Bless my mother. And crepes.

Good news on the wedding front.

My parents met with the caterer today. Mom says she is "very nice."

More importantly (maybe) -- it turns out we can have a crepe station. And an Italian soda display. And blood orange juice!!!! And pretty much everything else we could think of. Yay!

Basic brunch starts at $25/person, then goes up with add ons (generally around $8/person per food station). As far as I know, that doesn't include renting linens and all of that nonsense. Who knows what it will end up being. The caterer says she'll send a price breakdown in the next couple days.

All I can say is ... crepes! My dream will come true.

Statutory Crepe

While driving to work this morning, I came up with a glorious idea.

Those who know me well have come to deal with my hatred for coffee and tea products. I have never liked them and have never will. Surprisingly, I love coffee shops. But I obviously had to find a quick alternative to the quadruple shot Americano iced skinny frappuccino with a half order of whip.

That alternative is the Italian soda.

I have been obsessed with Italian sodas for as long as I can remember. There are just about a billion flavors — blood orange!!!, banana, almond, guava, peach, vanilla, mandarin, etc. — including a tasty variety of sugar-free products.

For those poor souls who have never had an Italian soda … well, the recipe is fairly simple.

First, pour a glass of sparkling water, like San Pellegrino, over some ice.

Then, add a generous amount of your favorite flavor of syrup.

Lastly, add some half and half and maybe even whipped cream. (Optional)

I would love to have an Italian soda station set up at the wedding. I feel like this has a ton of potential to be really cute and bad ass. If we had a table with a ton of supplies, set up cutely with some pour spouts on the syrups … oh man I am getting goosebumps, I’m so thrilled.

Now I just have to find some syrup for cheaper than $8 a bottle. Maybe I can find a wholesale place?

Station idea No. 2:

The only things I love more than Italian sodas are crepes. Sweet crepes, savory crepes, big crepes, small crepes … give them all to me.

I believe my fascination with crepes started a year or two ago, when I visited San Francisco with my BFF Amanda and this other weird guy who I don’t even know, Eric. In fact, the meal was probably the best in my life and I will forever remember The Crepe Vine.

My caterer, Santa Barbara Catering Company, offers a French toast station, but I am going to try to finagle a crepe station instead. Just think of all the toppings we could have: berries of all kinds, caramelized bananas, nutella, mascarpone, cream cheese, yogurt, chocolate, peanut butter, whatever … sigh.

Crepes are great because people can truly personalize them and fill them with whatever tasty combination they want. (Once, I made a banana cream pie crepe with banana pudding and vanilla wafers. Best decision I’ve ever made.)

On a personal note, I plan on opening up a crepe cafe at some point in my life. It needs to happen. Josiah and I already came up with some amazing names like Statutory Crepe (his idea). So thankful to be marrying such a punny man!