Tea Time

There is something so magical about brunch and girlfriends - two of my favorite things, especially when they are together!  I decided to throw together an impromptu pot luck brunch to break up the winter doldrums.  Even though it was last minute, I still started a Pinterest board to help me visualize the 'feel' I wanted as I pulled out my serving dishes and tea towels while keeping my eye out for a few special touches.  I settled on a Spring palette to inject a little cheer into the cold winter day.

I invited everyone over on a lazy Sunday afternoon and asked them to bring their favorite brunch dish to share and offered a variety of fragrant loose leaf teas.  To keep the potluck organized I pre set my table the night before with designated spots for dishes so that when they arrived there was no question how or where it would fit on the table and it resulted in a beautiful (and delicious!) tablescape.  Since it was close to St. Patrick's Day, I used mini pots of clovers for both decoration and a little parting gift for my ladies.  They make me feel so lucky to have such great friends!

Leave No Milestone Left Unturned

A garden brings life and beauty to the table. - Alice Waters (via Talula's Garden)

This past weekend I had the honor of hosting a milestone birthday celebration for one of my best girlfriends!  The birthday girl chose the venue and then tossed the reins over to myself and another co-conspirator to run with it.  We were immediately inspired by the farm to table menu and cozy atmosphere at Talula's Garden in Philadelphia!

After deciding to incorporate floral elements, we developed a modern palette of lilac, peach, and crimson with golden highlights to pop against the weathered garden setting.  I wanted to create some party elements while keeping it simple since we would be in a restaurant and not have a lot of room on the communal table or a lot of time prior to our seating to set up...

The solution was bright tissue paper flowers wrapped around colorful 'seed bombs' in gold flower pots that performed double duty as table decoration and party favor... and with the swipe of a paint marker could have served as placecards too!  Similar instructions can be found from Martha Stewart.  The whole table was visually tied together with a roll of gold web ribbon and pre-made dimensional flower stickers running down the center.

As pretty as the party table turned out, we still needed to highlight that this was no ordinary birthday - this was the big 3-0!  So, taking more cues from the garden setting, I created a pair of 3-0 topiaries out of styrofoam wreaths (dollar store!!) and adhesive backed sheet moss.  I modified one of the wreaths into a three with some strategic cuts and toothpicks to hold it all back together.  I spray painted some dowels with the same gold paint used on the flower pots and inserted them into the wreaths and a block of styrofoam in a flower pot. (psst! would make great table numbers too!)  Lastly, I added some more moss and fairy critters to the base and some ribbons in the party colors to the topiary stem!

The Birthday Girl has a soft spot for all things magical!

Another way to celebrate my friend's special birthday, we displayed some photos of her as a baby and growing up!  Some were framed in gold frames while others with coordinating lilac and crimson floral scrapbooking papers and they were all tucked in amongst the restaurants existing display of found objects. 

Both the guest of honor and all of the guests got a kick out of seeing the birthday girl on the day she was born, her 1st birthday, her college graduation day, her wedding day, etc. which made a great conversation starter!  We all had a great time and great food - including the birthday girl's favorite: donuts and s'mores!

Sip of Summer

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right" ~ Mark Twain

*Cheers!*

I had a lovely visit this weekend from my friend Claire over at Gibson King and we enjoyed trying out a recipe she had saved on one of her amazing Pinterest boards.  Lately, I've been obsessed with these refreshing cocktail ingredients: Champagne, St. Germain, Cucumbers, Mint - so why not throw them all together for the perfect Summer Cocktail?!  Yes please!!  Whip some up and save me a glass:

Toss 4-6 thin cucumber slices and 2-3 "bruised" mint leaves into a glass with a few ice cubes.  Fill glass a bit more than halfway with Champagne and top with a splash (or two!) of St. Germain.  Give a quick stir and enjoy!

I also got to try out my new cocktail ice cube tray - ah the little things!  I'm sure this could be made "pitcher" style too - fantastic for brunches and showers!

Have Your Cheesecake And Eat It Too

I just tried out a new dessert idea that I think is going to be one of my new "go to" for bringing to parties: Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries!!  I love anything bite size, delicious and easy to make and these little guys fit all requirements perfectly!  They were a hit!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Directions:

1. Select medium to large strawberries, rinse, and cut off tops
2. With a paring knife, carefully carve out the hull
3. Crush Nilla Wafers with rolling pin in a zip lock bag and empty onto small plate
4. Fill a zip lock bag with ready made Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecake Filling (1 tub makes about 4 dozen or use your own no bake recipe!)
5. Cut off one small corner of bag and squeeze cheese cake into strawberries, swirling some on top
6. Dip cheesecake end into cookie crumbs, squishing the cheesecake down a bit
7. Optional: dip in chocolate or drizzle with chocolate

Let Them Eat Cookies

This year I celebrated my birthday with a fabulous brunch followed by a rooftop bar hop! For the brunch, I mixed up my guests a bit with the use of fun place cards. I printed each guests name on a strip of stiff paper, folded them in half, cut the ends to look like a flag and tacked them together with a small bit of glue. I opened up multicolored cocktail umbrellas, threaded them through the flags and poked each of them into a ripe clementine. They were easy and really brightened up the table without cluttering it with flowers or any other type of centerpiece, plus they were a great treat at the end of the meal!

Ok maybe the birthday girl was the centerpiece! ;)


And forget cake... we enjoyed adorable cookies from Eleni's NYC! They ship anywhere!

Happy Birthday America!

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July weekend! It was the perfect weather to enjoy with friends and fireworks! My boyfriend and I decided to go against the traditional F.O.J. BBQ and host a deliciously lazy brunch instead! We had some friends down to our beach apartment and it made more sense to kick the day off with some grub rather than trying to lure everyone off the beach later! It worked out great and everyone slept it off in the sun and sand!


Even though we were hosting an indoor brunch, I still wanted the feel of an outdoor picnic. I chose easy breezy things like paper lanterns, a handmade banner, and wrapped red/white/blue ribbons around some candles. Since the meal was the focus, patriotic touches worked their way into the buffet table too... I used the same ribbon to tie up napkins around plasticware and piled them into a white summery basket. I found other fun things like stars and stripes muffin liners and little flag toothpicks!

To make the morning as simple (and lazy) as possible, the brunch was served buffet style and the menu was limited to two main dishes - one savory: Breakfast Burritos and one sweet: French Toast Bake! I prepared the French Toast Bake the night before and kept it in the fridge. In the morning, I threw the French Toast in the oven while my girlfriends and I cooked up scrambled eggs and burrito toppings, placing them all in seperate bowls for self-serve ease. Burrito toppings included crumbled sausage, diced ham steak, tomatos, potatoes o'brien, shredded cheese, and salsa.

My absoulte favorite morning cocktail is the infamous Bloody Mary! While the girls were busy in the kitchen, the boys set to task with whipping up the perfect batch. They were armed with V8, horseradish, celery seed, tobasco sauce, lemons, limes, salt, pepper, celery stalks, olives, and of course, vodka. After much "taste testing", they shared with the rest of us!

I ♥ Brunch

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas - Dale Evens

My girlfriends and I love love love brunch... but our schedules don't always work out to align with the moon, the stars and Sunday morning! So for our Christmas Girl's Night, they came over for a decadent meal of stuffed french toast and mimosas!


The table was set to reflect the festive occasion... A gathering of greenery, gold sprayed pine cones and candles at various heights created the simple centerpiece. The gold and red of the centerpiece was echoed by the tablecloth and napkins for a pretty backdrop for the feast to come! When all else fails, just dim the overheads and bask in the glow of the Christmas lights!


For the stuffed French Toast, I searched for a recipe that came close to the delicious treat we had all shared at a popular brunch spot in Philadelphia - but also easy to make! The one I found was from Rachel Ray and came out great! I didn't add the chocolate chips or make the syrup and instead just topped the stuffed french toast with a berry compote made from a bag of frozen mixed berries cooked down with some sugar. And I couldn't forget to finish the whole dish off with a light dusting of powdered sugar! For our cocktail, I made a twist on the traditional mimosa by adding pineapple juice to the orange juice and champagne. I also floated Cara Cara pink(!) oranges in it for extra color and flavor. Cheers and Merry Christmas!