Showered with Love

Last weekend started my unofficial countdown to the Big Day.  I traveled to Los Angeles, my hometown, where some of my oldest and dearest friends threw my first Bridal Shower.  To say the sentiments felt at the shower were overwhelming would be a gross understatement. I'm not really an emotional person and my personality doesn't lend itself to being the center of attention; so this whole showering you and honoring you thing can really get to a person if you are not prepared.  And nothing could have prepared me for the thoughtfulness and creativity of my childhood friends.

The shower was held at Hipcooks, where we had a private cooking class.  Now tell me how perfect is that for a self-proclaimed foodie that loves to cook and landed her fiance' through her surprising cooking skills.

Needless to say, when I received the invitation a few weeks back I was very excited about it.  When I walked into the kitchen studio, I was even more blown away by the set-up.

the beautifully decorated dining table (the middle of the table is glass, simply gorgeous!) to feast on our freshly prepared meal

and the instruction area where we did food prep

But tears came to my eyes and I completely succumb to my emotions when my dear friends insisted I open this one gift before we got started.

please excuse the "ugly" cry

a little blurry but you get the idea

Mrs. Foodie!!!! How could I not cry at this.  Not only am I about to become the Mrs. Foodie to my Mr. Foodie but I was just so touched at my friends attention to detail and getting me...knowing me.  I'm getting all emotional just coming up with the words to write about this so I'll stop and get on to the class and the food.

The class was so much fun.  There were only a handful of us and our mothers.  We have all known each other for a very, very long time so it was definitely like family getting together.  Our instructor and her sous chef were very patient because we were a pretty difficult group to maintain some sort of control over.  The mothers and myself were probably the only ones who were into the class and trying to learn something. 

Everyone else, not so much.  God bless them, they were all so busy taking pictures, drinking wine and washing their hands. A requirement of the class was that you need to wash your hands every time you touched something that was not food related so needless to say, they spent a lot of time at the kitchen sink.

On the menu: New Potato, Green Bean, Basil and Pine Nut Salad (not pictured), Moroccan Chicken with Pearl Barley and Warm Chocolate Tartlets with Raspberry Cream for dessert.

After the cooking, it was time to eat and the fun continued at the dining table.  We were such a talkative bunch, going through multiple bottles of wine.  And when everyone began sharing memories of when we met, those pesky emotions started up again. They have all warned me that I need to get all the crying out now, before the wedding, so I can actually make it through the day.

But on this day, I just felt so much love and such gratitude for the people in my life.

All in all, it was a wonderful shower.  Good times were had, memories were made, great food was consumed and we all got a few recipes out of it.  Although I am a little curious to see how many of my friends will actually use them...heehee.

Oh! Of course I didn't forget my readers.  I've shared one of them with you guys too ;)