Throwing a Last-Minute Shindig

Despite the fact that we live in a less-than-600-square-foot condo, we love to entertain. What’s not to love about food+music+drinks+friends? We haven’t entertained much this last year with Sam in grad school, but I recently had a few of the girls over on a whim. Here’s the cute but quick spread I put together on the cheap, featuring some of my favorite items of the week.

Green Fin Wine
Green Fin is by far my new favorite white wine from Trader Joe’s. This baby is the best $3.99 you’ll ever spend on a bottle of white. Promise. Plus, it's organic, which is a major plus.

Crème de Cassis
It’s no secret I like cocktails. On my last trip to the liquor store, I bought a bottle of Crème de Cassis to replicate a favorite cocktail I had while traveling through Europe back in my college days. Creme de Cassis is a liqueur made from blackcurrent, a dark berry that resembles a blueberry. Simply add a splash of the liqueur to white wine for a Kir cocktail, or add to champagne to make a Kir Royale. Both are delicious – and pretty to boot.

Canning Jars
We have four wine glasses. Typically this seems like more than enough as Sam usually drinks beer, and I usually drink wine out of the bottle (JOKING, joking).  But seriously, there are two of us and we do the dishes every day – so four is usually enough. However, it's not enough for entertaining. I hate making our 5th guest feel like odd man out, so I try to keep the glasses consistent. I love my small kerr canning jars – and currently have about 20 since my homemade blackberry jam from last summer is almost gone from last summer!

 Trader Joe’s Sea Salt & Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds
I have only one word for this: crack.

Cuties
These mini orange/tangerine/mandarin things are summer in a mouthful. I love that they peel easily and are seedless so I can take them to work without looking like a slob. We usually have a bowl of these in the house for healthy snacking.

Vases
You know about my obsession with pitchers, but you might not know that I also love collecting vases. It's a pretty good thing we have limited cabinet space and a "one thing in, one thing out" rule. Still, some of my favorites are the more modern vases. I've found that square vases in particular that are really cute for entertaining. We actually don’t own any real servingwear, so the vases are perfect substitutes for serving veggies, dips – and cuties!

Bri Cheese & Baguette
I wish I could say I discovered this combination, but alas, I did not. But there’s nothing better. And I picked up this Pearl Bakery loaf at the Portland Farmer’s Market on the day-of, so it was fresh and soft.

Cocktails, cheese, chocolates, fruit and girlfriends. That's what I call a party.