naturally ginger: On Mondays We Have Family Dinner.

About a year and a half ago my friends and I started a tradition called Family Dinner. In a busy city like New York, we decided it was important to set aside one night a week to spend together. When we move at a million miles an hour it is necessary to prioritize where you delegate your time. The group of woman I started Family Dinner with were and are priorities to me. We are each others NYC family. They are my forever friends who I hope to do life with for a long time.

This is the Family.

(Meredith, Jenny, Hannah, Me, Natalie)

We expect the family dinner attendees to grow over the years (can someone say if you like it than you better put a ring on it!) and even downsize (Jenny has already left us, moving to LA to pursue her career and what God has for her there), but the heart will always remain the same...once your are in the Family, you are always in the Family.

Through cooking, we care for each other on a weekly basis. You could say cooking a meal is our love language towards each other. Each Monday, someone volunteers to host and cook family dinner. Those not cooking bring drinks (aka wine), maybe a pre-dinner nibble (aka cheese), or bread. We rotate weekly who cooks and are sensitive to those weeks when money is low...the heart of family dinner is taking care of one another.

Sometimes we remember to actually wear our aprons...

Occasionally we invite people to join us for dinner. We like to celebrate birthdays, have a laugh, and care for people we love...we also appreciate manual labor.

It is our goal to save a years worth of Family Dinner recipes to compile a cookbook at the end of 2014. As life moves forward and things draw us apart, we want to hold onto this tradition the best we can. Also, my friends are all amazing cooks...we never have a bad meal!

I encourage you all to find a way to stay connect to the people in your life that make you better. I'm more of who I want to be today than I was a year ago, and it has a big part to do with my Family Dinner friends. It's a place you can come as you are - laugh, cry, share your fears and hopes and dreams.

There's a lot of love in this Family.