A Summer Shabbat!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Mine was filled with some quality boyfriend time, a little shopping with Mama, a delicious garlic-filled dinner and a comedy show with new pals, and some cousin bonding, but I started the whole thing off with some friends and fun at a BIG Shabbat dinner at my place!

I’ve blogged before about the Shabbat dinners I like to throw at my apartment, and the last one I did was in April - it was definitely time for another one! I invited some pals, they in turn brought other pals, boyfriends and girlfriends and significant others tagged along... in the end more than 20 people packed into my apartment on Friday night - it was great!

Can’t throw a Shabbat without GB... she’s the world’s biggest help and best co-hostess ever!

The menu (forgot to get a pic of the whole table!)

Fresh challah

Veggie platter and hummus

Goat cheese and olive tapenade crostini

Baked brie and crackers

Corn, tomato, parmesan & arugula salad

Chicken Parmesan

Cheese lasagna

And of course...

Sea-salt caramel cupcakes with vodka whipped cream

Chocolate brownies

Chocolate-covered marshmallows

Oreo pie

My cute boy and best co-host ever!

GB and I with our new friend Allison! Remember my beloved pal Bracha? Her roommate Allison just moved here from Denver and doesn’t know anyone in LA... obviously she had to come to Shabbat to meet some friendly new faces!

This is what happens when you tell Matt and I to be normal...

My darling ABC :)

So handsome... if only he wouldn't blink in every photo :)

A shockingly normal pic of Ash and I! (She's the one who made the insane brownie/cupcakes)

The whole crew - thank god for camera self timers!

I absolutely LOVE throwing parties and hosting people - I am Martha Jewart’s daughter, after all! Sometime this week I’ll do a post on some of the Queen’s tips for entertaining, so check back in a couple days for that :)

Hope your week is off to a great start!