i want to be a party planner

I mentioned last week that we were going to see my best friend Alex for the weekend. She lives in Shreveport which is just a quick three hour trip up north. 

Friday night we didn't do much, just went to dinner and then over to her boyfriend's house to take advantage of his AMAZING back yard. It was cold out, but he had an outdoor heater, so that with some blankets made for an amazing night. 

And seriously, aren't they precious? Stephen is hands down the most perfect guy for her and I'm so happy that she's happy. 

Saturday night Alex co-hosted a party for Stephen's birthday at his co-workers house. Shreveport has an area called South Highlands and I just fell in love with it. They are all older homes (think plantation-esque) that have been restored. The party was in one of these homes, and I left wanting it. I wish I would have taken more photos of the house, but I had a lot of wine and somehow forgot. 

We're just not going to talk about how much I need a tan. And some whitestrips. And a haircut. 

The co-host, and homeowner, is above with the birthday guy. Brian went above and beyond on this party. Alex and I brought the appetizers and he was in charge of desserts. He made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream and vanilla ice cream. All by himself! The mint ice cream was probably one of the best I've ever had - and I love me some ice cream. 

The first picture are chocolate truffles that Alex made. Do yourself a favor and make them now - recipe is on Pioneer Woman. 

The next two photos are making my mouth water out of control right now. They are casino cakes and they are the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. And I'm not a huge chocolate fan - they were just THAT good. I honestly didn't think much of them, and almost didn't have one. I'll be needing Alex to ship me some ASAP. 

And then, like most parties do, it got a little out of hand. As in, I didn't remember that last photo until I just loaded it into here. 

I also decided that I would like to just host dinner/cocktail parties every weekend for the rest of my life. It was so much fun! We made stuffed mushrooms, anti-pasto skewers on rosemary branches, caprese pops, bruscetta and bacon dip. Saturday afternoon was spent in Alex's cute little kitchen getting prepped for the night while listening to JT. I loved every second of it and am so glad that I got to spend some down time catching up with my best friend. We don't get much of it due to life getting in the way. 

pedi-scam

NYC at Christmastime is magical. There are lights everywhere (do they start putting those up in August or something?) and the city just feels like a Christmas wonderland. It's my second year in a row to go at this time, and though I complain of travelling so much for work, I really am SO lucky that I get to experience this for free.

The not magical part? There are people EVERYWHERE. It seems everyone know how amazing it is this time of year. People everywhere = no cabs anywhere. No cabs = standing outside in the freezing cold for even longer.

When we didn't see any cabs pull up, we thought we were being smart by locating a pedicab and jumping it in. It was surprisingly warm under the tarp and "fur" blanket, and it was only a 9 or so block ride.

Our driver was awesome, and he must have been crazy in shape to ride all over NYC with people attached to the back of his bike.

We enjoyed the sights during the ride and joked about how smart we were to take a pedicab - we even got there faster in it because of the insane traffic!

Our driver was very nice and took some pictures for us at the end of the ride. Extra tip for you, kind sir!

At the end of the ride, he plugged in his square and scanned my card. I immediately hit the 25% tip button and only then looked up at the total in the corner.

$193.75 - that had to be wrong!! I changed the tip to 15% and it read $173.45. I looked up in horror and asked our driver if there was some sort of mistake, perhaps it was supposed to say $17.43?

NOPE. The ride is $50 per person plus some sort of cents per block.

I really would have had a panic attack had that ride been on my own dime. Straight up not able to breathe in the middle of the city. Thank goodness I could expense it.

We were all set to brag about our awesome ride, but after that we vowed to not speak a word. Somehow someone at the party brought it up and we asked what she thought of them. Turns out, the city is in the middle of a big pedicab crack down as they are ripping people off right now. Yep, we were definitely ripped off. Seems as though tourists are the only ones who ever take them.

So, word to the wise, wait for a cab. (OR download the Uber app - it is a lifesaver!)

Other scenes from the city:

This is how old people pre-party. Carbolicious.

Baked by Melissa is always necessary. ALWAYS.

Hello, nola. See you again in three hours.

 

We are heading to New Orleans around 1 today. A's team plays in their bowl game tomorrow (Geaux Cajuns!), so we'll be celebrating that all weekend.

 

PS - can you believe Christmas is on Tuesday?! The insanity of EOY for me really takes all the fun out of the anticipation. I am so glad I saved some days off so I could have all next week off. I need to hit the refresh button. I'm looking forward to being able to post more & read more blogs - and keep that up into 2013!