holidays + special events

I’m a west coaster who loves San Fran­cisco (the city and the food) so I’m root­ing for the 49ers (even though they trounced San Diego back in 1994 to a tune of 48–26 — ouch). How­ever, liv­ing in D.C. for … more →

A few ideas for Valentine’s Day…        valen­tine bon­bons choco­late almond bark cos­mopoli­tan cham­pagne cock­tails straw­berry cup­cakes melissa’s choco­late peanut but­ter cups Happy Valentine’s Day!    

I love Thanks­giv­ing — set­ting a beau­ti­ful table and bring­ing out my grandmother’s stemware. I love that my fam­ily comes together and that my hus­band sets his tri­pod up and gets a fam­ily pic­ture each year, in the same spot … more →

Let me just warn you…I love Hal­loween. Not the gory Fred­die Kruger stuff like gross out bloody masks with all man­ner of hard­ware and veins pop­ping out, but a whim­si­cal Hal­loween with lots of carved pump­kins and sea­sonal treats. It’s … more →

Five years after host­ing a wed­ding shower for my niece Erin, I was delighted to be throw­ing her a baby shower. We had 22 guests for a fully gluten-free lun­cheon, com­plete with appe­tiz­ers and drinks, and vanilla straw­berry cup­cakes with … more →

To cel­e­brate your mom, here’s a few brunch choices that are sure to please. I’ve made each and every one of these dishes for Mother’s Day cel­e­bra­tions for my own mom. They work for a small group or large and … more →

When I was lit­tle, Easter wasn’t Easter until my mom had made all us girls new dresses. But the fun part was after the church ser­vice at Easter break­fast. The men of our church pre­pared, cooked and served pan­cakes, scram­bled … more →

The tra­di­tion of hav­ing tea with my daugh­ter started when she was 7. Now at nearly 12, we try to go to our favorite tea house, Aubrey Rose, about every six weeks. With a few days notice, they can pro­vide … more →

Since the Charg­ers, once again, made a great show­ing then fiz­zled in the 11th hour, I am a bit ambiva­lent about who wins the Super­bowl. My friend Mark, a dyed in the wool Steel­ers fan, will once again nearly pop … more →

As much as I love the idea of a cock­tail party, this year we are walk­ing down the street to our good friend’s home to cel­e­brate east coast style. Yep — 9:00 p.m. San Diego time and all our bells … more →