They look so professional, huh?
That would be because the professionals at Takamatsu made them. When I knew we were having a sushi party -and we’ve had the kind where guests make their own rolls, it’s crazy fun- I figured I would leave this one to the pros since I wanted to have real fish sushi (I stick with veg or smoked salmon at home because raw fish freaks me out.. especially since AZ fish is a little questionable), and would be putting everything together the day of.
It worked out perfectly, and along with our Vegas, veggie and Golden Gate rolls, 
we had simple salad with this AMAZING dressing (it’s going to be a new staple- try it!),
for dessert, brownies with peanut butter frosting and ice cream.
Mine had strawberry coconut ice cream on top, which was a lovely PB&J-esque combo….
I made everything during a naptime, and then could just enjoy the evening with everyone instead of cooking. I’m so glad I learned (the hard way) to make everything in advance when we have people over. I’ll never forget that one awkward time when we had friends over for dinner and everyone was sitting at the table and I was just prepping the pork tenderloin and pasta. Rookie moves all around.
Bell snuggling up with my friend Cheri:
For lunch, I had an awesome turkey day detox salad beast but my car ended up eating most of it. A desert javelina is pretty stoked with his meal- I had to pull over and fling it off my car’s rug. My car will probably smell like garlicky vinaigrette for the next couple of days. I was pretty bummed about it but then remembered it could be way worse, like my poor friend who had a bottle of fish oil (!) explode in her car.
Since it was a fairly late evening, I just choreographed a new Zumba dance instead of going to the gym to strength train. The next couple of days are a little all over the place since one of us is having a medical procedure later this week (not Liv, and everything is ok).
Gonna crash out, but hope you had a great day sans car food casualties 
See ya in the am!
xoxo
Gina
What’s your staple dinner party menu? Tacos, beans, rice and tamales are some of the usual suspects at our house, and I also love doing salmon with mashed sweet potatoes, my favorite salad and pizookies.
Easy holiday DIY idea:
Spray-paint pine cones, place in bowl 
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
I love the pine cone idea! And that picture of Bella is adorable! I’ll be thinking happy thoughts for you and/or the Pilot later this week for your medical procedure!
Oh sushi! How I miss it! I went vegetarian 4 months ago. I thought I would miss chicken breast the most because I ate it everyday, but nope sushi. That pic looks incredible!
Those pine cones look amazing! Okay…I really can’t say much about sushi because I really don’t like sushi.
Darn it! Now i want sushi
Yay for Sushi parties. The sushi looks so good and now you’ve got me craving it- hmm maybe date night needs to be a sushi train visit
I like making my own sushi but it definitely is a task within itself- good job on leaving it to the pros.
The sushi looks delish! Got me tempted to go for sushi tonight.
Where did you get your salad dressing container? Do you like it?
That looks seriously delicious. I havn’t had sushi in a LONG time!
I made homemade sushi with raw fish before, but I’m not going to lie, it kind of freaked me out a little. I’d much rather just leave it up to the sushi pros at restaurants.
What a fun idea for a party! So smart to get it ahead too. There’s no way I would be making my own sushi for my guests. That would just be disastrous
Love sushi, and what a cute idea for sushi party! I will def. need to give that a go, and i’m sure my friends would love it too!
That just gave me such a hardcore sushi cravings.
An exploding bottle of fish oil? Ugh, I feel so bad for your friend!
Ohhh how I love sushi! I could eat it all day and all night, but I agree about making it…I already get nervous about eating raw fish (although I do it anyway) so as far as making it, I’ll leave it to the pros!
For a dinner party I like to do small portions of a lot of different foods and a big salad. Bruschetta is easy and chips and dip are always necessary!
whats the recipe for the brownies? they look delicious!!
Those brownies look amazing!
I feel your friend’s pain! The first day I got my new vehicle I had a gigantic bottle of fish oil spill over the entire cargo area. WORST SMELL EVER!!! It still haunts me on really humid days.
That sushi looks so good! I woke up thinking of making brownies with PB icing today, and your post delivered the recipes right into my inbox. THANK YOU!!!
Sushi always looks so beautiful! I’ve seen some pictures for veggie sushi and have considered trying to make that sometime. I can’t handle the idea of eating raw fish – well fish at all
– so veggie looks like the way for me to rock it.
Love the pinecones. Christmas season is so awesome!!!
I was going to do the colored pinecone idea as some holiday decor and add glitter. I can’t decide if the glitter will get all over the place during the course of the month
Speaking of food/car incidents, about 2 weeks ago I had a bottle of wine break open in my trunk. By the time I parked the car and discovered it, all the wine had soaked into the trunk and ever since, my car smells like wine! I need to get it thoroughly cleaned or something, but I can only image the horror of fish oil permeating through a car!
I like your dessert style. Those brownies + frosting look AMAZE.
I wish I could say I haven’t experienced a fish owl explosion…but I have. Worst spill ever.
Those brownies look soooooooooooo good. PS. Fish oil stench trapped in your car? YIKES.
I’m craving sushi right now! I think I would probably attempt to make some during the weekend. Love the pine cone idea it’s simple and is something my children will love to do with me. We will be hunting for pine cones at the park I’m sure. Hope everything goes well with the procedure. Best wishes!
What a fun dinner party idea! My husband and I had our friends over for a taco dinner party last month- pork carnitas, spicy red cabbage slaw, guacamole, and corn salad for dinner and individual peanut butter cream pies for dessert! I think I’ll serve Greek food at my next dinner party- hummus and baked pita chips as an appetizer and, for the main dish, chicken gyros, tzatziki sauce made with nonfat Greek yogurt, and Mediterranean orzo salad with olives, feta, and red peppers!
I love the how-to instructions. I’m planning on doing it in one step though, “open bag and pour in bowl” lol.
I always think it’s funny (to me) when you “land locked” peeps talk about how your fresh fish is questionable. I live so close to the ocean I can drive 10 minutes to get a lobster that was caught only hours ago for $5/lb. But it’s wasted on me because I’m deathly afraid of lobster and their scary little feelers. I don’t want to be in the same room with one alive or dead.
I have issues
That sushi looks amazing! Dinner parties are the best!
Pizza, Burgers or Gumbo parties are my fav fun/simple type of get-togethers. Prime rib for a classy sit down dinner.
Good thoughts and wishes for the medical procedure.
My staples are always very simple delights and something I can easily throw into the slow cooker! I always trust my slow cooker and it makes it easy to serve whenever guests arrive. I always had a problem with guests being late and then the food would be cold! Using my slow cooker prevents this from ever happening and who doesn’t love chicken thats been slow cooked in spices!
Love and Shine CourtStar
I LOVE the spray-painted pine cone idea! So cute, and so easy. Definitely going to be doing that soon!