chaos, confusion and company.

Believe it or not, some nights we like to switch things up and have some nice wholesome fun, take a break from going out and stay in. Last night was our night to have the boys over for dinner, they had us over on my birthday for lasagna, which ultimately started our family dinner ritual, and it is just like a family, we go on road trips together (UVM), we go out together, we do it all, the seven of us.

Saturday morning I went off apple picking around 11, Emily was gone for the night and Mariah was going to head home for the afternoon, perfect, I could come back get some of my mass amounts of work done then start preparing for the boys. Major fail. Around 5:30 I decide I better get moving, the house was a bit of a mess, meatballs weren't made, I got back into my pajamas once I got home and the boys would be arriving in an hour and a half, eeks. First mess to tackle was the rather large amount of dishes that needed to be put away, and I knew I'd be making a mess so I should try and minimize it as best as possible. So I begin the preparation, and as we all know I am such a scatter brain, it's a miracle things come out the way they do sometimes! After phone calls to both parents seeing what time this and that need to be done I think I have a hold on the situation. Since the sauce was already made by my mother, obviously I could never make sauce like she can and everyone needs to witness momma lembo's sauce at one point in there life, it was perfect, convenient and I knew it'd be delicious. Meatball prep begins, as does the mess of the kitchen. For the recipe you need beef broth, so I made it out of a bullion cube, great, everything is fine, I only had to add half cup to the mixture and since I do not plan ahead and realize I need it later, I pour it out, go me. So finish mixing the ingredients and go back to make more bullion, good thing we have my handy hot pot from cousin that heats water super quick, it was only a minor set back.

Before the ground beef was added













 Then came the fun part, digging your hands in and mixing it all together to form these..

and while these cooked, this was heating up, and by this I mean pure deliciousness and one of my favorite smells, ever.

          And then Mariah came home to make apple crisp with the fresh apples from earlier today

 

Time check- 6:30, meatballs are out of the oven, sauce is heating, apple crisp is ready to be baked, Mel and Mariah? In pajamas. Family and dining rooms? A mess. No where near ready to have people over. This is when we freak out, oh just a tad. 6:45, Klin texts Mariah saying "Are Mel's parents really coming? Jared is getting really nervous!" Mariah comes running to my room asking if there is a reason the boys think my parents are here? Total confusion. So Mariah quickly tells him no, he tells us he is going to keep Jared in the dark and make him think they are here, make him nervous. Which, making Jared nervous is not a hard thing to do, him and Mariah in the same room equate to so many nerves. 7:00 o clock rolls around, we have our Tay Swift blasting, we know how much Jared loves his T-Swift, and we are finally ready and the boys tell us they are running late. So much running around for nothing.

Around 7:25 we get a knock on the door and in walk the boys, looking as dapper as ever. I mean button ups, sweaters and LOAFERS. And here Mariah and I are in jeans and t shirts, we suddenly feel a tad under dressed and question the occasion?

First thing the boys conclude: "So your parents aren't here?"
Mariah and I quickly answer, "1. We would never spring that on you guys. 2. Where did you get the impression they were here from?"
Klin,"Mel you texted me and told me when I asked if dinner was still at 7"
I was rather confused as I hadn't talked to any of the boys all day and told Mariah to text them around 6 saying don't forget dinner at 7. So we look at the conversation on Klins phone and it goes as follows:
Klin- dinner still at 7?
"Mel"- Yep. my parents are here, can't wait to meet you, dress up.
Klin- Okay. mojitos still good to bring?
"Mel"- Perfect. see you at 7. can you bring a red sharpie long story I'll tell you later.
Klin- Yes. see you at 7.

..so first of all Klin and I never were texting today, or at any point last night. Second of all, boys start freaking out because they think my parents are here, they need to dress up and they are bringing mojitos, is it okay to drink in front of my parents? So we're like what the heck so I go through his contacts and low and behold he has a Mel, Melanie and a Mel Lembo all in his phone and he was texting Mel, a girl he hadn't talked to since freshmen year. We were all dying, and this girl totally played along with it too.

So after that was all figured out, bartender Klin started his drink station on the coffee table because finding counter space in the kitchen- not gonna happen. We all enjoyed some drink and each others company until dinner was ready..

Since Friday was October 1st we decided it was appropriate to decorate for Halloween. We also decided paper products all of one design was better than our mixed matched plates, plus easy clean up!

 Almost ready!

 So much pasta. We never fill our pasta bowl up, always been a goal and we finally did it, we now know it takes 2 pounds to fill.

This is the extend of my pictures because at this point we were all starving and wanted to dig in! As we ate dinner the apple crisp got put in the oven so as we ate there were so many delicious smells.






Everything was delicious, everyone raved about your sauce too, momma! It was so great to be able to share a piece of home with everyone.

After dinner we all decided we were going to stay in and we just all hung out and talked about everything and anything, it's so nice that we all get along great and can talk about whatever, and not have to go out to have a great time. Around 11 the boys left because Koji had a project due at midnight he had to hand in so they went on their way, then about a half hour later they texted us and invited us over to their house so off Mariah and I went in our pajamas and blankets in hand. We got to Klin and Jareds, who thankfully we're in their pajamas too, and then Koji showed up in his pajamas with his blankets, too! We relived our childhood and played Mario Kart, I am clearly not as good as I used to be.

Mariah and I always joke that we got our friends handed to us on a silver plate, which technically we did, we didn't have to do any work, Emily and Claire introduced us and the boys welcomed us with open arms. I could not ask for better friends, they are wonderful. The fact that they would dress up to meet my parents first of all, who does that!? They are just the nicest, most respectful boys, ever and we are so lucky that we are friends with them.