30 Before 30 Update - Dinner Party a Success!

Happy Tuesday, Noobs!  I'm happy to report that I have checked another task off of my 30 before 30 list; this past weekend I hosted my very first dinner party! The guest list was a little ambitious for my first time - 9 people including myself.  I'm going to be honest, I was kicking myself as I was trying desperately to get the food, drink and apartment ready for all of my friends the morning of - 'why did I invite so many people', I kept on thinking.  In the end though, I had so much fun that I wish I could have included more friends!

The biggest lesson that I learned through this whole experience is the power of planning.  I'm definitely not a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants type of gal, but planning enough food and drink for a crowd took some serious organization.  The best thing that I did was to take an hour to analyze all of my recipes, write out a menu, draft a complete grocery list and do just one full grocery shop the day before the dinner party.  By planning and executing things early, I had enough time to run out and get any items that I may had forgotten.  Another organizational trick I found helpful when planning a dinner party was to prepare as many dishes in advance as I could.  I made one of the two mains, plus the dessert the Friday evening before the dinner party and was so glad that I did.

Were there things that I would have done differently?  Definitely.  I learned that preparing a dish while the party is going on is not the best way to go about things. I thought I was making things easier by pre-chopping all ingredients for the dish, but the fact that I had to leave the party to prepare food was a huge bummer - plus I felt like I was invading the guests who were hanging out in the kitchen (because let's face it, everyone always seems to congregate around the kitchen at parties.) I was also having so much fun that I forgot to take any photos - such a Noob!  Other than those small things, I wouldn't have changed a thing and can't wait until I can host another dinner party!

I wanted to give a quick shout out to fellow bloggers Kristiana from Love Loft Life and Cassandra from the Cassandra Monroe Lifestyle Blog for giving me some pretty incredible tips and tricks.  These ladies are some of my favourites for recipes, D.I.Y and just general awesomeness so I encourage you to check them out.

Another task off of the 30 before 30 list - phew, because I have some serious catching up to do!  Which task do you think I should tackle next?

xo Joëlle