With a few Brews & Bites events under my belt, you'd think I'd have the prep down to a science by now. Well, this time, I decided to kick it up a notch and tackle croissants for the first time. What could possibly go wrong, right?

After diving into countless YouTube tutorials, I settled on Claire Saffitz's recipe. Little did I realize just how time-consuming it would be—between freezing and chilling the dough, butter block, dough w/ butter block, it was well past 3 am before everything was ready to roll, shape, and proof.

Come morning, it was all hands on deck. With a tight deadline looming and the event starting at noon, every minute counted. As the croissants proofed in the oven, I found myself unexpectedly tied up with a Facebook Marketplace score—a Canon Pixma Pro-100 printer at a steal. Wrestling with setup quirks ate up the entire proofing window, but I managed to iron out the kinks just in time to print menus on 100lb card stock.

With the croissants finally in the oven, I realized there was zero time left for banana bread. Cue a mad dash through the rain to snag mini muffins and cookies from Whole Foods to round out the spread. Back home, it was a whirlwind of plating—muffins on one plate, cookies on another, frozen grapes here, peeled mandarins there, and croissants proudly displayed on a Lazy Susan. Spread, check.

A lightning-fast shower and apartment tidy-up later, and boom—it was noon and guests were already arriving. This time, I smartly had someone on elevator duty, leaving me free to whip up drinks. Interestingly, drinks with espresso was the order of the day, a departure from the matcha craze of our last gathering.

Thanks to my growing proficiency with the coffee gear—a Baratza Sette 270 grinder and Ascaso Steel PID Duo espresso machine—I churned out drinks in record time. And for once, I actually had a chance to sit down and chat with my friends for the majority of the time - sharing laughs, stories, and even jotting down answers to a prompt on page 88 of my thought-provoking book.

As 3 pm approached, hugs were exchanged all around—a fitting farewell for our last Brews & Bites until March, as I'll be jetting off on travels throughout February. It was heartwarming to see my friends bonding even more, growing more comfortable with each other with every gathering. It's moments like these that make hosting these little soirées in my apartment so special, and I'm thrilled to see everyone eagerly anticipating the next one.