Yesterday afternoon we held a champagne reception at my mum's house in Houston to celebrate my graduation and the start of my career in audit. It was a nice party, the guests consisted mainly of my mum's friends and there were a few families that came that I have known for years so it was nice to see everyone and catch up.
I wish I had taken pictures of the food spread, but I wasn't the photographer (as you can tell, since I'm in every picture...) We had a completely vegan reception as it wasn't a meal, just hors d'oeuvres and little finger foods to nibble on. We quite a lot of Mediterranean food from a restaurant & market that I love called Phoenicia Deli. From there we bought several different types of dolma (stuffed grape leaves), hummus, babaganouj, roasted red pepper dip, sweet almond thins, olives, and pita bread. We also had a raw organic vegetable tray with cauliflower, cucumber, celery, carrots and bell peppers. We made a tomato, basil & balsamic bruschetta that was served hot, as well as an artichoke, red roasted red pepper, caper & lemon bruschetta that was served cold- both on rustic French bread from Foody's Gourmet market. Then we made 2 different pizzas- one was caramelized onion, fig, and arugula with a balsamic & brown sugar glaze, and the other was a radicchio and truffle oil pizza. We bought a vegan cookies 'n' cream cake from Whole Foods which was amazing, and also had a bowl of berries, some date & almond rolls, dark chocolate squares, and dinner mints in the sweet section.
YUM! Everyone loved it. And like I said it was completely vegan.
Oh.. and I can't forget.. there was champagne flowing all day of course.
Here I am with Tina, one of my mum's good friends who she lived in Nigeria with. Tina is very kind and generous, and actually at one point she pulled me aside and told me how proud she was of me, etc etc and she actually started crying. Wow. Guess I did something right.
My stepdad, Mike, and me.
Phil and me. Phil has known me since I was in diapers. I love him and his wife, they are so kind, thoughtful and generous. Truly a wonderful family to have in my life.
Here my mum is presenting me with the vegan cookies 'n' cream cake as everyone was singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow"... how embarrassing. But sweet.
Andy and me. Apparently his wife was there when I was born... which means he might have been as well but honestly I don't remember.
Woody, myself, and his wife Shelley. Friends of my mum's from the tennis club.
Maddie, Angela, and me. Angela is Phil's daughter, and I've known her for what seems like forever. She used to babysit me, and I remember the first time I ever saw the movie Clueless was at her house. Maddie is one of Angela's two beautiful daughters.
Okay this is horrible but I forgot the girl on the left's name. I just remember she came from Australia and is staying with the girl to her right, Emily, for six weeks. Emily's mum is next to her, and then in the pink is my grandma Betty who I like to call Queen B.
This is Diego, who I have also known since we were very young. We grew up together all around the world with our dads both working in the oil service industry. Now he's a chemist who tests things in a lab. I'm also good friends with his sister, Laura, who is also a vegan and sadly couldn't be there to enjoy the feast as she was working at the hospital. I did send her brother home with a little plate for her, complete with a slice of that amazing cake.
Maddie, Phil, Angela, Dawn & Kathey. The grandparents, the mother, and the two grandchildren. This family has been in my life for a long time as well, and we also lived in Malaysia with them many years ago. Phil & Kathey are truly two of the kindest people I know.
My friend Chris came for some free bubbly. I've known him since I was about sixteen. He looks like Santa Claus now.
And here I am with a group from the party. Really I just wanted to showcase my shoes with this picture.
All in all, it was a success! And everyone seemed to enjoy the vegan spread and of course the champers. CHEERS!
