Monday, December 16, 2013

Five for the road

This weekend was cause for celebration.

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With a lot of love, work and the grace of God, Mark and I marked five years of marriage. It's been quite the ride, these 1,800-plus days, but I think we're both happier for having taken the journey.

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This anniversary seemed like such a milestone, much bigger than the others, and so we decided to celebrate in the most fitting way: Ordering carry-out and fighting with Miles to eat his dinner.

You might think I'm kidding but I'm not. Our anniversary day, Friday, was non-descript - work and family. We had considered going out but Miles was in no mood to be in public and our baby-sitter (aka my mother-in-law) was recuperating from surgery. Before you feel bad, which I know you don't, I think it should be said that a) I think it was a good celebration of the life we created; b) we had a date night last week; and c) there was cake.

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An amazing chocolate-strawberry cake from a nearby panaderia. Oh. My. Word. It was so delicious and far better than the cake I had on my wedding.

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Wait. I didn't have cake at my wedding. Sad but true. I was too busy dancing and talking to eat the piece my friend had saved. When I went back for it, the catering crew had thrown it away.

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The one thing Mark and I reflected on, over this weekend, was that the wedding and the marriage was/is so much more than us. It's about the family we've made, the friendships we have fostered and the bonds we celebrate.

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Terrible photo but it does show that people were actually at my house.

So it was only fitting to have some of those who were there for us on Dec. 13, 2008, to be with us this weekend as well.

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I made a dinner of braised short ribs and creamy polenta, and our friends brought green bean casserole (hello, it's the holidays!), bread and wine.

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It was a delicious meal filled with food, conversation and drink. While I was not hip to the custom cocktail when I was in the midst of planning my nuptials, I made a perfect drink for our guests.

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Made with ginger ale Zevia, triple sec and pomegranate juice, it was fruity and sweet and a bit too smooth. As in you can drink several before you realize that you are drinking alcohol. It was a gorgeous burgundy color that made it quite festive for the season. For the under 21 population, it can easily become a mocktail by substituting orange juice for the liqueur.

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Ginger Holiday Sparkler


1 ounce triple sec
4 ounces pomegranate juice
Ginger ale Zevia, chilled

Pour triple sec and juice into a wine glass. Top with Zevia. Garnish with orange slices. Drink and be merry.

Disclosure: I was provided with Zevia, free of charge, for an upcoming review but was not required to create a recipe or write a post. All opinions and alcohol consumption are my own.

7 comments:

  1. Looks like fun. Happy Anniversary!

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  2. Happy Anniversary! Was your reception at the Women's Club? We had ours there too. Great place!

    And this is totally random, but is that Raul in the photo? I haven't seen him since high school.

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  3. Congratulations on five years! I can't think of a better way to celebrate...I love that you guys included your friends for dinner! Here's to many more wonderful years! :0)

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  4. Congratulations! What day is your actual anniversary? Ours is the 14th :)

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  5. Happy Anniversary! I swear we live parallel lives. We also celebrated our 5th anniversary back in October, kids and all.

    Cake was the only thing I ate at our wedding. They packed up a bunch and we took it to the bar we hit after the reception. I shoveled in my mouth as fast as possible standing in the middle of the bar in my wedding dress. Screams class doesn't it?

    Your wedding pictures are beautiful. Love love love.

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  6. happy anniversary! sounds like the perfect way to celebrate!! short ribs are delicious. so is cake :)

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  7. Happy anniversary!! Sounds like you had a wonderful low-key celebration this weekend-- and sometimes that's the best way to do it. :) I didn't really get to eat cake at my wedding either -- like you, too much dancing! :)

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