Mother’s Day Table

Good Morning! This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a mother’s day dinner with my in-laws and my brother in law’s family. As always my favorite part is setting the table. I usually make my own floral bouquet but this time I picked one up from our local grocery store, they do an amazing job, and usually I find if you are making just one bouquet you can buy one cheaper there than picking up a number of different flowers for a nice assortment.

TNPLH Mothers Day 2015 Table

TNPLH Mother's Day 2015 Table 2

TNPLH Mother Day 2015 Table 3

TNPLH Mothers Day 2015 Table 4

TNPLH Mother's Day 2015 Table 5

I love playing with pattern and color at my table. I used my grandmother’s china, west elm napkins, a table runner I originally made for a dinner party here, but also used in my lake Michigan pop up party shown here, and I busted out my vintage gold flatware that my husband graciously polished up perfectly for me. We had a lovely day. I will share my recipes later this week.

Colorful Dinner Party

We all know I love a good dinner party. We are fortunate that both our parents get along, so several times throughout the year we have them over for a little dinner party (see my last party with them here). I often think to myself that having a dinner party is my adult equivalent of playing house (BTW my favorite pastime as a child). I love planning the menu and setting the table. Each time I try to vary what my table looks like – it’s like a game to me.

TNPLH: Colorful Dinner Party

This time I chose to mix a couple different sets to get a unique table. I got these fun new Ikat napkins from Pottery Barn for Christmas – aren’t they cute (and so updated for PB?). So I knew I wanted to incorporate them. TNPLH: Colorful Dinner PartyThen I pulled out my wedding china as the dinner plate, and mixed in my Grandmother’s bowl for our soup course.

TNPLH: Colorful Dinner PartyI also received these fun Crate and Barrel wine goblets for Christmas – I thought the hint of light pink added just an extra bit of fun to the table.

TNPLH: Colorful Dinner Party

As for the flowers, since I had so many fun colors already on the table I went to Whole Foods to create a fun whimsical centerpiece incorporating all the same colors. I just love these fun little green fillers – don’t you (don’t know what they are called but I thought they added a nice touch of whimsy).

IMG_0563Before our guests arrived my sweet adorable husband mentioned “where are the candle sticks?” so at the last minute we added my crystal set from our wedding for the final touch.

TNPLH: Colorful Dinner PartyFor dessert I busted out my Mikasa Chevron side plates – aren’t they s fun? I just love a mess after party pic – still so beautiful. Tomorrow I will share my menu!

Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

I love a good pop up party. I have been doing about one a year for the last 3 years. The first one I did was in a local park and I ended up getting engaged that night which made the night extra special. See my first here. My second was a quasi pop up party. We did one for my bachlorette party, shown here, but since we did it for so many girl we just did it in my friends back yard. But it was still a wonderful night. This time I wanted to head down to the beach and make it really magical.

We went to my favorite spot on the lake, Doctor’s Park, just north of downtown Milwaukee. We packed up 2 SUV’s with rentals, food, decor and grills and headed to the beach on a foggy Friday night. I was rather worried about the weather, but it held out for us and made the night pretty magical.

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

TNPLH: Lake Michigan Pop Up Party

It was a great night. I already can’t wait to do one next summer!

Wedding Shower

Ellen’s wedding continues…I’m excited to share pictures of the wedding shower I hosted for my sister in law this past March. We did it at my condo. Again, the beautiful pictures were taken by my very talented sister in law, see her work here.

TNPLH: Wedding Shower

TNPLH: Wedding Shower Macaroons

TNPLH: Wedding ShowerTNPLH: Wedding Shower

I loved all the bright colors, and the flowers my sisters got me for my MBA graduation ended up being a perfect backdrop!