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Hello! Hope everyone is having a great and hopefully short week with the July 4th holiday around the corner. Suddenly, it feels like the fast forward button has been pressed and summer is zooming by. I haven’t even had a single lobster roll yet….have lots to check off my summer bucket list yet.

My husbands birthday falls in the summer and since next year is a, let’s just call it, a “big number” birthday, which we will certainly do something for, we were not doing anything beyond going to dinner this year. A few of his friends had planned a dinner out to celebrate his birthday but when our group of 8 grew,  I suddenly found myself hosting a small dinner bday party for about 15 people. I do well under pressure and last minute gatherings give me fuel, go figure.

I made a trip to get the very last of the peonies of the season to my favorite peony farm, planned out some appetizers, set up outside and prayed for great weather. We got so lucky with the weather, it was a truly spectacular day with a light breeze, bright blue skies and not a cloud in sight.

We were planning to have Persian food (if you haven’t tried it you are missing out) It is amazingly delicious, mostly grilled chickens, steaks, fish with various types of rices. The kind of food that is super flavorful and there is definitely something for everyone.  I regret that right after the evening started, my phone was misplaced but it was found right when we were about to serve dessert.

So here is a look at that impromptu birthday dinner…….

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Nothing could be prettier than opening my garage refrigerator and seeing it stuffed to the gills with peonies:)

Kept them there overnight to keep them nice and cold! You do what you have to do!

And the peony arranging begins!

Loved having an excuse to use my gorgeous new hurricanes (the smaller size in this case) Loving the two new designs coming in 2-3 weeks

And the flowers are all done……

This new size hurricane (6″) is perfect for dinner tables as even with flowers, they are still low enough for conversation

Everyone always expects my bruschetta and its one of the simplest and tastiest appetizers on the planet

Making asparagus/prosciutto straws….always a hit especially with the men:)

Table flowers chilling out until I bring them outside.If you are eying the spectacular handprinted tray of my home this was a special item done for me from the company that produces all my tole and guess what- they are going to soon be offered on the site in three sizes! Stay tuned, it makes literally the most spectacular gift:)

Sprucing up outside, was fun to bring out my pillows

So nice to see everything coming out of hibernation

And then late in the afternoon as the sun is setting, I brought out the arranged peonies and my hurricanes…the jewels of the table!

I used my new smaller 6″ hurricanes (will be online tomorrow) as centerpieces for the peonies, perfect size for a dinner table

Also was setting up the round table

Everyone loves shrimp cocktail and it’s almost always part of what I serve for appetizers, a definite staple and always a people pleaser

Everyone always expects my bruschetta so it’s another staple, soooo good and relatively guilt free.

These are asparagus/prosciutto wrapped phyllo “straws”, the guys devoured them! Unfortunately my phone was misplaced and I missed out on pics of the yummy dinner but it was found in time for dessert-

A big tray of fresh fruit is always on my menu and these two cakes from the famous Lady M bakery are out of this world, they are crepe cakes which feature hundreds paper thin layers, we got the Greek tea cake and the lemon cake….yum!

Don’t judge the candles, remember this was last minute:)

Fresh fruit for those of us who prefer to eat a little lighter

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Such a fun and enjoyable night. We felt lucky to be surrounded by the love of good friends, great wine, yummy food under the stars. The best ingredients for a memorable birthday:) Sometimes those last minute impromptu get togethers turn out to be some of the best ones. Thanks for stopping in, until next time…….

As of July 3rd at 9am, the celebration of the July 4th holiday begins here at Enchanted Home! Every item site wide is 20% for for two days!! Click here to visit the shop *use code July to save