Friday family welcome party

By late Friday night everyone had gotten into town. We hosted a party at our condo, a party for 14 people. It was quite rowdy but my neighbors did not put up any fuss. (In true Japanese form, I should have told them in advance it might be a little noisy but I forgot to do it...instead, days later I dropped off some small gift and apologies for any unwelcome volume that night.)

Due to the advice of my and Hiro's mom, some takeout Italian was ordered from the restaurant downstairs...this substantially reduced our party workload. The other half was Japanese (kinpira gobo, nikujaga, horenso-ae, hijiki salad, cut up persimmons and apples) made by me and my little helpers: Hiro, my brother Vinny and Jinny. I could not have done it without them. In two hours we whipped up many dishes. They made yummy Korean kimbap. Jinny is a fantastic cook!

I think this was one of my favorite parts about my wedding - this night because it was one of the few chances my family had to get together and bond. My brother's wedding inspired me to again recreate a situation where our family and honorary family (Dughi family) could laugh, chat, and relive the good times.