THANK GOD FOR FRIENDS WHO INVITE FRIENDS OVER TO OTHER FRIENDS' HOUSES, is all I have to say.
Gracious, gracious Stephanie and her husband Tadd welcomed us, Jamie and her friend Patrick, and Robin and Marty into their beautiful home last Saturday night and immediately started feeding us. We started with her famous Crack Dip (four ingredients), which is so named because you can't stop eating it. CAN. NOT. Amazing with Fritos.
Right next to the Crack Dip were the Sausage and Cheese Tarts (four ingredients). You can't eat just one. Or just eight.
Steph also served a variety of cocktails, including Appletinis and Cosmos made from Pampered Chef mixes. WHO KNEW. I did not know.
See how red Patrick's face looks in this picture? It's not the lighting. Jamie's face looks normal. Patrick's cocktail gave him the vapors, I think.
This is the part where I tell you that Tadd is actually stunningly tall for his age. Steph was wearing platform shoes, but I don't want the Internet to operate under the assumption that Tadd is a Short Man. Very tall. Very very tall.
We were having fun before we got anywhere close to sitting down to supper. I mean, once Marty gets going, it's hard to rein him in. As I was taking this picture, I said, "SMILE, MARTY!" And he replied, "I AM SMILING."
For real, though, I'd already laughed so hard by the time we'd been there an hour that I had to go sit down in the den under the ceiling fan to cool off. Those are some funny people.
Sweet Robin -- who is a nurse by day but has a vinyl-design business going gangbusters by night -- made me, Steph and Jamie each a personalized tumbler.
Mine has an owl on it! Love.
Jamie brought gorgeous hydrangea blooms out of her yard to decorate the table, and they barely looked real.
Tadd threw an eight-ounce filet on the grill for each of us, and when he pulled them off -- cooked perfectly, I might add -- they were just about the prettiest steaks you've ever seen.
Steph had prepared a couple of side dishes ... one was Italian Green Beans, or a close cousin of those.
And the other was hashbrown casserole, which was similar to the one we make, but not identical. I only took a couple of scoops of this, but please rest assured: I could have eaten the entire dish.
It didn't stop there! Steph also made dinner rolls from scratch.
Please note that I only ate two. TWO. I had to stop myself from going back for more, because they were outstanding.
I was so full after I licked my plate, though, that I couldn't eat either of the two desserts she'd prepared. So I got a doggy bag!
Steph also sent each of us home with an entire LOAF of her homemade bread.
I mean, seriously. What did I do to deserve this kind of food love?
Jamie brought artisanal chocolate for me.
It's even pretty on the inside.
But by far, the best part of the evening was the fellowship.
There are people who don't get the Internet. Who don't understand that real friendships can be formed from the seeds that are planted here. But I know different.
Oh, and please let me add: If you know me in real life and know that I am only 5-foot, 2, you're looking at Jamie in these pictures thinking that she's roughly 4 feet tall. Not true. I was wearing three-inch heels and she was in flats. I mean, she's adorably tiny, but I don't typically TOWER over her.
What an evening. I came home full as a tick and hoarse from laughing so hard. And really, is there anything better than feeling like a hoarse tick? I THINK NOT.
(You're welcome, Pixar. I look forward to seeing The Hoarse Tick on screens everywhere in the summer of 2015.)
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