We had a fun dinner party this weekend so I wanted to share the pics.
I loved mixing my buffalo check napkins with the floral table runners that I have used for many tables. I have also been loving simple white and green florals! So happy it’s finally getting a little warmer out!
I am so excited to share my Valentine’s Day Brunch today with you all! So my girlfriends and I decided to co-host for all of our friends. Brunch is so fun and the easiest meal to throw! We all made different dishes to pass and I was in charge of the fun table!
So instead of going with the traditional pink and red, I went with Lavender since it would match so nicely with my living room (and that is where we set up the table for 12!).
In order to jazz up the table a bit I first made some table runners. I love how they ended up. I sewed them extra wide and long so they would just take over the whole table. And since I went with white table cloths (I couldn’t find Lavender to purchase online at a good price) I decided to splatter paint them in silver which I had so much fun with! Can you see the splatter?
As you can see our house is still a work in progress. The mantle is looking good, which I shared here. But the hallway needs work and there is still all over carpet, which I hope to pull up soon after I find a good (and big area rug)!
But over all I love the big windows in the house, they add such nice light (I love them even more now that I am done painting them white).
Anyway back to the table. I used my Vera Wang for Waterford water goblets which I love love! And do you see those little ginger jar vases. My husband found those on the side of the road, someone was throwing them away – husband of the year! And I love the little swan salt and pepper shakers. Aren’t they like little figurines! I love them!
For the rest of the dinner ware I used my wedding china tea cups, my grandmother’s dinner plates, and some vintage gold flatware I found at a local consignment shop ($20 for the whole set!!)
Again, you can see all the work that needs to be done in the background – but that is life! It will all get done in time!
I set up my dinning table with a fun Mimosa Bar and Bloody Mary Bar. ps don’t you love that big copper champagne bucket! so fun!
This pic shows a sneak peek of how the dinning table is turning out. Ignore that brown door on the right side, that will get demo’ed with our new kitchen layout! But I am loving the curtains. I have been sewing like mad on each of the sections. And as you can see we used a copper pipe at the time. Soon I will share details of how we put together the rod and all the hardware we used. I still have more to sew!
So anyway we had a great time, and it was a wonderful excuse to get together with all our amazing friends!
Last week we had the pleasure of hosting some friends for a dinner. We had a great time and I had almost as much fun setting the table. I wanted to do something different. I was inspired by the latest issue of Southern Living Magazine (if you haven’t seen it….what are you waiting for). They showed several floral options that incorporated fruits. Which I thought was so fun.
I decided to give it a whirl. First I used a vintage soup tourine that I got for a wedding shower gift.
I went to a local grocery store and got all kinds of fun greens, flowers, kale, and pears! I started with floral foam in the bottom of the tourine and took pine bows to the edges to start drapping over.
Then I just kept adding different textures together and I think it turned out pretty fun!
I also mixed wedding china, grandma china, kate spade dot wine glasses, waterford water goblets, and my fun flea market candelabra set.
I wanted so much variety in the arrangment that I ended up having some extra flowers….
So I made a second arrangement for an end table….For this one I used a cake platter. I like how this one draped too!
The summer has been so busy I realized I never shared pictures from my 30th birthday party. I thought 30 was a big one so I wanted to throw a big party with all my friends and family. I just love throwing a big party. I think the planning and preparation is just as much fun as the event itself. I really wanted to do it outside under the stars but weather did not cooperate and we ended up having it in the house. As you know we have been working on the house for a while and it isnt’ done yet, which was one reason I wanted to try it outside, but our guests understood and they looked past some of the imperfections of the house.
When I first started planning I contemplated many different color stories. Black and white came to my head first, because it is so chic and classic. But then I thought – I love color – and you only turn 30 once so go big or go home! Orange and pink it was! I have just been loving orange and pink. It is fun and spunky.
I love layering a table to give it dimension and fun. I used scarves for a little table topper and love the added layer it provided the table. I have used scarves before (as you can see here and here).
The big balloons were so fun. We put them on our mailbox so everyone knew where we were. For most of my friends this was the first time they came to the new house!
I made all the flowers just from picking some out at our local grocery store. My latest obsession has been to create flower arrangements in cake platters. So luckily I am a crazy person and have many cake platters so I had enough to decorate the tables with them. I also loved that we added in the old fashioned lilac flowers from my new bush in the back yard. I think they added really nice texture.
The flowering branches were also a favorite. They added such nice height to the table.
We had 30 guests for dinner, 31 including myself (which seemed fitting for the 30th birthday!). I rented tables and chairs and then based on lack of additional space we used my normal dinning table as well for some of the guests. Think of how pretty it would have been to have a long table in the back yard! Oh well that will have to wait for another party!
I think my favorite part was the fun colors, flowers, and good friends. It was a night to remember!
Forgive me on the below pictures….as always once the food was out the party started and we forgot to take nice pics!
I made a bunch of appetizers for people to nibble on right away. Cucumber sandwiches, snap pea crostini with Parmesan, shrimp kabobs, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, cheese plate, and two mini per-desserts homemade pistachio macaroons and mini lemon meringue pies.
For dinner I made baked pesto chicken, wild rice, caprese salad, and lemon vinaigrette greens. Simple and easy!
The night ended with a lemon cake with raspberry filling made by my dear friend. Wasn’t it beautiful! We had a great time!
My dear friends Mary and Megan hosted a beautiful Boho Glamour Chic Bash this weekend and I was lucky enough to help with the flowers and setting the tables (the best part of a party in my opinion).
I love all the print mixing we did. The girls both brought any fabric sample, scarf and table cloth they had so we could add interest with mix and match prints!
We set up the tables low to the ground and piled pillows all over for people to sit. We propped the tables up on cinder blocks to get them a nice height – genius!
We did the party on a screened in porch which was perfect to be outside a bit, but protected us from bugs!
We used Mary’s vintage blue willow plates, which I love. They always end up matching any table she puts together. You can see a pick of her Friendsgiving table here.
We first made flower crowns because every good boho bash needs them and then we used the left over flowers for table arrangements. I made the big one first and then used the extra flowers to make the wild whimsical little bouquets in mason jars. I added a feather because why not?
Here I am in my flower crown (instagram pic sadly however I am pretty much that pale)- It was so much fun making them and fun wearing them!
We had a great night – and it will certainly be remembered! I will be sharing more details on the flowers this week!
On Friday it was finally a really nice summer night. We haven’t really been able to take advantage of eating outside and enjoying great weather so my husband and I got home from work and pulled together a last minute picnic and ran down to the beach.
We first laid down a blanket and then for a fun bit of pattern added a scarf. I have been loving scarves as fun table toppers. This one I got on clearance at Uniqulo while visiting NYC. If you keep your eye open scarves are a fun way to add spice to your table without the price tag!
Every picnic needs flowers. I thought these sunflowers were perfect – I love the bright contrast to the navy.
We made steaks and lobster tails at home, then packed them up and quickly ran to the beach. We didn’t feel like busting out the whole grill so this was a nice way to enjoy the outside without the fuss.
This was the same beach we did our Lake Michigan Pop Up Party. See it here.
It was such a beautiful night for a last minute picnic. We need to get in more before the summer is out!
