DREAMING OF PALM TREES: Holiday Dinner Fête

The party planners: Karina, Rachel, Me.

Centerpieces of glass mirrors, pine cones and candles made

for a dreamy ambience.

Printed menu that highlights our potluck contributions.

The table aglow.

The most stylish family we know.

Marines and baby Santi. Adorable!

Clearly, Persis and I were not in on the joke.

Yummy appetizers!

The best gnocchi we've ever had.

Mingling guests.

Ah, if only we had snapped this photo before eating!

About a month ago, Karina and I, along with our fellow party planner, Rachel, hosted our first formal holiday dinner party. It was complete with rented tables and chairs, holiday decor that would have made Martha proud, and an array of the most amazing food, courtesy of our invited guests. We made it a potluck and were so incredibly impressed with everyone's dishes. Among my favorites? Sarah's sweet potato gnocchi, Karina's artichoke stuffed mushrooms, Charlie's Polish sausage, and Marines' key lime pie. It was all absolutely de-lish! So although we had this lavish affair quite a few weeks ago, we wanted to share the photos with you just for fun.

16 comments:

Courtney at SL's No Ennui :: Love it!; January 21, 2011 at 8:07 AM
Magdalena Viktoria :: wow, so impressive! everything looked so delicious and pleasing to the eye--from the food to the people. nice work!; January 21, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Ana Degenaar :: Everything looks beautiful and delicious! What a spread!; January 21, 2011 at 8:10 AM
Lisa Michelle Cifuentes :: Thanks, ladies! It was definitely a fun night. :); January 21, 2011 at 8:49 AM
The Everything List :: looks great! your decorations turned out so well!

http://lachapstickfanatique.blogspot.com; January 21, 2011 at 8:58 AM
Heart Charlie :: Beautiful photos, I love that stylish family!; January 21, 2011 at 9:12 AM
Claudia Cifuentes :: I am sooooo bummed I missed this! Looks like everyone really brought their A-game! The photos came out so beautiful.Those appetizers look so yummy!; January 21, 2011 at 10:03 AM
Lisa :: Looks delish! And I love your decorations! I had a potluck last weekend (that I blogged about).; January 21, 2011 at 10:13 AM
AbbieBabble :: This looks like the perfect wintertime party- I want to go to one like that!; January 21, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Liz :: Is it possible to share the Gnocci recipe? That looks amazing.; January 21, 2011 at 11:46 AM
Raquel :: It looks like the party was so much fun! I love a dreamy candlelit atmosphere. :); January 21, 2011 at 12:28 PM
jillian :: cornflake dreams. :: how fun! looks like you had a great time :) love love the red lips too! xoxo jcd http://cornflakedreams.blogspot.com/; January 21, 2011 at 12:55 PM
Lisa Michelle Cifuentes :: Liz, our friend who made the gnocchi is traveling right now, but as soon as she gets back, I will definitely ask her to share the recipe! It was too good!; January 21, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Caroline :: The table settings look beautiful and the food sounds delicious! Glad to see that you all had so much fun; that is really the most important part.; January 21, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Jenni Austria Germany :: i love all the party planners outfits. :) and the food looks so good.; January 21, 2011 at 5:10 PM
tiger in a jar :: This party looks amazing and the food looks delicious! Well done!; January 27, 2011 at 6:15 PM