Cinco de Mayo

Means.... Margaritas!

I'm hoping that my plan for a little family party tonight will work out.

Al Pastor Tacos, frijoles, cilantro rice, salsa, guacamole, and my famous
Margarita Cupcakes and
Watermelon Margaritas.

Check out the fiesta I threw my hubby HERE for a little more inspiration.

How ever you do up today... or any day... have a MARVELOUS time doing it!

HAPPY CINCO de MAYO, friends!

CHAIRISH: Holiday Entertaining

If you haven't been introduced to Chairish yet.... let me do the honors!

"Awesome Blog Reader, meet Chairish."

"Chairish, meet Awesome Blog Reader."

Now let me tell you a little more about Chairish.

It's an online consignment marketplace for designed obsessed people [can you see why I love it?!?!]. 

Not only can you buy online, but you can sell your awesome and exceptional pre-owned home accessories and furnishing through them. AWESOMENESS! 

Honest... to goodness... Vintage Furniture at its finest.

So... I was inevitably tickled pink when Chairish reached out to me to design a holiday table for a memorable meal when hosting a get-together for family and friends this holiday season!

THE MISSION: 

Choose a favorite piece from Chairish's fabulous collection and design a seasonal table around it. 

Now.... this is my cup of tea: DESIGN, VINTAGE, TABLESCAPES!

I'm getting goose bumps.

Let me share with you what I put together... and I didn't stop with just the tablescape!

MY INSPIRATION PIECE:

Vintage Etched Glass Dessert Plates - Set of 8 

RIGHT?!??!

Aren't these just glamorously perfect?!

These sent my heart into a flutter. 

Plates designed by Tiffin in 1930's with hand-applied 22k art deco designed edging!

You know how this girl loves everything about these --> Hollywood Regency Glam at it's finest.

This had to be the starting point of my design.

But, I first wanted to start my design with the table/room in which these beauties would be on display.

And I just LOVE to mix things up... right?

Glam - Modern - Gold - Silver - Vintage - Rustic

It's all used in my design and I love how it all feels like they were meant to be in perfect unison... together!

Upper Left: Starburst Antique Brass Chandeleir
Lower Left: Vintage French Farm Table
Upper Right:Vintage Bertoia Side Chairs Restored
Center Right: Pair of Robsjohn Gibbings Style Klismos
Lower Right: Overdye Patchwork Vintage Grey - 8'1" x 10' 1"

Chairish also has FABRIC!
I found these two perfect patterns... and a Schumacher.... yes, please!
I would use the Vintage Schumacher Leopard Camo for the pair of Robsjohn Gibbings chair cushions and the Jane Churchill Darwin for the vintage Bertoia cushions.

Left - Vintage Schumacher Leopard Camo | Right - Jane Chruchill Darwin Ivory

Simply perfection!
Now... finally to the tabletop.

I thought all of these pieces would work beautifully together and would incorporate/mix well with my white ceramic dinner and serving plates. I also have some beautiful silver chargers which would be a lovely base for the layering of dishes and add to the mix of metals.

Upper Left: Vintage Glass Etched Dessert Plates - Set of 8
Lower Left: Saint Louis "Bizet" Crystal Wine Jug
Lower Center: 24K Gold Plated Flatware - Service for 8
Upper Right: Baccarat Crystal Onde Wine Glasses - Set of 6
Center Right: Crystal Hostess Flatware Set - Set of 3
Lower Right: Vintage Moroccan Wool Berber Runner

Doesn't this all just blend so lovely together.
Warmth + stunning gold + fresh clear crystal... makes for a beautiful and comfortable place to gather with family and friends.

Now for the finishing touch, a simply elegant centerpiece.

I found these beautiful french horn candleholders and I thought they would fit perfectly scattered with my set of antique silver creamers filled with baby poinsettias and evergreen garland draped down the center of the table.

But..... these puppies have already sold. They do have other vintage brass candleholder sets that would look lovely, too.

Brass French Horn Candle Holders - SOLD

What do you think?
Would you come over for a holiday gathering around my Glamorously Vintage Holiday Chairish-picked Designed table?

And hurry... today is the last day for guaranteed Christmas delivery through Chairish.

You can also follow Chairish on pinterest HERE.
They post some pretty inspirational photos to keep this design obsessed person happy!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

PARTIES: Joyeux Anniversarie

We had a BIG celebration in our home this weekend.

Kiddo turned the BIG 1-0!

That's right! He has now entered the "Double Digit Club"!

Kiddo and I have had a partnership since he was 3 years old when it comes to his birthday party themes. We sit down and have a meeting of minds to think over the last year of his life of all that has occurred and all that he has enjoyed. It's a fun time, in which we laugh, giggle, and/or [sometimes] cry. It's a special time in our mother/son relationship... and then.... comes the decision: "What will be this year's theme?".

Here are his past themes:

Age 1 - Cute as a Bug

Age 2 - Space Cadet 

Age 3 - Georgraphy Theme [Kiddo loved Africa and geography trivia]

Age 4 - Babalu [I Love Lucy Themed - kiddo playing Little Ricky]

Age 5 - Lego

Age 6 - Lego Star Wars

Age 7 - Indiana Jones

Age 8 - Bat Man

Age 9 - Flashback to the 80's

And this year's theme at age 10: Joyeux Anniversarie - A French Themed Party!

Here are the pics and some insight to how we pulled this together.

THE DECORATIONS
Search for "French Theme" or "Parisian Themed" parties on Pinterest and see what you find. Mostly all PINK and girly-oh-la-la presentations. That would not do. Oh no! So, we talked about it and he wanted me to bring in some sophistication. After all, we picked this theme because kiddo has been teaching himself French since this summer. He wanted to be able to speak as much as he could at the party... and he wanted to see French things all around.

I went for a simple casual-elegance approach to the decor.
Muted colors with just a pop of red here and there.

Burlap was a must... and so was his Lego Eiffel Tower set.

I liked the idea of banners... lots of them, but muted.... simple.

Burlap banners hung from the windows, tables, and some furniture. I made these from burlap scrapbook paper and simple black grossgrain ribbon. I purchased the black and white small banners from Edith at her Etsy shop edeenut. They were a perfect addition to the cake stands. I ordered 2 spools and had enough to do several stands and other serving items. The "Bonne Fete" banner was another awesome Etsy purchase from Amy at TheBeesKneesShoppe. She even changed the color of the letters where needed.

I liked the idea of using chalkboard-like stands to label the food [in French.... of course]. They were easy to assemble and I used a liquid pen that looks like chalk. Amazon Prime pulled through on all of these little details, as well as, the little French flags.

THE FOOD
Uh.... can you tell?! SIMPLY PHENOMENAL!

ALL of the food.... I mean ALL of it.... came from Mercat Bistro in Dallas.
This is my kiddo's favorite restaurant. And I mean.... FAVORITE.
The ambiance is fantastic and the food is wonderful. He asked me if it would be too weird to have their cheesecake as his birthday cake. I thought it was a wonderful idea! It snowballed from there.

We had one of our many special lunches at Mercat Bistro when I asked the manager, Mr. David, if it would be possible to order a couple of cakes for his party and maybe a few other items. He sat down with us... and before you knew it, we had a superb party menu planned!

They packaged all the food up so nicely and all I had to do was place the little French flags in the sandwiches and set the items on my white serving dishes.

It not only looked lovely.... the guests devoured everything in site!
A MAJOR hit!

Our menu from Mercat Bistro included the following:
Charcuterie Plate with Crustinis
Plateau de Fromages [Cheese Plate]
Amandes [Almonds]
Olives [Olives]
Sandwich au Poulet [Chicken Sandwich]
Parisira en Sandwich [Ham Sandwich]
Gateau au Fromage [Cheesecake]
Macarons
Eclairs
Profiteroles

THE FUN
When each guest arrived, we handed out berets for them to wear.
Our guests were such great sports, a couple even arrived wearing French Soccer Jerseys and had their faces painted with the French Flag! LOVE IT!

Of course the guest of honored and his parents dressed the part, too.
We had scarves, striped shirts, sweaters or jackets and our berets. Kiddo had a special CDG Airport shirt from smashtransit on Etsy.

A French Party would not be a party if we did not have French music playing.
We enjoyed listening to a complete array of Carla Bruni selections.

We had a little candy bar set up for that extra sweet-tooth craving.
It was a fun way to incorporate a little bit of color.

We also had a French Trivia game my wonderful hubby put together.
And... our traditional scavenger hunt!
This time..... it was in French! We had to find 10 of each hunted item. Thankfully, there were French speakers on both teams. So, it was a fare game. But, I think the boys still cheated.

The boys won. We are now tied 2-2.

The party officially ended in 2 two hours. But, we planned on people staying quite longer. And about 8 hours later.... our final guests departed. We have a good time!

Special Party Favors from Mercat Bistro - French Flag Macarons

And that, my friends, is how we pulled off a French Themed Party for a now 10 year old boy!

AU VOIR!

Shared at Thrifty Decor Chick.

PARTIES: A Fiesta

I'm finally posting about my hubby's Latin Themed Birthday Party... and today just so happens to be MY birthday... I see cake again in my near future.

Anyway.

Kiddo and I had a fun time planning a small and quaint bday party for our favorite man.

We had the Latin music playing in the background both during the preparations and the party.

What a FUN time!

Once I found these free printables from The 36th Avenue... that pretty much set the stage for our color scheme and decor ideas. It can sometimes be a challenge coming up with a theme for an adult birthday party, but this was a simple and easy theme.

image from The 36th Avenue

This was also a FANTASTIC opportunity to utilize my fabric from Guatemala. 

It's so vibrant and fun and a perfect complement to the party theme.

I created some simple signs for the beverage and food stations.

Candles lined countertops to evoke an inviting atmosphere. They were perfect as the party transitioned from late evening into the dark of night.

I really scored at Target when I found this wrapping paper. Same color-scheme with the Fiesta Feel all over it!
Hip-hip-hooray!

We, of course, included tissue decorations that hung from the ceiling in red, teal, and yellow.
Such fun colors.

We had some gluten-free guests at the party, so we made sure our entire menu was acceptable for their restrictions, yet yummy for all our guests. We also included a gluten-free option for dessert.

The dinner menu consisted of the following:

Sweet Barbacoa Pulled Pork

Salsa Verde Chicken

Corn Tostadas

Frijoles [Guatemalan-Style Black Beans]

Guatemalan Tomato Salsa [My Tia's Recipe]

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Lime

Guacamole and Blue Corn Chips

Cotija Cheese and Cilantro for Tostada Toppings 

Home-made Sangria

Cerveza

Fruit-Infused Water

It was a pleasant time.... dinner was truly an affair to remember.
The fiesta was a success!
Quaint, but fun.

Now, off to another celebration...

Feliz Cumpleanos to all those August Birthdays!

Linked up at Thrifty Decor Chick.

RECIPE: Watermelon Margaritas

I have a friend named Margarita.

I do.

But, I have never really liked margaritas. The drink.... not the friend.

I really like Margarita. The friend... not the drink.

Confused yet?

Anyway.... I really like THIS margarita. Both the friend... and the drink.

For the rest of this post, I will just stick with telling you about this drink... the Watermelon Margarita.

You're welcome.

Watermelon Margarita

3 1/2 cups of seeded and cubed watermelon

1/2 cup tequila

2 Tablespoons of cane sugar [or regular sugar]

3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tablespoon of Orange Liqueur 

Combine all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. 

Pour the drink into glasses with crushed ice and garnish as desired.

Enjoy!

 

This is quite the refreshing drink. Just enough sweetness and very very smooth.

Perfecto on a hot summer day!

I also made a mocktail version a Watermelon Mocktail for my kiddo. 

I left out all the alcohol [of course] and replaced with sprite zero and some orange juice. He seemed to enjoy it.

Now... I think I am going to go have a margarita with my friend Margarita.

Cheers!

Linked up at Thrifty Decor Chick.

Easter Past

I was looking through some old digital photos and organizing them when I happened across these...

Oh, the day when I could have many collections of items in my home.

To be able to store them and bring them out when the time was appropriate.

My little Easter Bunny and blown eggs were some of those items.

And the days when I could have both my white porcelain and milk glass collection AND my celadon collection..... ohhhhhh the days when....

I also had a huge multi-colored rose bush in the back yard. 

That would bloom.... and bloom.... I LOVED IT!

With time... comes change.
And that is the path that we have been on.

But, you can always make things beautiful no matter where you are!
There is SO much beauty around, it's easy to make it happen!

I look at these images remembering how beautiful my surroundings and belongings were in the suburbs not with a heavy heart, but rather, a grateful heart.

Grateful that time has passed, surroundings have changed, belongings are different, but BEAUTY..... BEAUTY remains to be same.... all around me!

Easter Dinner Preparations

I am starting to clean and gather my items for our Easter Dinner Celebrations.

I have so much fun deciding what to pull out and use!

I don't have that much fun cleaning every item, but it is a necessity after sitting on a shelf and collecting dust. Dust would not be so appetizing to our guests... I'm sure.

I start with a color scheme while deciding what to use in the tablescape.

This year, I am going with a neutral sophisticated palette.

I'll be using silvers, white, cream, gold and lilac/purple. I'll incorporate the lilac/purple color through an ombre selection of florals.

I will be using my ikat plates I purchased at the 2013 Dwell with Dignity Fall Thrift Studio. Plus, this is a perfect time to use the vintage white china passed on to me by my mother-in-law. These both will look wonderful on a mix of silver glass and fabric chargers.

I have decided to pull out my little vintage white milk glass vases to hold the ombre selections of florals. I will be utilizing the arrangements as our centerpiece along the length of the table.

To pull in some more natural elements, I hard boiled these brown farm eggs and will use them in these cute little egg cups! I'll add a few egg-shaped clear paper weights from my collection for contrast and sparkle.

And last, but not least, my fun gold flatware and gold patterned napkins will be getting some love on Easter!
I love the contrast on the natural table runner!

I can't wait to pull together this table and engage in sweet fellowship and food on Easter day!
We have a lot to celebrate and I am going to make sure to shower my guests with wonderful food, drinks, and laughter!

I have compiled my planned menu below with links to most of the recipes in case you need some ideas for your meal. My menu is planned with healthy options for some of the guests that are on specific diets. I have not yet decided on what type of drinks we will be serving other than peach iced tea and infused water. I'll probably stick to a selection of wines for the alcoholic beverages.

APPETIZERS
Shrimp Shooters
Deviled Eggs

MAIN COURSE
Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
Lemon Rosemary Salmon
Salad with Fresh Pears, Strawberries and Candied Bacon [I'm using Feta instead of Blue Cheese]
Asparagus Amandine without butter
Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes
Rosemary Orange Biscuits

DESSERT
Lemon-Coconut Cake
Banana Pudding Pie
Berries and Whipped Cream

Yummy! Many of these items I can start prepping or complete on Saturday. That way, I am not running around too crazy on Sunday... going from church to cooking in the kitchen.

We also plan to have our annual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt on Sunday. We seem to change it up a little bit every year, but this year I am planning to do something quite different.... it should be fun!

Happy Easter Preparations, everybody!

Valentine Table Setting

Once upon a time there lived a very unromantic man.

He married a lovely charismatic girl who liked to celebrate every occasion.

Many years went by and the two learned to compromise in the most lovely ways...

That unromantic man is now my VERY romantic hubby.

That lovely girl was me.

Now, with our many years of compromising, we celebrate Valentine's Day with a stay-at-home dinner affair!

Some years we extend invitations to friends to help partake in our feast.

Every year, since kiddo was born, the table is set for at least 3.

I prepare the meal all day.... 

a hearty dinner and decadent dessert that even Julia Childs would be impressed with.

Kiddo helps me decorate the table setting and our home.

We enjoy exchanging gifts before dinner.... then we dig in.

The table setting is different every year, and this year....
We went with a red / orange / pink / glam / animal theme.

As always, I mix metals and I mix vintage with modern pieces.
We are totally excited about setting it up for Valentine's Day!

Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions?