Monday, September 21, 2009

what a weekend...

saturday we hosted a party where all of the parents from sabin's class were invited. everyone had to bring a course and since we were hosting, we only had to provide snacks and a welcome drink, plus coffee and a bit of fun from the liquor cabinet at the end of the meal. i did up my famous stuffed bread and we made a warm spiced apple cider, since we started out with everyone outdoors on the deck to take advantage of the glorious weather. they could choose to spike it with calvados or a marvelous cinnamon-vanilla snaps (you can guess which i chose). we figured a good glug of liquor to start off would relax everyone. along with a little puzzle game, it seemed to do the trick.



i'll admit i hadn't really been looking forward to the party all that much. i had suggested an abba theme, where we all dressed up 70s and played abba music all evening and drank fun retro cocktails, but the less daring members of the party committee vetoed the idea as soon as my back was turned (tho' not to my face, of course). i figured that since all we really had in common with these people was breeding at the same time, the party would be short and everyone would go home by 10:30 or so. my dread was slightly confirmed when the first guests showed up not fashionably late, but unfashionably 15 minutes early. sigh. i was afraid it was going to be an awfully long night.

but people had gone all out on their assigned dishes and when we started off with a beautiful salmon herb roll artistically arranged on my marilyn monroe plates, followed by another spectacular creamy herby roll with scallops and shrimp, i cheered up considerably. main courses were a beautiful spinach quiche with a grilled eggplant salad, lamb kebabs and a fresh tabbouli laced with succulent red kernels of pomegranate, and a gorgeous spicy, lemon grass and coconut milk thai dish. for dessert, an apple crumble and a chocolatey ice cream cake. in all, a brilliant menu. and there's nothing like good food and plenty of wine to ease the flow of conversation.

it was well after midnight before the first guest left and nigh on 3 a.m. when the last ones departed, so i think it was safe to say it was really a successful party and despite my reservations at the beginning, i had a great time. less successful for me the next day after all that wine, but life is short and you have to go to extremes sometimes.

* * *


sabin and lizette

on sunday, while i took sabin to her riding lesson, husband was industriously preparing the outside of the house for the filsning it's going to have (i don't know what that's called in english...it's when you cover the bricks of your house with a thin layer of mortar and sand). part of the preparation involved getting rid of some cords on the outside of the house. one of which happened to be our live internet cable and not an old cord at all. and he snipped it off at the ground. which, you can imagine, made him very popular. he must have begged and pleaded, because TDC came out already this morning and fixed it. i think he knew his very well-being depended on it being fixed quickly, so he worked some kind of magic.


sabin and felix

sabin really jumped for the first time at her saturday lesson. she was riding felix, an oldenburg. he must be at least 17 hands tall and has the most beautiful gait and he eagerly jumped for her. you can see the big grin on her face in this shot. she was so happy that she got to jump for real that i just had to share this picture. our resolve is even greater to get the farm with space for horses. (hence the whole thing with preparing the house for sale.)

i'm a little bummed that i missed a day of posting, but it wasn't all bad to find out that i still existed, even when i wasn't online. catch you the rest of this week from norway.

17 comments:

Char said...

great party - I totally love the ABBA ideal but some people aren't cool enough to make fun of themselves.

yay for first jumps!

Ju said...

That's great that you all got on, I guess it makes your life easier too and the fun is a bonus. Maybe the next gathering will be more daring.
I can see Sabin was the only child in the evening, I bet she loved it.
And she looks like she's in control of that horse. Good girl!

Anonymous said...

i will dress up and sing abba songs with you. anytime.

Polly said...

sounds like the weekends off line can turn out to be quite an adventure. I'm very impressed that you've hosted a party for so many people, did you volunteer??

on the other hand I know you're likely to invite a bunch of people you've never seen in your life to stay the weekend, so...

Lynnae said...

I think Filsning must be like what we call stucco. I like your word better.
And, I think an Abba party would be fun!

christina said...

Have I ever told you, how much I love ABBA? Very cool. party.
xo

Just Jules said...

"but it wasn't all bad to find out that i still existed, even when i wasn't online" I know what you are saying in this line.

I find myself not sure of how to act when away from the computer lately.

Elizabeth said...

The picture of Sabin is great, she is sitting there so confidently on the horse. Beautiful.

Liz Fulcher, The Fragrant Muse said...

What a menu!
Sabin is radiant after her triumphant jump! Tell her to go here for a guaranteed giggle:
http://brinkbeestinenglish.blogspot.com/2009/09/camera-critterspet-pride-is-it-brown.html

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Wow! Our kid's school parties never lasted until 3 a.m. Maybe it's because we were never smart enough to invite just the parents.

urbaNiche said...

love the abba theme and totally stealing it for the next party i throw...
hope you enjoyed your visit to my place ;)

Lisa-Marie said...

That party looks like fun, those are some happy looking people!

I have given you a Lemonade Award :)

jane said...

hey you! your party was such a great idea- and i love the menu. sabin looks great on her horse. just got back from the stables with sara and one of my eyes is swollen... one reason you´ll probably never see photos of sara riding... have a great week! besos-jane

Unknown said...

Sabin looks amazing on the horses, she's a natural! And what a great idea for a party, I must try it. Anything that gets me out of cooking...
PS. You only continued exisiting because you were still tweeting... you do know that, right?

paris parfait said...

So glad the party went well. As for Sabine, great job! (and for the photographer, kudos). xo

Bee said...

That party sounds like so much fun! All of that food was almost overkill; you had me at the spiked apple cider.

Gorgeous pictures of your horsey girl.

Magpie said...

That sounds like a cool party - I love a potluck. Were the kids there too?