This past week, I have been thinking of how important it is for moms to spend time alone with their girlfriends. On Sunday afternoon, I went to lunch with a group of my single girlfriends and we had a blast. On Wednesday, I took one of my dear girlfriends out for a belated birthday dinner at this new Italian spot in Chelsea. We just ate (and ate!) as we caught up on one another’s lives and shared our hopes and dreams for the near future. It was a night filled with food and laughter – two of my favorite things! I love being a wife and mom. I truly do. However, there’s just something sweet and special about just hanging with the girls!
That is one of the reasons that I was so excited when my dear friend Beth invited me to a “Ladies Night In” get together that was sponsored by Sauza Tequila. I’m not a big drinker, but I wanted to spend time with some of my blogging friends in a fun, relaxed environment. For me, alcohol is kind of like coffee – I don’t like the taste of it when it is served straight. However, there are drinks that mask the taste. Those are the ones (like Midori Sours) that I tend to favor on adult occasions. My goal for the Sauza event was to see if I could find a tequila drink that actually appealed to my taste buds.
Well, last night I had the pleasure of spending time with some of my favorite blogging friends…and I found a tequila drink that I really enjoyed. I met up in Manhattan with Nancy, Rebecca and Katja. We chatted for the couple of hours that it took to get to the New Jersey home of our lovely hostess Dawn Sandomeno of The Partybluprints Blog. I couldn’t believe that her gorgeous home was inhabited by three sons, but it truly was. I told her that I could never bring my husband there because it would get him started on his “we need to move into a house” spiel. I love to look at large, lovely homes, but I don’t want to live in one. More living space equals more space for me to clean in my pragmatic mind! Anyway, it was great to see a couple of other dear friends (Liz and Melissa) and to meet several new people. We also met the gorgeous (and teeny!) chef and cookbook author Marcela Valladolid who is a doting mom to a six year old son. She mixed some margaritas and made a flambé shrimp dish for us to try out. Since I’m starting to do a weekly food post, I videotaped Marcela making my favorite drink of the night (Citrus Cooler) and cooking Tequila Lime Shrimp. Both were pretty simple as you can see below:
Citrus Cooler (Her grandmother’s recipe)
Tequila Lime Shrimp
You can find these recipes and others along with entertaining tips on Sauza’s facebook page: www.facebook.com/sauzamargaritas.
As the evening drew to an end, we left with an autographed copy of Marcela’s Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor book and two bottles of Sauza tequila. So…guess who will be having a “Mexican Night” soon. That would be me. My husband and I entertain at our home together a lot, but I think that I just might keep these for a ‘Ladies Night In”…at the Colemans!
Do you attend or host ‘Girls Night In’ events at your home often? If so, what do you normally do with your girlfriends? Let me know in the “Comments” section below by the end of the month and I will send one of you an autographed copy of Marcela’s book. You will have to get your own Sauza tequila though…
(P.S. If you’re looking for other food-related news, my friend Nicole has a great “Friday Food” post each week.)