The Bride, The Groom... & Fernando The Taco Man

A few weeks ago, The Husband and I threw an engagement party for our good friends Rick and Robin (whose wedding we are officiating in June). This party was so much fun to put together. We gave it a vacation theme because Rick and Robin's initials are R&R and also because, well, they like to party. We live in the front house of a triplex and our neighbors in the back have a huge beautiful yard. With their generosity, in two days, we turned that yard into a vacation-party paradise.

Meet the bride and groom...

This is Fernando the Taco Man. I'm in love with his Tacos. Like crazy in love. We had to feed 35-40 people at our party, so instead of working myself to the bone, I made drinks and cake and Fernando took care of everything else. It was awesome.

He brings his cart and all the ingredients and stays for 4 hours. His tacos are fresh, well seasoned, and delicious. We had, pastor, carne asada, carnitas, chicken, grilled onions, grilled mild peppers, rice, beans, guacamole, chips, two salsas, cilantro chopped onions, radishes and limes wedges. If you are planning a party where you have too feed 30+ people, I absolutely recommend Fernando (his number is (626) 278-6327). He was such a nice man, with such an amazing service. Look at all this yum....


The Husband ate seven tacos that afternoon. Seven. And the best part was that there were plenty of leftovers for dinner that night (and then some).

I made homemade margaritas with fresh squeezed orange juice.

We bought Mexican Cokes made with cane sugar. Yum.

And the Bride's favorite beer.

I made a double batch of The Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches Cake and managed to tier it.

And this Lemon bundt cake is my favorite recipe from the book 'Under The Tuscan Sun' buy Francis Mayes (I'll blog this one soon, it's too good).

Rick has an affinity for beer coozies, so we stole all of his collection and added some of our own for everyone to use. This one was epic.

Until...

The whole day was so fun because I didn't have to kill myself in the kitchen and we could still eat like a kings. But best of all, Rick and Robin had a blast and all their friends left happy and full.
We cannot wait for next Summer! These people, know how to party. Love you R&R.

Greg and Alicia's Wedding

Wedding seven of eight this year, was in San Jan Capistrano. Two of The Husband's good friend's from school married each other in a beautiful mission wedding. The day was a celebration of old California in every detail. The bride's family has been in California for 7 generations, her late father was the Mayor of Capistrano and she has a parkway named after her (it used to be just a little road and then...parkway). Alicia and Greg (the bride and groom) are two of the coolest people you will ever meet. See for yourself in Greg's new blog. They are also two founding members of the Conquistadors, and have visited each and every single mission. They are both one step away from becoming Huel Howser himself. What I find most compelling about these two, is that they adore California and appreciate it's history without a trace of irony. This wedding reflected that. It was sincere homage to the golden state in every detail.

It rained on our way down to San Juan Capistrano and then...double rainbow.

The sky cleared when we got near the Mission.

And it ended up being a beautiful day.

The ceremony was held in Father Serra's Chapel (the original Mission at San Juan Capistrano). Only a select few can be married in this chapel. Alicia is one of the few because she can track her family lineage in San Juan so far back.






Alicia wore her grandmother's Spanish comb as part of her veil.

Our friend Scott (fellow Conquistador) spray painted a stencil onto his suit jacket. Now that is real commitment.

For some wonderful reason, they both have street signs with their last names on them. Alicia's is literally named after her family. Their guest book had pictures of them visiting each California Mission together.

Their gift envelope box was covered with California fruit labels. I thought this was super cool.

They had a simple cake with their birthday year and wedding date on it. There were churro sundaes to go with it!

Every table on their seating chart was named after a different Mission.

They got custom made papel picado flags that decorated the reception courtyard.

The bride's shoes!!! She had these custom made to look like their street signs. They were covered with California poppies.

The Husband and The Groom. The white suit jacket...right?

Empanadas. Not kidding, I had six of these.


This was not our table, but it was my favorite one because I grew up four blocks from this mission.

The Bride's niece. I think she may be an actual angel.

The favors were California poppy seeds (our state flower).

During the first dance, the roof of the reception hall opened.

Dinner. Oh, I wish I had some of that right now.

And then, the yummiest churro sundae. It was seriously one of the most delicious things, so fresh and crispy!

We danced and danced until we could dance no more.

The bride closed the party down in style.

Then we all walked across the street to The Swallows (an iconic Capistrano dive bar).

Yes, even the bride and groom came with us (it was thier idea). And as a matter of fact, there were two brides at The Swallows that night.
But only one was this awesome. Congratulations Greg and Alicia, your wedding was just amazing. A little dose of "California's gold!" (Sorry, I had to)

Anthony & Susie's Wedding

A little over a month ago The Husband and I went to a beautiful wedding in Los Gatos, CA. One of our mutual friends (and one of The Husband's co-workers), Anthony, married a super cool woman named Susie, in a gorgeous outdoor, Northern California venue. The food was superb, the drinks superb-er. It was our 6th wedding of the year (6 of 8) but, I'm telling you, I never get tired of them. This one was mighty special, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy...

Before the ceremony, we were greeted with fresh watermelon juice and jalapeno lemonade. I know, it sounds weird, but the lemonade was actually fantastic.



The alter was decorated with these beautiful hanging arrangements.



They handmade the programs.


These are my friend Shannon's legs. I mean, come on.

And then the bride, and the good stuff...

Yes, tears. Anthony's vows were cripplingly poignant and loving. It was a beautiful ceremony. After the kiss and enough time for the men to inconspicuously wipe their tears away, we trotted up the hill, taking seconds on the lemonade and juice. When we reached the reception garden we were greeted by this awesome place-card display...

The wedding was intimate and the details left nothing without character and charm.



The favors were so sweet and were sealed with this...

Inside was a donation to the no-kill animal shelter, where they got their dog Xander and a cookie cutter in the shape of Xander himself.

The mixed drinks were all served in mason jars. The husband's Jack and Coke...

My watermelon mojito. Um, yeah, it was that good...

This was the barn where all the dancing, cake eating, sundae making (yes, there was a gelato bar) and serious fun time went down.

There was a train that took us on a ride around the grounds (please take notice at The Husband's 6'4'' frame squeezed into a kitty car).

And there was a miniature house because everyone needs one of these.

How about this for a big load of handsome.

And a quick break for the beautiful bride, before the party gets it's sea legs.

The bouquets were stunning and the succulent theme was echoed all over the decor, including the wedding cake.

Best appetizer of the night was this "grilled cheese." It was grilled bread with melted brie, hollandaise and fried onions.

Lamb on polenta cakes.

Dinner Time!

Good wine.

Caprese salad.

A massive pan of paella.

Carrot and jicama slaw with dill and marscapone cheese.

Purple potato salad with sauteed portobella mushrooms and lambs lettuce.

There were more pictures, but I wanted to get down to business. This was my plate, I ate it all. May I also point out that this was my first bite of red meat in twenty one years. Yeah, that, there... I ate it.

As the night died down, we headed into the barn, where this cake was accompanied by the previously mentioned gelato bar as well as a s'more campfire.

Stuffed, danced out and high on love, I wandered outside to get some fresh air. It was there on the patio, that I found these. A book of photos that the bride and groom had left out for their friends and family to add little quotes to. Here are some of the highlights.

Congratulations Anthony and Susie, thank god you got cooler as you got older. May your marriage be long and happy. Thank you for sharing it with us and for such a brilliant evening.