Birthday Feast!

Birthdays are a fantastic excuse to get wonderful people together, and eat, drink, & be merry. And that's exactly what I did to celebrate my 26th birthday! My dear friend Courteney helped me host a lovely meal with about 15 of my closest friends. And while yes, I did do some cooking (even making the cake!) for MY birthday, I LOVED every minute of it, because cooking and feeding people is what I LOVE TO DO!

I used to think that as I got older, I would dread birthdays -- especially as 25 rolled around, I began to fear being on the "wrong side of 20." Surprisingly, that has not been the case at all, and I am actually enjoying getting older. I know that I'm not that old by any means, but a lot of my law school friends are a couple years younger than me, and I am dating someone slightly younger than me (which apparently makes me a "cougar" haha), so I get picked on a lot for being "old." However, I am completely embracing 26, and many more birthdays to come! As my friend Walsh and I joked, "another year; another excuse to kick more ass."

With that said, here are some highlights of the food and decor that made my birthday dinner a success! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!! Blog posts to follow with the recipes of the individual dishes.

Andrew drinking some Strawberry Prosecco Fizz

Appetizer: Proscuitto-Wrapped Asparagus

Wonderful appetizers brought by friends --  Russ' Sun Dried Tomato Tapenade, Green Olive Tapenade, and Asian Guac & Courteney's Crab Dip

Beef Bourguignon, Green Bean Salad, and Courteney's Hash Brown Casserole (Every dish on this plate has bacon in it -- Coincidence? I think not!)

Tripe Layer Lemon Cake w/ Raspberry Filling & Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Ombre Pennant Flags -- created by my wonderful friend Courteney (who also made the most adorable mini-pennant flag cake topper!)

Gorgeous flowers from Barrett!!

And now, bring it on 26! :)