New Year's 2009

We were lucky enough to spend the last day of 2009 with one of our favorite friends, Amy! She was able to spend the whole weekend with us.

I have been practicing my "tablescapes," so to speak, and I wanted to create something elegant and contemporary for her visit. I've been having a lot of fun mixing colors and textures, and playing with elements like flowers and candles to create something inviting and aesthetically pleasing. Here's what I came up with:



I made some hot apple cider to start off our New Year's Eve afternoon (since it was a little chilly for Southern California ;) in the new mini crockpot my mom had given us for Christmas.




When Amy arrived, we had cider and talked while I started making some appetizers. We were ready to relax and start the New Year off right!

As you can see, the appetizer's went fast: we had a cheeseball (which sounds kinda 'cheeseball' but they are actually really good ;) with crackers, Kyle's favorite "Parmies" (pastry-wrapped hot dogs topped with parmesan cheese, served with a spicy mustard dip), and one of Amy's favorites, caprese salad....yum! And to wash it down, some yummy champagne cocktails.

After more hanging out and catching up, we decided to go down to Limon Latin Grill, where we had a pre-New Year's Eve party cocktail. The nice thing about having the Simi Valley Town Center right below us (where Limon is located) is that everything is walking-distance! After this we were going to head over to Jeremy and Trish's to watch the ball drop.

On our way back up to the apartment, of course we couldn't help but pose with the ginormous Christmas tree in the middle of the Town Center!

After a great evening celebrating the coming of 2010, we headed back to the apartment and got some sleep. New Year's Day morning Kyle was sweet enough to treat Amy and I to breakfast--homemade waffles, eggs, and bacon...mmm. There's no better way to start off the New Year than with the one you love, wonderful friends, and wonderful food!

Happy 2010!