended we all retreated to the patio for more fireside drinking. Which we did till 1:15 in the morning! Did I mention that we had no kids around?  The next morning, I SLOWLY woke, cursed Eugene for leaving the lights on only to realize it was the effin' SUN. Hungover as hell, I hissed the glowing light and went back to bed. But deep within the darkness of my blankets my eyes shot open as I suddenly realized....

SHIT! I NEVER CLEANED UP!

And I stumbled my way into the kitchen and found this staring at me on the counter

and I almost chucked right then and there.

NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT LEAVE EMPTY REMINDERS OF YOUR INDISCRETIONS KICKIN' IT ON THE COUNTER. DO NOT!!!

 All in all, I guess it meant that the night was pretty great. So great, that I didn't even bother taking the time away from good conversations and good laughs to clean up. 

Sometime around 1 in the afternoon the last dish was put away, my hangover was gone and the kids returned home (which btw, a huge thanks goes out to my parents and sister who watched all 3 kids and let them spend the night and wreak havoc everywhere.) 

I love nights like these when I momentarily escape my routine and remember the importance of letting go and living life. It's a reminder I'll always welcome. 

Until the next one...