I simply cannot believe that two weeks has gone by since my Summer Entertaining Made Simple event! Of course I wanted to share photos and some behind-the-scenes details because it was an absolute pleasure to plan and host and I have so many people to thank for that.

First and foremost, my rockstar co-host Jaime Lopez. I could not ask for a more amazing partner in crime! Having been wanting to organize an event like this for awhile, I knew it would be a huge undertaking to do on my own. I had been connected with Jaime for awhile over social media and her content just always resonated with me – basically I knew she was someone I would want to hang out with in real life! We went back and forth a bit online but never actually met in person. Until we started scheming this event of course.

Behind-The-Scenes

We wanted to make it a ladies night out experience that involved good food and wine, socializing, and entertaining tips for busy people. With summer social calendars filling up so quickly, sometimes it seems like every weekend holds something and my goal is to make that just a little bit easier on folks.

In my own experience, the venue is really what makes an event and Infinite Monkey Theorem was the perfect fit for our vision with their edgy vibe and amazing outdoor space. A huge thank you goes to them for helping us make this run smoothly! They were so wonderful to work with. And their wine is pretty delicious too – you might remember me mentioning that their canned rose is one of my go-to drinks of the summer.

From there, we planned the menu and had a few key criteria in mind: fresh, vegetable-forward, no-cook finger foods. The goal was to get creative with seasonal produce to show that vegetables do not have to be bland and boring. Plus, you save a little bit of money in the process by not having to buy meats and cheeses (even though those can be fantastic options too). Check out this colorful spread:

On the Menu

Peaches with Honey & Crushed Mint

Radicchio Cups with Curried Chickpea Salad

Crudite and Seedy Crackers with Hope Foods Hummus and Green Goddess Dip

Jicama “Chips” with Hope Foods Hatch Chile Guacamole

Build-Your-Own Bruschetta

Melon and Mozzarella Skewers

Find all of the recipes here!

Sponsors

Hope Foods was generous enough to provide several varieties of their hummus (plus guacamole) for attendees to try. Two of their new flavors – the Red Jalapeno and Buffalo Bleu – were especially popular! In addition to Hope, four other Colorado brands also contributed swag or coupons for our guests.

Teakoe Tea Supply Co provided samples of their new canned teas (which are super refreshing in this Denver summer heat), Noosa Yoghurt and Cappello’s supplied coupons, and CocoPrana contributed a few of their coconut butters and snacks for our prize giveaways. We also made a big batch of my Maple Tahini Snack Balls, wrapped them up and threw them in the bags for a sweet treat.

I met so many amazing women throughout the night! Many attendees were acquaintances of mine or Jaime’s but there were also several that neither of us knew previously. I really enjoyed making the rounds and having conversations with each of them, and of course spending time with friends, family, and some of the local dietitians and bloggers that I follow online, but had never met in real life. I am already looking forward to future events – please let us know if you have suggestions for what that might look like! Thanks again to all who came out and supported this effort.

All photos in this post were taken by Jaime – check out her event recap here.

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