guess who's coming to dinner?

anyone who knows me knows 

that i love to entertain. 

(via pinkofperfection)

being surrounded by my family & friends is my favorite way to be. i truly believe, almost always, that the more, the merrier!

last night, though, i had an intimate little dinner party with my brother and his wife, 

and it was just right.

soundtrack: my adele/ray lamontagne 

Pandora station

(images via idolator & lastfm)

candle: 

(via anthro)

i put together one of my all-time fave, quick as two shakes of a lambs' tail salad:

fresh, organic spinach; organic strawberries; toasted pecans (or walnuts, whatever you have--i often candy mine, too, using the same recipe i do for making huge batches during the holidays. they are ridic; i'll have to share that in another post!); gorgonzola; & poppy seed dressing. it is so good. 

then i cooked up some delish lemon chicken & roasted asparagus with parmigiano-reggiano (i add the cheese 5 mins before its done cooking so it will melt perfectly). it was super simple; cooked in the kitchen while we caught up over a couple glasses of wine (and of course munched on a little app platter i threw together with what i had on hand: hummus, crackers, cherry tomatoes & baby carrots).  

(images via foodnetwork)

don't worry, i didn't stop there. 

for a little something fun for dessert, i made 

these amazing chocolate almond milkshakes. 

damn, they were good!

(kellikanophotography)

you must try them.

it was awesome. 

just the dose of grown-up conversation i needed. and of course the wine. there's always that.

tonight i'm going to be watching a movie that i'll be sure and fill you in on tomorrow. 

i haven't decided what yet, but i want to make this whole movie review thing a staple 

round these parts... 

there may or may not be excessive amounts of wine involved.

any film faves?

have a fabulous day, darlings! 

xo