Parties! Plus, my new no-meat obsession.

Our little Emma turned 5 a while back and requested an unicorn birthday party. Yesss! I love planning parties that are heavy on the whimsy and bright colors.  Her adorable (and very pink!) customizable party invite can be found here. 

Emma begged for a treasure hunt. I'm of two minds about the treasure hunts, mostly because they take so much time to create. The kids, however, adore them and they are always a huge hit at parties.

I pulled some of the clues from the internet but most of these are my own creation, made with significant help of an online rhyming app.

Here is a pdf of the clues. 

Each year I am determined to make a fancy lunch and somehow we always end up with our usual (and unimaginative) fruit/cheese/veg spread.  Everyone is guaranteed to find something palatable though so no complaints. 

 Pink cake! I am now an expert at ombre desserts. :)

Cake was followed by Pin the Horn on the Unicorn. 

And another with a similar theme: Unicorn Horn Ring Toss. 

 And that, my dears, was a wrap on the unicorn birthday party.

Ben's party this year was a slightly more low-key event. He picked out a few buddies and we headed over to Red Robin for lunch followed by the Lego Movie 2 at the theater. It was lovely, actually; his friends were very sweet and I think everyone had a good time, birthday boy especially. 

I used this free printable. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Speaking of printables, my sister-in-law had her bachelorette party a few months ago up here in Seattle and I threw together a few cards to go with the gift baskets. I copied the invitation from one online and I can't find it (feeling hugely guilty on that score). The party was a blast; my favorite bit was the electric boat rental we did on Lake Union; highly recommended! We brought along heavy appetizers plus a few bottles of bubbly. The boat is fully enclosed and comes with blankets and a heater. Bonus points for those that can pick out the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat!

Chris and I are still on our no-meat-but-lots-of-seafood meal plan and it's going well, although I occasionally cheat at restaurants. Let's just say that Chris has better self restraint that I.

The other day we sampled the Beyond Meat burger available at Whole Foods and Kroger. Friends, I AM A CONVERT.  We have subsequently learned that everyone has an opinion when it comes to fake meat but I will be a repeat customer. Have you tried it? What do you think?

Speaking of vegetarian staples, this slow roasted tomato and caramelized onion soup is absolutely heavenly and quickly became my go-to lunch this winter. You could easily make it vegan but I usually drape the top of mine with a slice of toasted french bread and gobs of melted cheese.  Adapted from the Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Alsterburg & Wanda Urbanowicz. Trust me, this soup is worth the prep time.



I have a few house projects that I've been working on recently so I'll throw those up presently. It's been a slow return to the world of blogging but I'll do my best to post a bit more frequently.

xo,
Sonja