I was Invited the Day I Returned from 2 Back to Back Trips

Whew! I am finally home, only for a few days as I have to fly to FL on Saturday again for a family reunion. My mom is turning 95 next week and we decided to celebrate it by all of us siblings and their respective families from all over the states flying there to join her. She is in Illinois with my sister so she is flying there too.

 

I had just  returned from a back to back trip from Utah and Canada when I received a text from my friend here. She said we are invited to a swimming party the next day....at our house, lol. How can I say "NO" to that? Besides, I love challenges. I know they miss me since I have been gone and I miss them too. I told her I might not have time to cook because I was still unpacking and cleaning, after all, I left John here by himself and you know what that does to our home.

 

They decided to bring all the entrees and I cooked rice and "palitaw", a Filipino delilcacy and I made Boba tea drinks.

 

Then, I got busy setting the table outside. I decided on mostly white plates to make it easy for me, anchored by green and white placemats printed with palm tree leaves.

I did not even change the centerpiece. It's what has been  there on the table.

 I used 2 sets of white plates. Here is a close up of the design of one of them, a paisley. The other one has a basket weave edging.

 Boba tea I made with coconut flavor and large tapioca pearls. I like to order this whenever we eat at Vietnamese restaurants and then I saw the bubble tea powder mix in Canada so I bought and tried it. Yum! I emailed my College classmate from there to buy me some more to ship to FL so we can use them at our reunion. My kids and grandkids love that drink and I know my mom and sisters will too.

 

You will see the palitaw (cooked white rice flour sprinkled with sugar and coconut) and the brownies my friend baked, here.

Brenda gave me a set of 3 in various sizes of this basket. I think they are actually candle holders but I decided to repurpose one to serve my napkins.

 

We had more then enough food: pancit, venison adobo (did not try it, I still have to be exposed more to deer meat), green beans casserole, pasta salad, chicken pot pie, cucumber salad, fried chicken steak, pinakbet (another Filipino dish), blueberry cheesecake, etc.

 We sure had a  lot of fun. Everybody was texting me afterwards, thanking me and saying how much fun they had.

 

Now, I am back to packing for my next trip. 3 trips to different places in July is a little bit too tiring but I love it! I am also excited to see all my brothers and sisters and their families and all my kids and grandkids. We are all staying in our 2nd home in FL, my daughter's home next door and the German's home next to hers who are in Germany right now and my brother and his family rented another 4 bedroom house nearby for them to stay in.

 

It's been a while since I  posted so I hope you enjoyed viewing this. Thanks for your visit, always appreciate them and I appreciate all the hostesses. A BIG "thank you" to you all!

If you have time, please visit my College group's blog. I have a new post there. Thanks!
http://foreverspooks.blogspot.com/
 

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