Sweet Spot Sunday: "White Christmas Party" Food

At my "White Christmas Cocktail Party," I had a round table near the center of the room for all the bottles of wine and glasses as well as this candle centerpiece and a floral topiary I made.  

My dining room table served as the buffet for all the food.  We had green salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, and various puff pastries.  A cheese and veggie platter as well as a dessert bar near by.

 This is how the table looked when guests started to arrive.  I continued to bring out food as they came...stuffed mushrooms recipe here, artichoke and spinach pinwheels, brie bites etc.  

I grilled the flat bread so it was warm and toasted before serving.  It was so good with the olive tapenade and hummus.

 Bow- tie pasta with bruschetta, fresh mozzarella, and tapenade.  Lori had a great idea to take the striped pasta and make little skewers with tomato, mozzarella, and olives.  I ran out of time so everything just got thrown into a bowl.

Mango, blue berries, honeydew, and ginger. Lori's sister in law's recipe! Yummy.

One of the best appetizers{not pictured here} was Lori's idea:  blueberry goat cheese spread on Coconut cookies (both at Trader Joes).  They taste just like cheesecake and were probably the biggest hit at the party!

The cake was vanilla cake with fondant frosting (with edible glitter snow).  There were shortbread cookies: some with Rollo and some with Cadbury filling.  Also, yogurt covered pretzels and blueberries to snack on.

Photos by Kyungmoo Ryu 

My mom made fabulous sugar cookies decorated to look like doors (of course, blue, the color of my front doors) to send home with my guests in beautiful little boxes.

A big thank you to my Mom, Lori, Christine and Paul for all your help.  Also, thank you to my guests for coming; I enjoyed every minute of it!

White Christmas Party: Outfits

 We have a few party posts in store for you!  I had my "White Christmas Cocktail Party" two Fridays ago.  We thought that we would start off the fun with our outfits for the night. We had a blast and we can't wait to show you the whole event!

Can you see my emerald green earrings peaking out?  My hair hid them most of the time, but I wanted just a hint of color.  They are from forever 21 along with my dress and cocktail ring.  I literally grabbed two dresses there that morning, ran in the dressing room and proclaimed this one the winner.  How is that for planning?!

 I like that the neckline has the same pleats that Lori's dress has at the waist of her dress.

 Check out the pretty front of Lori's dress.  I love the ruffle.

 I think my husband looked pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself.

Classic.

 I like that my dress is really simple, but has a fun sequined detail at the cuff.

 I LOVE Lori's hair.  An up-do is perfect for the cut of her dress.

A special thanks to our friend Kyungmoo Ryu for the photos!

   Lori's glam shoes here on the left and my simple black pumps on the right...

Much more to come...stay tuned and have a wonderful Saturday with your families!  Christmas is almost here and my whole family is in town.  We are off to do a giant group photo...should be fun!

Freaky Find Friday: How About a Hugga Bunch?

When I think of freaky, I think of Hugga Bunch.  You may not remember these creepy dolls from the eighties; I barely do.  What I do remember is a couple of squishy looking pink and blue haired dolls walking over a bridge.  There was a movie that I saw at some point in my life, and that is the scene that has stuck with me all these years.  Enter the internet, and youtube, and some crazy person who felt it necessary to upload the Hugga Bunch movie so that I could torture my own child with it all these years later.

image via Ghost of the Doll

In my mind, I always conflate these dolls with some creature thing from another eighties movie called House.

This movie short from Everything is Terrible kind of combines the two into 3 fabulously freaky minutes.  The Cat and I were cracking up as we were watching this, but maybe that's just us.

On an unrelated note, can you believe Christmas is just around the corner?  My students have to say goodbye to our Elf on the Shelf today, as it is finally our last day of school before vacation.  That has been a lot of fun, seeing where he winds up after a night left all alone in our classroom.  The kids have gotten a kick out of him (his name is Romeo and he has been a bit naughty), so it'll be sad to see him go.  

Anyway, I hope you got a  kick out of today's freaky find, and I hope you have a great weekend!

~Lori

End of Project: Equestrian Gallery Wall

So I lie a little bit when I called this post "End of Project" because it really isn't at an end yet.  It just means that it is presentable.  I am still hoping to add a ribbon shadow box (if I ever find my old show ribbons) and maybe a small oil painting in an ornate frame.  

Those stirrups where actually mine that I used when I rode with an English saddle.  I must say that I am pretty happy with the effect thus far.

What are some projects that you are working on?  I would love to hear!

Down to Brass Tacks

I know brass has been popular for some time now, and that we've talked about it here on DGV before, but I can't help it; I love it.  I know Rebecca does, too, as she has been picking up various brass animals for quite some time now.  She has her own little brass menagerie.  Ha.  See what I did there, Tennessee Williams fans?

So my love of brass was rekindled when I took a look at the newest issue of Better Homes and Gardens and stumbled across this fun living room:

image via BHG

Want to know what really caught my eye? Can you guess?  That coffee table, of course.  I love it.  I want it. I adore it.  So I did a little recon and found the blog of the woman featured in the article (maybe her blog is mentioned in the article; I haven't read it all yet and the magazine is at my Mom's house).  I am pretty proud of myself for finding her site, because she has an even better photo that really showcases that beautiful table.

Don't you want to climb through your computer screen and cozy up in this room?  I think this shot is even more gorgeous than those featured in the magazine!
image via Life in Grace

So I want that table.  And that bench, chair, blanket, urn...  And did you notice what is in the urn?  A lovely little lemon tree, all a-bloom.  I have my lemon tree in my living room, too.  Rebecca helped me bring it in the other night because it was supposed to get really cold.  Over on Life in Grace, Edie, the blog author, says they baby their lemon tree in their house and take it in and out of the house so it can get enough sun but not get too cold.  I'm glad I'm not the only one!  I'm jealous now, though, because my little lemon tree doesn't have any blossoms like hers.
She gives a detailed account of the photo shoot here- it's an interesting read.  Her blog is fun, too- definitely worth checking out!

Plus, look at those brass pendants over the island.  I'm in love!
image via Life in Grace 

So this post started out because of her coffee table, but it kind of turned into me browsing her site and looking for more info on where she got it.  And, of course, as I look I find something else that I love.  I recommend heading on over and checking the site out.  There are some great design ideas and Edie just seems like a good person.

Hope you're having a happy Wednesday!

~Lori

Inspiration: Paper Whites

splendidsass
In my opinion there is nothing better, especially in the winter, than having live plants growing inside.  And when those plants are paper whites, it is all the better!  I am forcing my own bulbs this year for the first time.  I have always wanted to, but I have learned something:  Start earlier!  I thought 8 weeks would be plenty of time, but no.  I missed having them open for my Christmas party, but maybe by Christmas day a few will be blooming.  They just add such a lovely touch.  See for yourself.

heirloomphilosophy

designs4living

belclairehouse


hamptonhostess


chiccoles


heirloomphilosophy
This is what mine looked like at my party.

saltlakedesignergal


chattafabulous


paigerushing

Have any of you done this before?  Any tips for me?

Christmas Crafts I'll Never Make

image via

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions...  I say it is paved with unfinished/never started Christmas crafts.  I have friends who are master crafters.  They see something cute and bam!  Next thing you know they have it, and not because they bought it, but because they've made it.  My friend Kim mentioned the other day that she had her nephew over and just for fun she made him a pair of pajama pants really quickly.  Just threw some material on the old sewing machine and whipped out a pair of cozy little pajama bottoms for him to sleep in.
If I wanted to do something like that, it would require serious planning, a trip to the store for supplies, over to my Mom's to use her sewing machine, and then a couple/few hours sitting in my Mom's sewing room watching as she made the pants since inevitably I would screw something up and she'd come over to "help" me.
I often have grandiose ideas about things I am going to do around the house, things I am going to make, things I am going to alter.  Crazy weird kitschy thing from the thrift store?  Oh, I'm going to turn that into a magical treasure that will look fabulous in my family room.
Or, more likely than not, I am going to purchase the weird item and then leave it in my garage for all eternity. It's a sickness.
So I thought I would share with you some of the amazing projects I would love to do, had I the talent, time, and tenacity.  If only I could steal some of Kim's or Rebecca's crafty genes...

I think I could actually handle making this, if I could find the right priced
soda crate!
image via pinterest

image via Emily Henderson
I just need one more globe to make one lonely snowman.

I actually had everything I needed to make this: a beautiful
terrarium, a brass sailboat that I purchased on ebay
specifically for this project...  Unfortunately, my terrarium was
at a friend's house when her husband set it outside and it
got smashed by their dogs.  Luckily their dogs were okay, but my little
glass terrarium didn't make it.  Very sad.
image via Emily Henderson

image via 

So how about you?  Any holiday crafts you intended to make but never got around to?

~Lori