Buen Provencho

The Fawcetts like to place wagers on various cultural events. The Fawcetts also like to eat. And so the Fawcetts (and associated branches) decided to pool their collective winnings to host family and friends for a meat extravaganza with El Gauchito Grill serving a celebration of traditional Argentinian slow-cooked steaks on the grill.

Originally, we planned to combine the event with Father's Day, but then life started happening: Katherine got a new job that resulted in a lot of unplanned trips; Sharon became the President of the Smithsonian's Women's Committee which meant a lot of meetings and dinners; and, well, the kids. So we kept delaying and delaying the event until we finally settled on the weekend of the 19th, and then moved the actual event to the 20th after Sharon and Don had a dinner. Once we finally had a date, we sent out invites to our 30 closest friends and neighbors, who all were very excited to come.

And then Tropical Storm Nestor came to town.

It rained all day Sunday which meant a run to Ikea to pick up more chairs since Katherine and Lee's extensive outdoor seating space was no longer a viable option. It meant all of Katherine's planned lawn games were kaput. And it meant that more than half of the guests suddenly had a "conflict" (including all nine people were were responsible for).

But we forged ahead. Katherine broadened the definition of "closest" to include any neighbor that was willing to come over. A tent was was erected to keep the grilling area dry. Surplus chairs were removed to increase living space.

And it was amazing. The meal was delicious (The chorizo! The ribs! The flank steak!), the company was great and we now have enough leftovers to take us through New Years (apparently flank steak freezes really well). And so while it wasn't exactly the celebration we'd envisioned, it was the one we needed. Or at least that's the official story.

(To see all the pictures (and salivate), click here.)