After coming home from 5 days of camping, unpacking + cleaning, then packing again for another trip, the last thing I had time for was making a nice anniversary dinner. We also ate quite a few meals out while at the festival, so we weren’t in the mood to go out.

Enter Kelsey, my anniversary dinner chef!

Kelsey + Eric invited us over for dinner and the timing couldn’t have been better. She even popped some bubbly for the occasion. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for her, we would have been dining on gluten free mac n’ cheese instead.

While the food cooked, we took a few “three year” photos. Are we looking a bit cleaner since the last time you saw us? :)

I cannot believe 3 years of marriage have already gone by. If you missed it, I’ve recapped our wedding here + here and talked about our adventurous Ireland honeymoon, here! We’ve been together for almost 8.5 years now, which is incredibly hard to believe. Time seems to move faster each + every year.

We’ve had a lot of big changes in the past 2 years.

leaving my architecture job in Charlotte
moving to Colorado and living with Pat + Nat
moving to Denver
Chris finding a job in Ft. Collins
moving to Ft. Collins
buying a house!
trying to blog, write, cook + photograph for a living

And those are just the big things. I know for certain, that I would not have gotten through all of those big life changes without Chris. He’s incredibly supportive + loving in all aspects of our life.

I feel so lucky. Each + every day. With Chris by my side.

A few of my favorite photos…

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Now where was I…

FOOD.

Kelsey made a lovely mixed greens salad with an OUTstanding homemade dressing.

Here is the ingredient list straight from Kelsey herself:

evoo + garlic + cider vinegar + salt + pepper + basil + honey + splash of yellow mustard –> blended in the magic bullet

No exact measurements were used. Probably about equal parts oil + vinegar and then just add + taste, then add some more to your liking! Divine!

For dinner?

Veggie risotto!!! Fresh asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms + tomatoes were added.

The texture was perfection. Creamy, chewy, flavorful, and crunchy from the veggies. What more could you ask for?

With a little parmesan on top, this bowl was complete perfection. For the recipe, check this post! For this version, Kelsey used organic veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

For dessert, Kelsey + I popped up some p-corn. A nice light dessert that was fun to munch on while we talked.

Kelsey dressed half of the p-corn with butter and salt and the other half with butter, cinnamon + sugar. I think I ate 3/4 of the cinnamon sugar bowl. I’m a cinnamon sugar freak! Love it!