New Year's Resolution: Dinner with Friends

I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions, mostly because there's never anything I'm really gung-ho on drastically changing about my life. I don't work out; no measly goal in January is going to change that. I am eating more healthy foods (more, I didn't say entirely) and drinking less caffeine but that change for the better is inspired by motherhood and breastfeeding more than anything else. I could vow to travel more or live adventurously, but luckily I'm married to a man who inspires all those things in our lives.

As I bid last year farewell, there was one thing I told myself I wanted to do more of in 2012: spend time with our friends. And not just the friends we regularly see on weekends and for play dates (although those definitely count too). I made a New Year's Resolution to host dinner for one group of friends each month. Be proactive early; ask someone to dinner and set a date (because isn't that usually the culprit of friends never getting together; never finding a date on the calendar?).

In January, I emailed a couple friend of ours and invited them to dinner at our place. Unfortunately though, life got busy and a few emails back and forth never resulted in setting a dinner date on the calendar. January = BUST. Bummer.

When February rolled around, I decided to invite Andi's friend and co-worker Do, his wife Kim and baby girl Hannah to dinner. We see Do and Kim fairly often, but it's always for work things or Hannah's recent 1st birthday party -- events where there's lots of people and activity and never enough time to chat just the four (er, six of us).

On Friday, Tory and I ran to the grocery store to buy ingredients for our dinner party. We decided to serve lasagna, salad, breadsticks and green beans. I picked a recipe which required little dinnertime prep (since 5:30pm - 6:30pm is meal time / bed time for Tory) and something kid-friendly for Hannah.

Tory and Hannah

... And, dinner was fantastic! My lasagna was just 'eh' (the recipe was alright, nothing too special) but I really enjoyed catching up with Kim and Do. They shared lots of great advice about what to expect with Tory in the next six months and Hannah, well, she's an absolute doll. I always love watching her little personality shine.  

Looking forward to hosting another dinner with friends in March!