One week from today I am going to Kristin's wedding in the morning, then at 4pm I am hosting a dinner party for my family in honor of my niece Erin's 20th birthday. One niece (the eldest grandchild) is turning 21 this month; for that I said we must go out. But for Erin, we will do something at home for family and friends. My sister knows that I will always do something special, and I love the challenge of doing something that makes them all saw Wow!
Before I tell you about the party, though, I want to introduce you to Liam from Dallas. How old are you, Liam, about 7 or 8? Liam was that the Corona del Mar market today with his family, and he insisted that his mother buy this Eze slim basket; she ended up buying it for her sister and will buy another one from me online (free shipping). Look at the smile on his face, is he happy?? I asked him and his Mom if I could take a photo for my blog, and Liam says, a little shy but matter of factly: "Oh, yeah, I have my own blog too." Can you believe the age in which these kids are growing up? Where will technology and social networking be in 20 years? Liam's family also have their own "family blog," but I didn't get the whole name of Liam's blog, but it was Robo something. Please, Liam, I hope you see this post and tell me the name again!
People are just starting to get in the spring mode, and now shopping for Easter and summer; men and women are shopping for an Easter gift for Mom, so I sold a lot of little pieces today, perfect for tucking a little gift inside, and Mom can use the basket as a tote.
Yesterday and today, I have started getting ready for the birthday party, which will give me a head-start for Easter. At the back door, I redid all the pots with pink hydrangeas ($6.99 at Trader Joe's), and changed the bow on the dog to match the theme; this is basically the same shot Jacqueline did for the April Romantic Homes layout; he looks like a dreamy dog here!
Here you see some of the pots and the dog; I wish I could find another matching dog so I can have a pair:
On the patio, outside the dining room and kitchen, we began with a glass of pink champagne before the afternoon work; this is my go-to champagne for parties and in-between; though I love Gosset rose and Perrier Jouet, I don't drink it much, only for me and R really, because for my family gatherings we are about 20 people and that's out of my budget range! This is also the sparkling I served for the Puppy Party shoot; $10 at Trader Joe's; it is Cremant from Burgundy, made of Pinot Noir and guaranteed to NOT give you a headache like the CA sparklings.....For details and decorations, I like to use what I have on hand; in this case, I will use fine rose tulle for the napkin ties; see the sample on the table here; the same tulle is on the dog. The napkins are Matteo linen Wash that I bought for the Puppy Party, though my Mom decided to iron all 40 of them! They are so soft, and I look forward to using them for many years, and they will always remind me of the Puppy Party in the Magazine!
I got a box of colored paper lanterns from my neighbor Yvette at her garage sale last year. She had already added the silk hand-dyed ribbons. I will string these up using the pink and orange and a little yellow; no green for this party. Nor sure yet how to do the lights in them, but I will fiddle with large clear Christmas lights this week. More hydrangeas are stuffed in below, in the urn, with a non-blooming orchid for fountain effect. I have to do the potting for the urns, but this was a rough up of the props and colors; I had to clean the patio and loggia and redo a bunch of pots also yesterday so there was lots of work. I assembled and hung the paper lanterns on the 20's black lantern last night, and we loved the effect with the lights, so that all worked, with the house and the loggia and the pink of the bricks.
For dinner, we will be under the loggia; this is where we had the dogs and seating for the Puppy Party; this is from the north/east side so it's in the shade here; we will have one long row of tables here for the 20 something of us; I have done parties with 10 round tables here, but never one long row that filled the whole space; that would be at least 40 people:
I am doing something new for the table cloth, and using all the usual white dishes, white linen and silverware. I'll show you the photos later in the week as I prepare; by Saturday morning, the scene will be set and I'll focus on the food.
I got a box of colored paper lanterns from my neighbor Yvette at her garage sale last year. She had already added the silk hand-dyed ribbons. I will string these up using the pink and orange and a little yellow; no green for this party. Nor sure yet how to do the lights in them, but I will fiddle with large clear Christmas lights this week. More hydrangeas are stuffed in below, in the urn, with a non-blooming orchid for fountain effect. I have to do the potting for the urns, but this was a rough up of the props and colors; I had to clean the patio and loggia and redo a bunch of pots also yesterday so there was lots of work. I assembled and hung the paper lanterns on the 20's black lantern last night, and we loved the effect with the lights, so that all worked, with the house and the loggia and the pink of the bricks.
For dinner, we will be under the loggia; this is where we had the dogs and seating for the Puppy Party; this is from the north/east side so it's in the shade here; we will have one long row of tables here for the 20 something of us; I have done parties with 10 round tables here, but never one long row that filled the whole space; that would be at least 40 people:
I am doing something new for the table cloth, and using all the usual white dishes, white linen and silverware. I'll show you the photos later in the week as I prepare; by Saturday morning, the scene will be set and I'll focus on the food. Stay tuned for the developments of the scene!
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