Showering Together
A & K came in for the weekend, to hang out and help with H’s bridal shower on Sunday. They arrived late on Friday…but not too late for a round of chocolate martinis and homemade chocolate-chip cookies. None of us were surprised that we slept late the next morning.
We had absolutely gorgeous weather, and Housemate put his considerable omelette-making skills to use for our benefit. For months, I’ve been waiting for a warm, sunny weekend morning to eat a leisurely breakfast on the patio. Not only did I get to do so twice in one weekend, I got to do so with good friends, gazing out at the lovely new plantings Housemate put in last week.
Then, we began our whirlwind of activity—shopping for chocolate being a crash-priority task. World Market had a dazzling array of truffles, and we spent rather more time than planned finding a gift, cards, and generally oooing and aaahing over a wide variety of item entirely unrelated to our quest. Still, one must have one’s priorities. We also made a brief stop at a bookstore; all of us have strong bookstore tropisms, and the collective pull was irresistible. We managed a strategic strike on one supermarket, and an extended trip to another. (Neither A nor K live near a World Market or a Trader Joes, so one must make the most of the opportunity.) Later, back at the ranch, A. whipped up a chocolate angel food cake and some raspberry-amaretto sauce. I mixed up a batch of dip (nonfat Greek yogurt thinned with buttermilk, Green Goddess salad dressing herb & spice mix, and chives. Needs a bit of salt, I thought, but still quite tasty.) Everything that had to be done got done in good time, and that’s what matters.
We managed to pull purselves together just in time to meet a larger group of friends, including the bride, her mother, and groom , at the Belgian restaurant in Borad Ripple. I was very, very glad they have call-ahead seating, because nearly everyone else in Indy had the same idea and was waiting for a table with seven of their friends. Fortunately, the weather was nice enough to sit outside, which we did. For the record, the largest-sized order of frites is more than enough for eight. K. and I shared the Provencal moules frites (more frites!). I had the Riesling again, and it went very nicely. I also noticed that they have a cheese plate, which is something I missed on my first visit, shame on me. I also didn’t manage to save enough room for dessert, but H. heartily approved of the crepes suzette, and Housemate had a Nutella crepe, also very good.
Sunday dawned bright, clear, and delightfully warm. I rolled out of bed and immediately set to constructing cucumber sandwiches and deconstructing fruits and vegetable for the party trays. K. had stopped at a Polish bakery on her way through Chicago, and had some delightful cookies. Housemate made deviled eggs, we put together iced tea and lemonade, the flowers arrived somewhere in the midst of the excitement (everyone adored the flower arrangements, B., if you’re reading this), then the other co-hostess showed up with balloons and streamers. Next thing I knew, my yard was ready for a party.
I can state without fear of hesitation that Douglas Adams’s theory of restaraunt attendance also holds for bridal showers; neither the number of people invited, nor the number who RSVP’d had anything to do with the final headcount. The important thing, though, is that we had enough of everything for everyone who did make it. Gifts were opened, food consumed, silly games were played, the sun shone the entire time, and much fun was had.
All in all, it was a very good weekend—busy, slightly hectic, but very, very good.
Powered by FireStats
April 26th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Brugges has call-ahead seating? I’ll be damned.
Incidentally, their cheese plate is wonderful but vastly overpriced. Every time we order it we end up going “Wait, WTF, we paid $17 for that??”