Dreaming of Summer

On this dreary winter's day I am dreaming of summer fun with my buddies.  If it were summer - I would be throwing an outdoor alfresco dinner party!  Love this post from Oh Happy Day.  Such a cute idea to rent an outdoor space to host a special evening with friends....

Although my dinner party would not feature a view of the Golden Gate - I may be able to provide gorgeous views of the Hanna House backyard or possibly move it to the river to see the sunset over Jamestown and the Scotland Ferry...

A Few essentials....

Lighting - perhaps use a few strings of white lights and some mason jars - saw this on Etsy - looks like something we could rig up with a few simple items...

Simple/Casual Tablesetting:

And for dessert we would gather around the fire and my guests would use their smore party favors bundles to craft their own desserts - yum!

Guess I'll keep dreaming of summer fun and start working on my menu/guest list!

The FORMAL table

The Hanna House was so lucky to receive beautiful china, silver, and crystal as wedding gifts.  My dinner plates and silver were Baba's and we worked with J Taylor Hogan here in Richmond to find the perfect mix and match accent plates and crystal to complete the set.

China's Opening Night - Christmas dinner with our Hanna family side....reservation for 6 (and Bridget) at our Adventures in Wonderland table!

The table looked lovely thanks to Nana's help with freshly starched white linens and napkin rings (as a wedding gift she also completed our silver) - she has always had the most beautiful tables and really helped with my inspiration - see a few pics below...

One piece that I picked up for the occasion - the gold rimmed wine glasses. Target $8 on sale for 11 of them (extra discount was applied to make up for one broken glass in the box)- don't they match perfectly?

Twist It? Lick It? Dunk It?....Cake It?

In celebration of Robert's boy voyage - I made a chocolate covered Giant Oreo Cake.  His favorite treat growing up was always Nestle Crunch - but I couldn't find a recipe that seemed yummy enough....so I settled on the classic American Oreo... super-sized and smothered with chocolate....

It was delicious, easy, and a crowd pleaser...

Even George was mesmerized by the Giant Oreo - too bad dogs are not allowed to have chocolate...

Good Luck Robert!

This weekend we wished our boy Bon Voyage as he heads to US Naval Basic Training - Good Luck Robert we will miss you!

George will miss you too!

Palm Beach Princess

Lonny Magazine has a feature on Lilly Pulitzer this month - a very interesting read with lovely photos of the creative process....check it out here.

I was surprised to learn that all of the Lilly Pulitzer fabrics are oil paintings and drawings that are scanned into a computer and then printed on fabric and turned into garments - talk about wearable art!  The company has full time artists and all creations are made start to finish in King of Prussia, PA.

The brand was started by it's namesake - a young New York Socialite who eloped and moved to West Palm Beach at age 21 to start a juice stand in her husband's orange grove.  To cover up the juice stains she commissioned brightly patterned shift dresses - and Lily Pulitzer was born.

The brand really took off when one of Lilly's close friends from a CT boarding school, Jackie Kennedy, started sporting her adorable shift dresses....

The brand was sold in 1993 - but still keeps original preppy spirit - love some of their new looks and of course those gorgeous fun summer colors - wouldn't it be nice to escape this chilly 34 degree winter weather, throw on a shift dress and a pair of flip flops and head down to West Palm Beach?

I walk em' out

George - 23 Lbs and ready to get his walk on

Dancing Machine

My husband is my favorite dancer - can you blame me?  Check out those moves!

To create your grooving gorilla - check out uglydance.com - it is an interactive work of art by the Swedish band Fulkutur.  Pretty cool stuff!  For a taste of Brian's REAL dancing skills - take a peek at the video from Matt and Alicia's wedding (go to 3:20 for a wicked handstand!)....

I am unable to locate a picture at the moment - but Brian's signature move is of course the bowler....as far as I'm concerned its a strike every time!

Love you Briguy!

Dream Job

I think my dream job may be concepting and building window displays for Anthropologie - Check out these spring 2011 beauties...

I love the conceptual sculptures they are able to achieve with the clothing and natural every day items like hangers, ribbon, and clothespins - truly beautiful.

STYLE

It is so important to remember that trends come and go - but finding your true style will lead to confidence, sophistication, and better shopping decisions....

I saw this quote from Lauren Hutton on JCrew today -I could not agree more....

George is making friends...BIG and small

What's your Vander-feeling?

Leave it to Dawson to take that terrible creek side crying viral 10 years later with the viral Crying Dawson Gif....James Van Der Beek's response...working with Funny or Die to create Van Der Memes....I must say my favorite is the "Eager Beaver" although "Dramatic Dawson" is also pretty moving.....

Vandermemes from James Van Der Beek

Hump Day Ear Candy from RollingStone

Today on RollingStone.com you can stream the Top 25 [mostly delicious and delightfully cheesy] Singles from 2010.  Like a G6....

Getting slizzered with Far East Movement

Gallery Walls

Today while pursuing One Kings Lane I noticed interior design advice on how to create the perfect gallery wall.  I love the sophistication and interest a collection of pictures can add to a blank wall  - but done badly - it can look like a miss mash of leftovers...

Wish we had a gorgeous winding staircase like this one for our "gallery"

We do have a bedroom that could use a little pizazz....

PS - let me know if you need an invite to OneKingsLane - I'd be happy to send you one!  I love checking it out not only for the gorgeous home goods - but this sweet welcome screen below....

Perhaps someday this will be our house - but with a black lab named George at the door of course