Picnic Club.

As a follow up to Breakfast Club and Supper Club, my nearest and dearest got together for a summer picnic in the park. Peter and Terry got up early to claim a spot under the perfect tree next to the lake and we feasted on corn on the cob, chicken, and...cinnamon spiced sea bass?!

The weather was flawless and we were there from sun up to sun down skipping stones, hanging out in a massive drum circle, and spying on the Hatian voodoo circle. 

Designed by Peter

GIANT DRUM CIRCLE!!!

We forgot forks so we improvised with skewer chopsticks. 

Breakfast Club/Andrea's Birthday.

Last year I started a Supper Club where every 2 weeks my closest friends and I get together for potluck style festivities. This time was Andrea's turn to host and she decided instead of supper, she'd like to make breakfast, her favorite meal of the day. We stuck to a classic menu with pancakes, omelets, potatoes, biscuits, and bacon. And one GIANT fruit salad.

For some reason I always feel like Supper Club is the perfect time to squeeze in some bad graphic design.

I hadn't done any arts and crafts since my Valentine's Day party. I forget how much i love to cut paper. 

I like my fruit salads like my friends; colorful, diverse, and sweet. :)

I'm glad my hat from Halloween got to see some action. I love it but rarely have an occasion to take it out.

Pancake whisperer. 

Andrea made most of it. Breakfast is her thing. 

I freakin' love these kids <3

Valentine's Day Card Making Party.

I don't know why everyone says Valentine's Day is a Hallmark-created fake holiday. In 1382, English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

["For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."]

According to Wikipedia, mass-produced cards with sentimental (sometimes racy) verses have been exchanged in England since the late 18th century. Most people don't know that I'm secretly a sentimental (sometimes racy) person. But most people do know that I love to cut paper. 

I recently threw a card making party with my friends Natasha Huang and Kelsey to get everyone together for some wine, sweets, and creative time. Most of our friends have not done any arts & crafts for at least a decade, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to share our appreciation for friends, family, and lovers aplenty. THANKS to everyone who came out, despite the frigid temperatures. I was so impressed by how wacky, hilarious, and touching the cards were.

Huge thanks to my good friend Kelsey who let us bombard her beautiful loft with glitter, stickers, and candy. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful friends. Good day and much love to you all.

By Peter Park

One of my favorite cards by Natasha, to her cat. I love how it's shaped like a tote bag. How appropriate. 

Kristen Adams' cards were so creative and amazing! 

Fort Greene Pride! This neighborhood makes me happy. 

These are some of the cards I made. 

I Started a Supper Club!

My dear friend Ronnie told me about his Supper Club in San Francisco where he and his friends take turns hosting dinner. I love to throw dinner parties, so I decided to start a Supper Club of my own! I hosted the first one. Pics coming soon!

Supper Club Numero Uno.

To celebrate the completion of Queen Frida and my psychedelically colorful bathroom, I decided to make the theme of the first Supper Club party "Unibrowed Mexicans Take Brooklyn." I had 10 people over on 10-10-10 (Happy Birthday Brian!) for a taco bar extravaganza.

I made taquitos, chicken, fish and 3 kinds of salsa + trimmings for the taco bar. Friends brought chips, guacamole, mole, churros, corn, Coronas, rice pudding, ice cream, and...mustaches!

I went all out. I made paper flowers and cut paper flags and place mats. 

 This was the perfect occasion to put my extensive hot sauce collection to use. I have about 15 kinds of hot sauce. 

 

 I made corn/bean salsa, tomato/pepper salsa, and mango/tomato/avocado salsa

 Paola kindly provided the mustaches which easily doubled as unibrows. 

 10-10-10!

Fancy dinner party.

I got such a hugely positive response when I made dumplings that I thought it would be fun to share the wealth and have a fancy, springtime dinner party. I have been completely swamped with work from my 5.72 different jobs, but with my dearest friend, Neelima, coming to town, I figure it was as good a time as any to get everyone together for a nice evening of food and drink. I don't entertain often, so I really wanted to put some effort into this dinner. It was a ton of work, but I enjoyed planning, cooking and organizing sweet little Asian snacks in symmetrical patterns on a platter. Though my neck and shoulders are still tense from wrapping 300+ dumplings. Why do I do this to myself...

I'm sorry I wasn't able to have all of my NY friends over at once due to space constraints.  I'll have an encore party one of these days, I promise :)

The white plates are my everyday dishes, the blue-rimmed ones were hand-me-downs from my former roommate, Wendy, and the soy sauce trays were only $.95 from Chinatown!


I contemplated whether or not a seating chart would be a good idea, and Peter suggested having everyone sit with strangers. I was hesitant at first, but the mix of old and new friends ended up producing some really hilarious conversations.

I made 4 kinds of dumplings:

Scallop & chives

Pork, shrimp, & chinese celery

Tofu, mushroom, & shrimp

Spinach, tofu, & mushroom

For dessert we had sticky rice balls covered in sweet sesame powder, mango mochi, and the most amazing fresh mango I've ever eaten.




Thanks to all my lovely ladies for facilitating a rapid and efficient clean up effort. Thanks to Terry for the music, and thanks to everyone for coming! It was an exceptionally lovely evening and I can't wait to do it again.