Fall Frolicking...

This past weekend, following a long week away on a business trip, Ty and I hosted our first annual "Fall Frolic" Party.

Let me preface with this: I love the concept of having an annual themed party...the kind  that become a tradition for years and years to come.  My friends Ashley and Alex started their Labor Day White Party the first year they were married, guests decked out in all white, snacking on white foods and sipping on magnums of champagne. And my In-Laws throw a Winter Solstice party on the Friday before Christmas every year with a HUUUGE bonfire and hot buttered rum . I look forward to both of these parties every year, because they are just good old fashioned fun and any excuse to throw a party is fine by me!

One afternoon on a late summers day, as I was mowing the lawn (I love the ride-on-mower!) I decided that the potato patch would be the perfect spot for an amazing party (Potato Patch: a narrow area of lawn on the back of the property, hidden from view of the houses, surrounded by cedar and maple trees and incidentally, used to be an actual potato patch about a decade ago) . Fall seemed like the perfect season, since the leaves would be in their prime, and the chilly nights would be perfect for a bonfire. And we all  know that October is the best month of Fall.

 I loved the idea of stringing up a million twinkle lights, using the old tractor as a buffet and sitting around the fire drinking bourbon with friends wrapped in cozy blankets.  My darling sweet husband, eager to humor my obsession with entertaining, did so much to make this party look exactly as I imagined it.  He deserves a medal :)

For invitations, the simplest way to get the word out to guests was to use Paperless Post...they have hundreds of witty, beautiful and tasteful e-invitations.  Check them out if you haven't already!

Because I wanted to keep the aesthetic of the party Autumnal, and not Halloween-ish, I avoided using too much orange/black in the party design, which is tough to do just weeks before Halloween. Luckily Target had these gorgeously understated copper paper plates and napkins, along with polka dotted paper straws. 

I popped into HomeGoods for a large mason jar style beverage dispenser, and while I was there I stumbled on these GORGEOUS Cynthia Rowley Home cutting boards (3 different sizes, oval shaped with copper handle, all for just $40!!!!). These boards, combined with my wooden bowls and white bone platters would look fantastic.

I went a bit overboard on the menu-- as usual.  I can't help it though, I am half Italian, afterall.  It's our genetic instinct to make too much food and force feed people. Anyhow, we served some new recipes that I created as well as some old seasonal favorites.  Since it was dinner time, I wanted to make sure guests wouldn't go hungry.  But I also didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen the whole day. Here's what we had:

~Fall Frolic Menu~

Pumpkin & Pear Soup

BBQ Chicken & Cilantro Calzone

Artisinal Cheeses garnished with Strawberries, Charcuterie & Baguette

Veggies & Kettle chips with french onion dip

Soft baked pretzels with mustard

Local apples with caramel dip

Fall candies

This BBQ Chicken Calzone was a HUUUGE HIT - and super simple to make!
1 pack of Trader Joe's heat n' serve BBQ pulled chicken, Trader Joe's Pizza Dough,
1 red bell pepper diced, 1 cup each shredded mozzarella and cheddar, handful
chopped cilantro, Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ sauce.  Stretch the dough, layer cheese,
chicken, peppers, cilantro down the center of the dough, drizzle with BBQ sauce, fold into 3rds
close up the ends, bake at 400 degrees for about 25 min, until dough is golden, slice and serve hot

In addition to platters, I used pine branches, vine maple leaves (from the ground), eucalyptus (from Trader Joe's), round tree cuts from the wood shed, a found antler, 2 pieces of gilded burlap fabric, and we turned our pumpkins into lanterns by carving them out and drilling holes all over them.  They looked adorable!

For the bar, I made a mulled bourbon cider (great mulling spices from Pike Place Market, 2 gallons of  local Cider and of course, Maker's Mark).  We also had a selection of seasonal brews and IPAs.  This little potting table from Goodwill made the perfect bar, with space to hold cups, straws, bottle openers and coozies, and a galvanized metal bin perfect for icing down beers!

Katy, my father-in-law's 1940's working tractor and trailer made the perfect buffet/centerpiece for the evening 

Mae and some friends enjoying the bonfire.

Party attire! Military Red Original Hunter Boots,  Paige Denim Jeans, J Crew Flannel, J Crew Vest, a side braid and, of course, a fur pom -pom hat (not shown, red cable knit from C. Wonder)!

Simple stump benches, Adirondack chairs and a cozy array of throw blankets to keep cozy around the fire.

The soundtrack was a  mix of Spirit Family Reunion, Ray LaMontagne, Nathaniel Rateliff, Gary Clark Jr and JD McPherson. Perfect sounds for bonfires and bourbon :)

Unfortunately, I was busy enjoying myself, and didn't get any party action shots for this post...we had a great time, and I was really happy with how the party looked. 

Happy frolicking!!!!

xoxo,

Bee

Manzanita and the Oregon Coast

This weekend, after weeks on end of spending little time together, Tyler decided to take me {and Mae-dog} to Manzanita for some ocean-side relaxation.  We left Friday afternoon after work, and drove South west from Issaquah, WA the beautiful Oregon Coast.

It was rainy and socked in with fog when we arrived, because, well, it's the Pacific Northwest. We stayed at the adorable Spindrift Inn and had delicious pizza and beers at Marzano's.  Saturday morning, we awoke before sunrise, grabbed coffee and donuts and headed to the beach with Mae to run around.  We got caught in an all-out downpour, but it didn't matter, we laughed the whole walk home.


After a quick towel off and change of clothes, we headed south for brunch at Blue Agate with sweeping views of the beach at Oceanside. After brunch we took a stroll around the park at Cape Meares Lighthouse, where the wind was as wild as the Octopus Tree.  A trip to the Oregon Coast wouldn't be complete without a tour of the Tilamook Cheese Factory {for those not familiar, Tilamook is a SEEEERIOUSLY delicious creamery}.  Once our bellies were full of all sorts of delicious dairy products we headed back to Manzanita for an afternoon of kite flying, beach-combing and a romantic dinner date.

Sunday, we got up early for coffee and cinnamon rolls from Bread & Ocean, and headed to Oswald West State park for a hike and beach walk.  On our way back North to Washington, we stopped and strolled on Arcadia, Cannon and Seaside beaches before crossing the grand Astoria Bridge over the mouth of the Columbia river and back into Washington.  It was the perfect weekend filled with salty air, sandy feet and lots of laughter.


There were so many gorgeous, breathtaking views that nothing I write will do it much justice.  So  just enjoy the pictures!

{Sandy Sniffer}

{Kite-flying}

{Bread & Ocean in Manzanita }

{Nothing beats salty wind-blown beach hair}

{We stopped in Washington State - Long Beach along the way home where you can drive on the sand...this was seconds before we were almost hit by a wave...EEK!}

{If you haven't noticed I get such a kick out of her ears blowing in the wind}

{My favorite part of the weekend was watching Mae watch the kite}

Ocean Road 10K - Road racing in Rhode Island

Last weekend, I ran the Ocean Road 10K in Narragansett, RI with the two ladies who inspire my lazy ass to get up and move every day.  You see, for a New Year's resolution last December, my two friends convinced me to join them in the 2015 in 2015 challenge.

Since we signed up as a team, we are each expected to put in a minimum of 2.5 miles of running per day, every day for the entire year.  Sounds easy but then again January-March are a beast to run in, so are the hot and humid days of July. Sprinkle in some major life events, week long business trips, and a cross country move, and it ends up being a recipe for a lot of time spent sitting. Harder than it sounds, unless you're a completely dedicated superwoman, like my friends are.

Since our wedding in August though, I have been really good at getting out there, hitting the trails, and running an average of 16 miles per week.  So when I was back East in Spetember, feeling really great about my running, I was totally confident in signing up for the Ocean Road 10k the following month with these two super-stars. This time, I actually trained.  4 days a week I made it to the trails, ran hard and worked on hill speed and recovery.

The week leading up to the race was filled with contradicting forecasts of Hurricane Joaquin's landfall in the Northeast.  Up until Friday morning, the forecast was looking dismal with high winds and soaking rain.  It was beginning to look like round two of the 2009 Newport Half Marathon that we ran (in 34 degree snowy-rain mix)...I was now dreading this race too.  But by Saturday the forecast called for dry windy weather.

Sunday arrived and we all woke up at 5 am, bundled up (the remnants of Joaquin's winds were pounding the coast) and all three of us hopped in the car and headed to Narragansett.  We picked up our bibs, shed our excess layers and headed to our scheduled 6:30 am bus to the starting line at Point Judith Lighthouse.

We arrived at Point Judith, just as the sun rose over the water, at 6:45 am.  Leaving us outside, at the mercy of the cold 45 mph winds until the 8 am start time.  We huddled behind a low stone wall, a rather futile attempt to shelter ourselves from the wind.

As the starting gun went off at 8 am sharp,  the clouds parted and the sun shone gloriously on our backs to warm us as we began the rolling hills of the race.  A serious head-wind fought us for the majority of the race.  At mile 3, though, my ankles, used to running on soft dirt trails, were screaming from the harsh pavement. I slowed from our pace and let the other two girls continue on while I recovered.

About 5 minutes later, I picked up the speed and set my sights on catching them.  Then we rounded a bend, and I got distracted by sweeping views of the Atlantic, GORGEOUS houses, and the smell of ripe wild Concord grapes. Since I have gotten very used to stopping and snacking on wild blackberries along the trails, I just couldn't resist the snack! I'm pretty sure that other runners thought I was going to be ill, as I hopped over a little stone wall into the bushes.  They were totally delicious and worth the 2 minutes added to my final race time (clearly I'm not the competitive one in the bunch).

In the end, I finished strong, at 1:00:35, got a free t-shirt and spent QT with my friends. Not a bad start to a Sunday morning.

{You're lucky I'm showing you this. I hate how I look running, which is probably why I enjoy running in the woods}

{High winds at Point Judith}

{Beach before sunrise}

{Beautiful Point Judith Lighthouse}

{Narragansett Beach}

{My irresistible snack}

{Huddled behind the wall trying to keep warm}

{Almost to the finish}

{Runners enjoying the beach post race}

Happy Running!

xoxo,
Bee