Send-Off!

Two posts in one evening!  I don't mean to oversaturate y'all, but to me, both that last post and this one deserve their own headline.

Yesterday was my Going Away party.  My amazing folks worked their butts off and put out an amazing spread, and then my amazing friends and neighbors all came to celebrate my last Saturday in the States.

Because I am dumb and don't think of these things, I didn't take a single picture all damn night so have nothing visual to share with you.  But to everyone who made it -- Thank you, thank you for coming out!  A particular shout-out to those who made trips from out of town -- Meg and BJ, JC and Jenny, Christy, and surprise guest CC!  (If I've forgotten to mention any additional out-of-town names, please forgive me and know that it meant the world that you made the drive!)  And thank you also to JC for my song!

The weather cooperated which was such a complete bonus.  Folks got to be out on the deck and in my father's beautiful backyard garden.  We grilled out, lit a bunch of tiki torches, had a fire in the chiminea, and I made both my white and red sangria, which had a lot of people a lot of happy. :)  By request, here are the recipes.  Everything is really "to taste" so you can use whatever porportions of the liquor that suit your needs, and of course substitutions can be made for whatever fruit you'd like to feature.

Red Berry Sangria:
Cheap red wine
Fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries
Cran-raspberry juice
Vodka
Black raspberry liqueur

White Peach Sangria:
Cheap white wine
Canned pears, peaches, mandarin oranges
Juice from said cans
Vodka
Peach Schnapps

I had an utterly wonderful time and it was just fantastic to be surrounded by so many incredible people who wanted to say Bon Voyage!  Yesterday was a piece of everything good that will be so hard to leave behind.  I wish I could go across the world and still be able to come home on weekends.  Lots of love to you all.