Friday Fun Day

What are your weekend plans?  For us, Friday is a fun day, which means you can usually find us in China Town enjoying delicious soup dumplings and their wonderful parks.  I say if you live in NYC or  are visiting, soup dumplings is a must. We love China Town so much, we traditionally have our family Christmas supper at our favorite spot. 

Tonight we are enjoying a supper dinner date with neighboring friends with ninos. After TWO whole days of school we are all ready for a little fun.

Happy Friday!

MEL

Labor Day Tacos

Well the Rev. and I have been away most of August, and last week was a warm-up start to September. Our month is already filled with work and school activities for the Ninos. I am so grateful for Labor Day because it gives us a little breathing room before we kick into high gear. 

Since we were taking the day slow I decided to make homemade tortillas and salsa. I hit the farmers market this morning at my leisure (dreamy) and picked up all our ingredients. I think fresh salsa is just about the perfect party guest, not to mention fresh tortillas off the griddle. 

 I simply roast my tomatoes, then blend together green onion, cilantro, salt, jalapeño, and voila you have yourself a delicious salsa. The fresh ingredients brings any salsa together. 

Happy Labor Day!

Mel

Summer Place Settings: Anthropologie Sale

One of my favorite things about Anthropologie is their whimsical collection of animal themed plates and table accessories that capture the imagination.  I stopped in the other day to pick up my favorite perfume from there and saw that they currently are offering a sale--15% off of their dinnerware.  Our local store had huge display of their various dishes all mixed together, which gave the whole look a fun, relaxed feel.  Perfect for summer.

I'm pretty sure these gilded bird candlesticks are not included in the sale this time, but how fun are these guys?  I love them all!

More after the jump!

Planning a Special Occasion: a Dinner Party

Last weekend we celebrated my awesome sister in law, Lindsay's birthday with a little dinner party at our house.  She and I both love to have people over for a home cooked meal, and I was thrilled to pull out all the stops to make it a special dinner for her.  

On a normal day--let's just be honest here-- we use our basic plates, eat in front of the TV, and half the time use paper towels for napkins.  But when we have friends over for dinner Jady and I love to pull out a tablecloth, light the candles and use our fancier table settings.  Why only use things like china and crystal once or twice a year?  While I don't reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly creative, I like expressing through a pretty table that we're happy that you're here, and you coming to dinner makes this a special occasion.  

Another element of dinner party prep that I love is choosing and arranging the flowers.  Because I'm always busy grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning up the house before everyone arrives, I like to go with pretty simple, easy arrangements that aren't going to stress me out. 

 I happened to know that Lindsay loves the combination of pale pink and bright green, so while at Trader Joe's I picked up a bunch of stargazer lilies, some pink roses and a few hydrangeas in a fresh chartreuse.  At home I soaked a foam oasis in water for a few minutes before positioning it in a silver bowl and cutting and sticking in each stem.

The flowers looked lovely all night, but on day two I noticed that two of the three hydrangeas had already begun drooping, and before long they had totally given out.  Ugh, what is the deal?  I'm clearly doing something wrong, since I have only a 50/50 record with keeping hydrangeas alive for very long.  I clearly need a tutorial from Mel, the flower whisperer, 'cause this is just sad:

Desserts are usually something that I personally like to delegate or buy for dinner parties, since I prefer to spend my time on other areas, and birthday cakes I definitely leave to the professionals.  While I *can* bake, I like to keep events like this fun for myself (so that I'll be excited to do them again), and that involves learning what I want to tackle and what to outsource.  How fun is this polka dotted birthday cake?  I definitely made the right decision with this one, and I was able to enjoy the night along with everyone else.

Happy partying!

xo

Liza

DIY Entertaining: Creating a Larger Dining Room Table

A couple of weekends ago we had three of my cousins in town to visit us for a few days of eating and talking (the best kinds of visits, in my book:)).  These guys aren't just family, but they're also some of our funniest, most thoughtful, delightful friends, and we were thrilled to have them here for a few days.  

We decided to celebrate the cousins' arrival with a few friends on Saturday night with a dinner party.  The trouble was, our table only seats eight comfortably with the extra leaf in, and I really wanted to have everyone together as opposed to setting up a second table in another room... It just seemed like it had to be doable somehow to create a much larger dining room table, at least temporarily.  

I measured our little dining room space carefully, calculating two feet per chair to determine the maximum number of people we could squeeze into the room.  This step turned out to be critical, since I realized after measuring that the only way to fit so many around one table would be to widen it and seat two at each end.  

On my (daily!) trip to Home Depot I picked up two sheets of 5/8" thick particle board, which seemed plenty stiff and heavy enough to handle the weight of some dishes and elbows without bending or flipping over.  We needed two sections, 4x5 feet each, and I had them use the enormous saw in the store to cut them down for me so I could fit them in my car.

Now all I needed to do was set this thing up!  We have a drop leaf table in the living room that can work well as a four person card or dining table with the leaves popped up, and to add extra support to the whole structure, I pulled it over and used it as part of the new, enormous table's base.  To protect both tables underneath, I laid out some extra cotton fabric I had lying around from a past project and positioned my particleboard sections on top.  Because these boards have squared edges, I found that two layers of tablecloths on top hid their roughness and made it less obvious that this isn't really a dining room table under there.

The particleboard totally worked!  The whole thing performed perfectly, with no wobbles or mishaps.  These things are so terribly heavy that I wondered if I'd made a mistake and should've gotten something lightweight so I could maneuver them more easily, but all that weight created a tabletop so stable we I didn't have to worry about tipping the thing over.  So definitely worth the extra workout to set up and tear down:) And now I know we can feed 14 people when the next special occasion comes around!

xo

Liza

Be our Guest: Nurse Luna

Since the start of our blog, I have been hoping my sister would give us a little post on health products. Marissa is an RN and all around fun person to be around. So, when she agreed to share what she is up to and how we can be healthier, I was so pleased and am happy to share her wisdom.

Pink Cheese

Last night we had a new friend coming over for a bit of a snack and drinks. I wanted to pull something together that was simple, yet special. I did not have time to iron linens or shop for new candle sticks, so I pulled together what I had. Also, I had a few stems left from my Monday morning gig, and pulled out all my bud containers. I am not sure how it happened, but we ended up with a great color scheme or blues, browns, peaches, and pinks. 

THE CHEESE PLATE

I promise this "pink cheese plate" required 30 minutes of my day! When putting together any cheese plate we always include, almonds, fruit, chocolate, baguette, and of course a variety of cheese. 

Jake has recently discovered a new cheese that is creamed with truffle oil, and it is his new obsession. We have also discovered jalapeño stuffed olives, the description does not sound that appetizing, but believe me they are to die for. For our baguette, I usually pick them up from Bedford Cheese or Balthazar, since the French really do know how to bake bread that is crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. 

When I am in another town, I love to thrift shop a bit, and one item I always have my eye out for are interesting bud vases. I found these in an antique shop in AZ, for a buck each. I love the blues against the peach and pinks. They also make for lovely and unique center pieces. 

Petite Dinner

When we think of family meal time, I don't know about you, but I imagine us all sharing lovely conversation over fabulous dishes.  That is until I had children.  There is a struggle between feeding your children well and teaching them table manners, all while keeping your children from resenting you throughout the entire process.Who wants to be a naggy mother?!
For these reasons, I have come up with a few semi-fancy meals that one can easily whip up within an hour.  My hope is the little ones will have manners, enjoy each other's company, all while eating something special.
(Believe me there are take out dinners & peanut butter sandwiches some nights, too!) 

The best plan I have come up thus far is to include S & H in the process and also come up with interesting dinner plans. So, last week we served a "Petite Dinner," with everything on the menu petite. What is not to love!  S seasoned the hens with herbs, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. She then set the table. I finished the other items and voila, al fin dinner was ready within an hour. 
I say start dinner early; that way the children don't turn on you and then you are forced to give into snacks. 

MENU

cornish hens

petite potatoes

brussel sprouts

INGREDIENTS 

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

thyme

rosemary 

olive oil

fresh garlic

Birthday Partying it Up

We have had the best time having my sister in law, Lindsay, live with us since she moved to Louisville from NYC last month.  I keep saying it, but it's so true, that with her here every night is a party at our house!:)  Moving is always so overwhelming, especially to a new town with a new job, and I have been so impressed with how she's jumped right into her new life.  This weekend we celebrated her birthday with an official party and a house full of friends.

Our party consisted of a group of 10 ladies, plus Jady (who loved every minute of it!), so I went with white and pink for the decorations.  Thanks to LGN for the balloon inspiration (I just straight up stole that one!) -- I love the clusters of gradually intensifying pinks, which I tied together and to the railing with raffia.

Lindsay wanted an elegant feel for the party but not too formal, so I set the table for a special occasion but added more casual elements like decorating with raffia and passing the main course family style.   Also, everyone hung out in the kitchen before dinner and kept me company while I cooked, helping to make the whole event fun and relaxed. 

The flowers we picked up while grocery shopping at Costco and Kroger-- pink lilies and white hydrangeas-- plus some sprigs of dried eucalyptus branches I had left over from Trader Joe's a few weeks before.  I love the feminine, springy effect, and all for much less than a pre-arranged bouquet at a florist.

Celebrations for loved ones are the best!  

xo

Liza

Tea Time Traditions

The temperatures here in Louisville have begun dipping down below freezing, and the days are starting to feel like winter, just in time to make Thanksgiving and Christmas as cozy as they should be.  This type of weather inspires even non coffee drinkers to fill a mug with something steamy, and lately it has put me in the mood for teatime.  When my sister and I were little, my mother would share this ritual with us occasionally, which was always such a special treat.  We would gather around the tray with a pretty teapot and a plate of goodies and fill our dainty cups with milk and sugar and, yes, a little tea.  

Teatime provides a wonderful excuse for an intimate get together that can be as simple or elaborate an affair as you'd like, so it's completely flexible in terms of your preparation level.  You can either use it to kick back and relax or to create a more special, ladylike atmosphere.  And, unlike an invitation for a full meal, teatime can be the perfect quick get together for accommodating our busy schedules. 

And it's just so civilized. :)

xo 

Liza

Monday Men

Hi All, last week a friend asked us to post on men's fashion. I thought back and realized we have not posted on this subject, which is funny because this is a daily subject in our house. Jake often wears a clergyman's collar, so when it comes to street clothes, he often asks for my opinion.

Let me just say I LOVE layering, tailoring, and mixing up color schemes. Now, Jake would say the key to any man's closet begins with his shoes. Lucky for J he has had a few hookups from friends in men's fashion, and I know that he is secretly saving up to buy a pair of Alden's. These are FOREVER kind of shoes; you literally change the soles and these are shoes you can pass down for generations. 

Like I said, I LOVE layering. So, it may seem a little old fashion, but i love a man in a sweater vest. What is NOT to love?!

A sweater vest in combination with a textured tie is a favorite of mine. I also say MIX patterns with different sizes and shapes-- it works and is soooo good looking!

HERE'S the LOOK

Now, some may say this look seems pricey. Let me tell you if you shop at Joe Fresh you can find sweater vests, light weight sweaters, and a variety of oxford shirts for as little at $19.00. The vest Jake is wearing in the photo above was $15.00, and the red J Crew shirt was $10.00 on clearance. Also if you are looking for a variety in ties and are just beginning to buy ties, go to H & M, where you can find great looks with prices starting at $12.00. You can't beat that!!

So, if you are looking for great fashion for men on a budget, check out Joe Fresh, H &M, and J Crew's sale racks. You are bound to find a great look within any budget.

Besos,

Mel

NYC FLOR

Last week was such a terrible week with hurricane Sandy blowing through NYC and surrounding areas.  I almost forgot I have a floral gig at House of the Redeemer on Wednesday. When we finally had electricity, I could finally begin to think of the days ahead. I almost forgot to vote, too! 

All that being said, just a few days before the hurricane I was in the flower market scooping out grays, greens, and purples for this Wednesday's event. The event is for a retiring clergyman who has a fondness for Scottish culture. So, when I began my floral search I thought of heather and moss and hardy berried plants with grays and greens. 

MY VASES

I already set up a topiary with the most beautiful ceramic pot for the entrance-- I just love how inventive you can be in the flower district. I can't wait to share my reveal on Thursday!   

Besos,

M