The night before we packed up to head west, we hosted friends to our house for a See You Later meets 30th Birthday soirée. We love hosting friends over, and despite having boxes and the entire contents of our home scattered about, we sucked it up and threw one more party. The whole situation wasn’t the most ideal, but we were able to get our act together, with the help of Jon’s family of course, and it was all worth it.
Since Jon was the guest of honor, we decided to serve his favorite crustacean – Maryland blue crabs. His parents picked up a bushel on the way to Cville from Blue Ridge Seafood. We served traditional Maryland style steamed crabs with Old Bay and paired it with the New Jersey style linguine (fresh Mona Lisa linguine tossed with a mix of oil, garlic, onions, parsley and beer – we sorta winged it to taste).
Since the inside of the house looked like a tornado (or microburst, as we became used to) had blown through, we moved a couple large tables outside to the front yard and hosted the party al fresco, or perhaps à la Alice in Wonderland. The important thing about hosting a crab pickin’ party is to make sure your table is well covered and protected. We laid down some old cardboard to protect the tabletop (you don’t want those claws scratching up the finish), spread out a couple Caspari cotton/linen tablecloths, then finished it with plain butcher paper. It was perfectly imperfect for a warm summer night with dear friends, drinks and good food.
And a real birthday wouldn’t be complete without some cake. Fortunately Jon’s secure enough with his masculinity and requested Princess Cake. I requested Carpe Donuts as a proper dessert side. With only about 36 hours left, it was great to enjoy some of the special treats that make Cville so unique with the people who make it so special.
the gray standard 