No birthday is complete without a cake.  And when you ask Amy Christie to make the cake - she brings it!  Amy made a Champagne Cake with fancy frosting and edible gold leaf.  It's even cooler because she started with a boxed cake mix!  Easy!  Fancy!  Totally Weeknight Party Girl!

Click here for the recipe + Amy's coolness in general

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Did you miss any part of my birthday!?  {Shame on you, it's rude to be late to a party} But you can catch up here.  And hopefully you brought a good gift to make up for it.

Smooches!

Dance on the tables with a HAWT playlist from Classic Play

 ::  

Dine on Caramelized Pear and Brie Crostini from Lulu the Baker

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Sip a phenomenal Black Cherry Punch

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Set the table with MJ's sparkling place cards

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday.

This week is my birthday!  So we're celebrating all week long - both in real life and on the blog.  I rallied a few of my favorite gals to help me celebrate my birthday.  Melissa of Lulu the Baker has an amazing appetizer tomorrow, Amy of This Heart of Mine baked a cake, I made a cocktail {doy yoy}, but first, Jen of Classic Play curated a play list that literally has me dancing on the tables already!  

I realized the invitations could easily be cut and used on the records - perfect decor by the DJ stand when a record isn't as useful {to anyone other than my sister} as an iPod.  But it's the most fabby backdrop for a tiny bluetooth speaker and an iPod.  

Party on!

The girls and I partnered with

Tiny Prints

to bring you an entire week of fabulous birthday party celebration all inspired by

this invitation

on the

Tiny Prints

site.  

Hey, have you had a Michelada?  How do you make yours?  I've heard everything from Clamato to plain tomato juice to spicy beer.  I like mine with lime juice, hot sauce and an amazingly spicy rim.  I also like it over ice, but that's totally optional.

Steak tacos are one of my favorite ways to serve a crowd!  Especially at a tailgate or a backyard barbecue.  Using a cut like a Certified Angus Flat Iron, Tri Tip Roast, or Flank Steak means you can serve a crowd fairly inexpensively.  

Also, I am currently obsessed with Certified Angus Beef.  It's shocking how much better it is than 'standard' beef.  The meat is tender, juicy, and reliable - even on cuts {like a tri tip roast} that I would usually say are stringy and weird.  And they aren't paying me to say that.  I'm just obsessed.  

A really simple marinade works perfectly for a tailgate too.  I throw everything into a ziploc bag with the meat - slosh it around in the marinade - then take it to the tailgate in the cooler.  Cooking the meat in the parking lot and slicing it to serve at the tailgate makes these tacos the absolute best.  That, and a good beer.

And don't forget

-

Pineapple Margarita Salsa

-

Spicy Summer Salsa

This is a sweet topping for your steak tacos - or really for anything.  It desperately needs the jalapeño or a dash of hot sauce to balance the sweetness of the roasted pineapple.  But holy moly it's tasty.  And it's fab for your tailgate!  

Watch the video here

.  

Can you believe it's already tailgate season again!?  The Huskies and Cougars both have games next week which means we all have to start planning how we're going to tailgate.  Since the Huskies will be playing in Hawaii to kick off the season, Dawg fans will have to tailgate from afar...  

While I was planning a little tailgate soiree, all I ran into was fall flavors and warm soups and cider. And I just couldn't do it.  It has been amazingly beautiful summer in Seattle and I'm not ready for summer to end - even if it means more football.

So I put together a perfect SUMMER tailgate with all of the fruit that is still ripe and a refreshing cocktail that you may not have tried yet!  Cheers to tailgate season

and GO DAWGS!

Also, if you aren't following me on

Instagram

, I suggest you hightail it over there!  There is going to be a huge HUMONGOUS giveaway this week that you'll want to be watching for!  Especially if you are a Cougar fan.

Get the recipes here

Spicy Summer Salsa

 ::  

Pineapple Margarita Salsa

 ::  

Michelada

It seems like the ultimate summer cocktail - the Tom Collins.  Mostly because I hear about it in the movies.  Then I discovered it's basically gin spiked lemonade and I was like H-E-L-L-O!  So here it is, my version with a little sparkling water to top it off.  And unlike it's original, it's spelled the way Thom was meant to be spelled, the way my dad spells it.  Consider it an homage to him.  He who loves gin and likes to say he shorted "Thomas" by just dropping the "ass."  

Hardy har har and cheers my dears.

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The Weeknight Party Girl got to throw the most amazing dinner party last week for a group of friends thanks to KitchenSurfing.  The usual problem with a weeknight dinner party is cooking the actual dinner part.  I've give you a few ideas

here

,

here

, 

here

,

here

 and

here

of things you can serve at a weeknight party that are simple and fabulous.  But what if you could have a chef completely cater the dinner.  And not in a "catering" way but in a truly special, unique, "there's a chef in my kitchen" way.

That's what Kitchen Surfing is - bringing the chef into your house.  We chose Chef Ryan who's ideas around local, organic, and simple were so similar to my own.  The menu she sent over was ridiculously awesome and we went from there.

To compliment the local and seasonally inspired menu I made a giant batch of my

Basil Gin G & T

and served it in my vintage ombre punch bowl.  The hilarious part about collecting vintage bar ware is how dramatically the serving size has changed over the years.  Five large fellas with tiny 1940's punch cups in their hands was awesome.

geranium ricotta on honey bruschetta

To go with the rest of the light summer dinner I had

our friend Matt

bring over a case of his phenomenal wine.  We chose the rose and the sauvignon blanc to pair with the fresh local flavors.  That and they are my favorite.  One of the perks of having good friends in the wine business!

I wanted to put something fun on each plate.  Since I had billed this as a "fancy-pants dinner party" it seemed like putting something completely the opposite of fancy pants was in order - in come grocery store chocolates.  Who doesn't love a Hershey's kiss?

my garden roses were in full bloom 

Summer Gazpacho

Melon, Mint, Basil and Pancetta Laced with a touch of chili pepper and Feta Crostini, cool, sweet and salty and a gorgeous hue. 

Crepe Pasta Ravioli

Spring Pea and Ricotta filled homemade pasta crepe, with Sausage, fried Sage and brown bacon butter with pea shoots and flowers

Blueberry Shortcake

Bow Hill Blueberries, Cream scone brown sugar short cake, honey whipped chantilly cream, balsamic syrup and honey thyme caramel.

I am so enamored with Kitchen Surfing.  The chefs are throughly vetted to be interesting and quality chefs who not only cook an incredible meal, but bring all of the ingredients, plate all of the food, and clean up ALL.OF.THE.DISHES.  I think this is a great way to celebrate a weeknight with friends.  But I think it's an even better gift!

You can GIFT a chef!  Think of the new parents who can't get out of the house for a date night!  Think of the birthdays you could celebrate!  Valentine's Day!

Check out KitchenSurfing.com and get a $50 credit

If you use Kitchen Surfing, tag it with #kitchensurfing because I can't wait to see your parties too!

Dinner ℅ Kitchensurfing.com

I'm off to Palm Springs for a few days of melting in the heat and hanging out with girlfriends by the pool.  Wish me luck!

Guess what Party People!?!  The

picnic that I posted last month

right here on this little ol' blog got picked up by my really good friend Martha Stewart!  The site calls me fabulous.  Which, of course, means you should

click here

and read the article.