Archive for May, 2013

May 31st, 2013 No Comments

the perfect place for quick hostess gifts…eataly

My friend that is a total “foodie” came to my house this past weekend with the most incredible orange bread in tow. She was a food stylist for years (so she is very discriminating when it comes to food) and loves frequenting Eataly in New York City for it’s fresh market and also the 7 restaurants it offers. This had to be the best bread I’ve ever tasted. It had large orange bits baked in and although I looked online for a recipe to link you to, none of the recipes I found included large chunks or almost candied … Read more

May 30th, 2013 No Comments

create an outdoor room with this week’s seashell color palette

It can be overwhelming narrowing down the hundreds of options for outdoor furniture and accessories these days, but the good thing is that outdoor furniture is now available for every budget from low to high. We’ve selected a few things from the market to create a soothing outdoor room within this week’s seashell color palette. Remember an outdoor room can be defined by the furniture placement, outdoor curtains or a large umbrella or grouping of umbrellas, a permanent structure, planters or shrubs or a patio. Above, the Capri Collection from Restoration Hardware. Accessories like their amazingly large Clamshell can bring a sense … Read more

May 29th, 2013 No Comments

Weddings: Favors, Think Outside of the Box

It seems like favors are expected at weddings now, but you certainly don’t have to give favors if you find yourself at a loss for what to give. The best favors though are the ones that are personal to the bride and groom or the location of the wedding. A great example of this are these salmon favors that a bride and groom gave to their guests at their Anchorage, Alaska wedding. The families caught and packaged their own Alaskan salmon to give to each wedding guest. A simple label printed on their computer finished it off. If you like … Read more

May 28th, 2013 No Comments

add this week’s seashell color palette to your table this summer

This week’s palette may not be one you’d automatically think of when you think of summer entertaining. Sometimes these creams, tans, rusts and pinks are associated more with fall. But as you can see taking cues from the beach and seashells, this soothing palette is wonderful for summer tables. If you didn’t realize I have a shop too with tabletop, decor and garden items, all personally selected by me. If you haven’t already, please head over to take a look.  It’s my favorite items and vendors collected from all my years of editing and styling for magazines. Our Read more

May 27th, 2013 No Comments

this week’s color palette: seashell inspired tans, pinks & neutrals

As the official start of the summer season starts today we were inspired by seashells. Nature is a wonderful place to start when you are looking for a color palette. It can be from the colors in an object, like this shell, or a larger landscape in general- for instance if you are looking at the ocean you have the sky, the many colors of blue in the sea, the white or tan sand, the green or straw beach grass- these can all inspire a palette. We have selected Benjamin Moore colors to help you apply this palette to … Read more

May 24th, 2013 No Comments

we’re loving these tubs for organizing just about everything!

TUBTRUGS containers have been our new best friends lately. From large tubs that can hold wood to all different sized tubs to hold toys, games, pillows, blankets, food… anything you want really and they come in great colors! Our last purchase was the little Microtubs for $2.50 each which we plan to use to hold each of the fixings on our Memorial Day sundae bar. Because they are food safe we think we can use them this weekend to hold dips and salsa too. They could also be great to hold the kids ice-cream, popcorn for outdoor movies, snacks … Read more

May 23rd, 2013 No Comments

main street matters, 20 towns will be chosen, painted and revitalized-cast your vote!

Benjamin Moore has launched an initiative to revitalize 20 Main Streets. It is called “Main Street Matters”. More than 100 cities have been nominated in North America and you get to vote on which 20 will be revitalized. Go to www.paintwhatmatters.com for more information, to see the cities and to vote up to once a day until June 30th, 2013 for your favorite. Once the cities are chosen the work will begin this summer and go throughout the year. You will be able to follow along on the site. Many partners are involved with Benjamin Moore from local Chamber … Read more

May 22nd, 2013 No Comments

Weddings: Sugar Flower Cakes

Since we featured baker, Ron Ben-Israel’s Sugar Peony Cake color palette on Monday I thought I’d show you the entire cake from that story I worked on with Ron that appeared in InStyle Weddings magazine. It’s just so hard to believe they are sugar flowers, isn’t it? The photographer didn’t even realize they were sugar until she came up close to move one of the flowers! (The original cake body fondant was a lavender/pink color and the magazine paper printed a bit more blue in color- which was unfortunate.) If your baker is talented enough to make sugar flowers … Read more

May 21st, 2013 No Comments

easy as 1-2-3, invest in 3 vases and make your centerpieces a breeze all summer long!

If you are expecting a long summer of entertaining friends at home, here is something simple to keep your table looking elegant, but easy. Invest in 3 vases in  the same material (or color) in varying heights to cluster together. These white porcelain vases are from our little blue dish shop and actually look beautiful on their own as well. But even just filling them with 3 flowers looks pulled together. It literally only took about two minutes to do, especially if you can pull flower cuttings from your own garden. Now of course you can fill the vases … Read more

May 20th, 2013 No Comments

our color palettes & stories: a look back at a wonderful year

Time is flying!  We totally missed our one year anniversary of the blog we were so engrossed in our stories! Last year on April 9th our first post went up. It was one of my favorite color palettes of black, peach and pink (pictured below). Here is the link to read the full post. But soon after we posted this rich color palette of pinks (pictured above) from famous baker Ron Ben-Israel‘s sugar flowers. Yes, I said SUGAR flowers. Those flowers are hand crafted out of sugar by Ron. I worked with Ron on many cake stories for Weddings magazines and these … Read more