paper circle garland and grilled pizza

oh heyyyyyy
so, before we get into the masterpiece garland that was created at the house this past week, let's talk about something everyone should try.
GRILLED PIZZA.
the roommates and i decided to make grilled pizza the other night and had some people over. we provided the pizza dough, the sauce, cheese and grill. attendees were responsible for bringing their own toppings.
none of us had made grilled pizza before, so it seemed logical to invite a bunch of people over to figure it out. because what's better than culinary cluelessness than culinary cluelessness en masse? we eventually prevailed and were rewarded with grilly pizza-y deliciousness.

the toppings table.

we killed it in the toppings department. anything that had ever perched on a pizza was loaded onto this table. we had pepperoni (2 types), eight bajillion pounds of cheese, tomato sauce, bbq sauce, arugala, kale, chicken, olive oil, garlic (roasted and minced! this is big time, people.), red onion, bell peppers, cilantro, basil...i don't even know what else. it was bonkers.

some of the masterpieces:

 

this is the single best reason you should throw a grilled pizza party:

the half and half grilled pizza

half bbq sauce, half tomato sauce

ok now the garland!

a friend got engaged a few months ago, so we've been hosting crafternoons to help her prep for the big day. my main job has been stringing together garlands, so i busted out the sewing machine. cue the cursing.

i thought sewing together circles of paper would be fairly straightforward, but the string between each circle insisted on twisting up and knotting, jacking up the sewing machine and unthreading the needle. nothing i tried worked. i tried sweet talking my machine, cajoling it, giving it wildly flattering compliments and then threatening it with very specific violent threats. the sewing machine was infuriatingly indifferent to it all. i had resorted to pouting with my face smashed into the table when i realized that backing the garland with paper might be the key.
the paper had to be thin enough to easily tear away from the finished garland, but strong enough to withstand the sewing machine. it also needed to be long enough to support the entire banner.

so, i used toilet paper.

 

and it worked!

 

VICTORY.

 

we also made hundreds of colorful chopstick covers:

this wedding is gonna make martha stewart look like a straight up AMATUER.

one last shout out: the BF completed his first TRIATHLON this weekend! it was exhausting.
seriously, do you know how early i had to get up to watch him? i'm completely spent.

have a great week!