Fun Times!

Of course there's been a lot going on. Is there always? B is always wondering when it's going to slow down but I don't think that's going to happen. And that's kind of the way I like it! Two weekends and two big parties to talk about.

Last weekend we had a surprise 40th birthday party for our very good friend Nicole. Her amazing brother, Eric, planned it with some of her other friends and it was spectacular. It was awesome because although Nicole knew she was having "something", she didn't know when, where, or what kind of event it would be. The party was at the Westwood Knights of Columbus on Crest St. in Westwood- http://westwood-washington.patch.com/listings/st-thomas-more-knights-of-columbus. It is a really great space. It's down a dead end street so it's great for a surprise because it's surrounded by condos and apartments so you'd have no idea where you are. Nicole sure didn't. It has a HUGE parking lot right in front so you don't have a far walk or a hard time parking.

Nicole was surprised by the giant bunch of us waiting for her in the parking lot but even more surprised and beyond excited to see her favorite band, local cover band, Trippin' Carla- http://trippincarla.com/ there to play for her and her guests. In typical Nicole fashion, the door opened, she saw them and just yelled, "SHUT. UP!". Ha. SO Nicole- that's her version of Seinfeld's Elaine pushing Jerry over all the time. The lead singer Jay is great, they played a fun mix of all kinds of music and they made things a lot of fun for Nicole. She knows Jay from high school so that was just nice added touch to making the night special.

Eric had gotten a food truck for the party food. It is called Two Pitas in a Pod- http://twopitasinapod.com/. One the whole food truck thing was very unique to begin with but this choice of food was also very interesting. It's not really my thing but they gave two pita choices- falafel and pork. I ate the pork and I have to say, it was really good. B had the falafel, actually he had two of them, so suffice to say he thought it was great. The fries they gave with the pitas were SICK (in a good way). Oh. My. God. I ate two plates of fries. They also had a whole "fixin's" bar inside with Israeli salad, hummus, two aioli dipping sauces, and whatever else goes with Mediterranean food of this nature. People LOVED it, which actually says a lot because it's not what you might traditionally have for a large group of people. The party was for Nicole and this is totally her kind of food.

Then there were cookies from Momofuku in NYC. Eric is a chef and connoisseur of all things good food. He picked out an excellent variety of delicious cookies - compost, blueberry & cream and cornflake marshmallow. I ate one of each of course because I had to sample everything. I loved them all. There are apparently locations around the city so I highly recommend checking them out.
http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/milk-bar/menu/

They had a cake for her which was lovingly adorned with her Facebook profile photo, a pic of her going to spin class and the time she gets up for the gym- 3:59a (Yes, that's what I said), every day. It looked beautiful but we were tired and went home before cake. It was a great night and if you're thinking of doing a party in a hall, I think it was the perfect space. Everyone looked like they had a great time. We did! Happy 40th Nicole. Hope it's the best year ever!!

On to the next celebration!! This weekend we had Suzanne & Jason's wedding celebration at San Carlo in Lyndhurst, NJ- http://thesancarlo.com/. We had a great time. First we thank Nicole for babysitting because she's the best babysitter around. Now, for the party...

We knew we were going to know a decent amount of people there so that would be fun. Our table was great and we didn't stop talking the whole night. That contributed to the two-pack a day smoker's voice B and I had today (we don't smoke BTW). The place looked really nice. Roses were the centerpieces, the appetizers were all fab, and the cake was classic and beautiful. I forgot to eat dinner because I literally gorged myself on apps - fried shrimp, some kind of shrimp/risotto cake thing, pizza, lamp chops, pigs in a blanket, spinach in phyllo, etc- you know, the usual suspects. My favorite part, and I dare I say, most people's favorite part of any event. There was just tons and tons of food. It seemed endless. The DJ was good too- The dance floor was packed all night with everyone burning off all those calories.

At the end, there was a surprise Bananas Foster bar which was a HUGE hit with everyone, especially my table. We were all first on line for that and it was probably the only time of the night we were all silent. Just eating. Two of my friends, Don & Neil were raving about the coffee. They were saying it was the best coffee ever. I don't drink coffee so I'll just take their word for it.

It was just the perfect night to celebrate the beautiful bride and groom- and parents-to-be! We were excited and thrilled for them and wish them a lifetime of happiness and love.

So there you have it- two awesome parties in two weekends. We capped it off tonight with pizza/bingo night at E's pre-school in the GRJC. It's really nice that they have activities like that. We got to hang out with some of the kids in E's class and their parents, have something to do in that dreaded 5p-7p hour period, and have dinner, dessert and games. What more could we ask for? Hope everyone had a great weekend too!