Success!

Tonight Josh and I hosted our first grown up dinner. His grandparents came down to see our new place and hang out with us for the evening. I was nervous after Tuesday's debacle. I woke up early and cleaned an already clean place. Not sure why it made me feel better but it did. Moved this frame a tad to the left and that lamp a tad to the right. If you're calling me crazy in your head, it's not the first time I've heard that label. :p Just call me Monica.

For dinner I decided to do a simple starter salad with cucumbers and tomatoes and then for dinner do Ig's Perfect Roast Chicken. Mostly because A does it a lot and it always turns out delicious. Plus I know everyone likes chicken so it's a safe meat. Since I personally hadn't prepared it before I was a little nervous.  How big should I cut the carrots and onions? What does "coat liberally" actually mean? Aimee ichatted me through it, bless her heart. I made my favorite brown rice to go with (soaked it a few hours and added an extra cup of water to appease Josh). And to round out the meal we had this cake from scratch by Aimee. I had my new best friend Bessie blend me up some icing to top it off. Yum.

I'm a clumsy cat. Every time I'm in the kitchen Josh gets worried that I'll chop off a finger. If he's not with me when I'm cooking, I'm guaranteed to get a few texts asking me to be careful. Tonight I only burned one finger. A- for me!

I think everyone enjoyed the meal. Is it lame to say I did? :) Josh gave me the ultimate compliment - he went back for seconds. Everyone was gracious and complimentary.

Lessons I learned for future hosting gigs:
1. Buy some chairs - We had to move the table to the side of the couch - Josh had to sit on the edge and his grandma had to sit in Josh's desk chair. Whoops. They were quite understanding.
2. Find decaf Keurig pods - When it's late, most people like decaf. I know my parents do. I couldn't find any at our local Safeway. Maybe Costco? But then what would I do with 300 decaf pods?
3. Have rice options - Grandpa likes white. Should have known.
4. Get some serving trays and bowls. We didn't have anything to put the salt and pepper in, the salad, or to cook the chicken in (had to use my baking trays). A bit embarrassing to have to put the milk carton on the table for coffee. :/
5. Don't rush to clean up. Enjoy the guests. Whenever mom hosted a lot of people I would always find my way to the kitchen to help dad clean while Aimee and mom circulated. Big crowds make me introverted so I find comfort at the sink. But when you're the host you can't just hide in the kitchen. I made a conscious effort to be present and I think Josh appreciated that. I hope he did anyway. My bonus for sitting at the table? Josh helping me to clean up.
6. Timing is key.

I wish I had taken some photos for you but I was too caught up in it to remember. Sorry my friends. As an afterthought here was Aimee's yummy chocolate cake (there's Bessie too!) before and after. A nice ending to an equally nice evening.