The party of many colors...

Did you see the colorful & whimsical party that Joslyn threw for her four-year old daughter? It looks like so much fun! I am really bummed my daughter was sick for her birthday. This display of festivity inspires me to think about a half-birthday celebration. See more of the bodaciously cool party here.

(all photos by Joslyn)

Listening to...

The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You. On repeat. For the last four days straight. If D decides to break up with me after having to listen to this album one. more. time. well, I have to admit that it would be justifiable.

The album is all over the place - bluegrass and folksy stuff and other songs that sound totally modern. Luckily I love all of it.

This is the song that got me...

Bowl night

+

= a pretty good night

I haven't been won over by the new album yet, but I have undying love for Sam's Town because the insistent beat has powered D and I through many a late night work session.

There was a crazy slick stage set involved, along with pretty confetti and the famous feathered jacket. I do appreciate a glitzy stage show. I mean, if you're going to play the Bowl you should either go super minimal or all out. I enjoy either one.

It was a little disconcerting to find my beloved Bowl packed to the brim with tweens squealing and waving cell phones and glow sticks. D and I just quietly ate our sun dried tomato bruschetta paninis and I tried to find compassion in my heart for them. It was a lost cause. I didn't like myself when I was 13, so I don't see how I can be expected to like anyone else at that age. I can deal with them one on one but when they travel in packs I get skittish.

Best surprise - the Psychedelic Furs opened and the show closed with both bands coming on stage to play Pretty in Pink together. Pretty great.

The weekend, briefly

Some cooking.

{potato & boursin frittata, in process}

Some baking.

{croissants, in process}

A beautifully set table.

{favorite family china + mismatched placemats}

Perfect.

{mother's day brunch 2009}

Pizza + prosecco

A dinner party inspired by the latest issue of Bon Appetit? Why not? We already know we're huge dorks, so we just go ahead and put it out there.



Dinner parties are one of my favorite things to do. I am not a club type of girl because...

a) Loud places and crowds make me tired.
b) $12 drinks annoy me.
c) Not being able to hear anything your friends say is frustrating.
d) Trying to look cool enough is exhausting.

I love a homey, laid back pub or a non pretentious happy hour, but they are hard to come by in LA (the Daily Pint does a pretty good job and Q's is nice if you get there embarrassingly early and there is the ever delicious Border Grill, although they have significantly scaled back their HH menu).

A dinner party means you can actually talk to people you like (hopefully you like them, since you invited them over) and there is no corkage fee and you can bond in the kitchen. Perfect.

I made a huge batch of dough (recipe here) and we all brought toppings for our pizza "concepts" and a bottle of prosecco.



Happiness ensued.



I highly recommend it.



P.S. There is still time to enter the fabulous giveaway from Shoestring Home! Comment on this post for your chance to win.

purty table inspiration

Whenever I have friends over for dinner, I try my best to make my dining table look as pretty as possible. But table setting is a lot harder than it might seem...it really is an art! I always worry that nothing matches, or that everything matches too much, and I make a mental note that I need a new tablecloth, new serving plates, new, new new! I do realize that I'm a perfectionist, and I also know that having a dinner party doesn't necessarily need to be a fancy affair. But I just can't help the need in me to make everything look pretty {doesn't a meal just taste a lot better if it also looks good? Or perhaps subconsciously I'm trying to disguise my sub-par cooking skills?}. So I have found a bunch of tabletops that have provided me with some inspiration...they all are fairly simple and non-stuffy, and don't necessarily require an onslaught of new stuff, although maybe a bit of craftiness. Hopefully they inspire you too! Have a wonderful weekend...

from Blueprint magazine {may it RIP}

from Quick and Easy Decorating by Better Homes and Gardens

from Home Base Collections

from Darling Dexter

From Real Simple magazine

from Canadian House and Home magazine

{unsure of the source of this pic unfortunately}

from Martha Stewart {love the painted cans used as vases!}

You're cheap

Admit it. And then get yourself over to the iTunes store, because for the next few days you can download 10 of the awesomest Sundance shorts for FREE.

Go here.

Not to be too prejudiced or anything, but I suggest you start with "Instead of Abracadabra."


Picture a Napoleon Dynamite-esque character, as a magician, in Sweden. Yep, it's amazing.

Also keep an eye out for all the great retro wallpaper on the interior shots. Is it just me, or do Europeans do way more with wallpaper than we do?

Holiday traditions make me happy

Back in high school, my girlfriends and I started an annual holiday party. It's always potluck, with a gift exchange and a craft activity (with the exception of one super lazy year while we were all in college when we just ordered pizza and watched Crocodile Hunter).

I am incredibly proud to announce that this Saturday we had our 10th annual party! We kind of rock. Despite all attending different colleges and now being spread out in different cities, we've managed to keep it together.

Here was my gift for the exchange - a toolbelt apron (tutorial to follow in the near future) stamped with one of my linocuts and some of the meal planning/grocery shopping notepads I've been making. (This trio of hand creams was part of the gift I got for the gift exchange and I've been LOVING it).



Here is the apron in action. You knew I was going to pose in it before I gave it away.



For the craft this year, Kris taught us to make pomanders. Mine is now proudly hanging over my dining room table.



I totally phoned it in this year and purchased desserts from TJs so I have no fun recipes to share today. When you see tomorrow's post, you'll know why I was too busy to be whipping out homemade pies.

Margaritas! And tomatillo salsa.

Summer is coming to an end, but we felt like it was time to celebrate the last of the season. With blended margaritas, salsa and some good friends.



My favorite salsa recipe comes from an old issue of Sunset magazine, and I make it at least a couple times a summer. The original recipe tells you to roast the tomatillos, onions and peppers in a cast iron skillet, which works perfectly well, but it's hell on your skillet. This time, I finally got smart and roasted everything on a sheet of aluminum foil in the broiler. No mess, no smoke, no charred skillet residue. Awesome.



Yum.



The margaritas were good too.



Roasted Tomatillo Salsa from Sunset
3/4 lb tomatillos
1/4 lb pearl onions
2 mild green chilies
1/2 c. packed cilantro
2 - 4 tbsp lime juice
Salt

Pull off and discard tomatillo hulls, rinse all tomatillos and set aside one.

Place the remaining tomatillos, the chiles and the onions (unpeeled) on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Place the pan under the broiler until all the vegetables are charred, turning once to cook all sides. The tomatillos should be soft. Let the vegetables cool. (You can also do this in a 10 - 12 inch cast iron skillet, but be prepared for some major cleaning afterwards).

Peel the onions (you basically just pop them out of their skins), pull the loose skin from the chiles and discard, along with the stem and seeds.

Put the cooked vegetables, the uncooked tomatillo and the cilantro in the food processor. Pulse until it reaches salsa consistency. Stir in lime juice and salt to taste.

I basically just eat chips for the salsa anyways.

Why I love my parents' house

(Still catching up from this weekend!)

Dropped by on Sunday and these beauties were sitting on the table.

Homegrown roses, native asters and something else I can't identify

And this munchkin was lounging around looking cute.


Circe, the wire haired fox terrier

And late summer flowers are still popping up everywhere.


Not sure what this is, but it's a safe bet that it's a California native

Just lovely. The funny part is that my mom stresses out because the house won't seem to stay in "company ready" state. Meaning that there are sometimes piles of books and magazines next to the couch, and a bit of dust on the shelves, and someone is usually refinishing a piece of furniture, so there might be some wood waiting to be sanded, and my mom loves changing the wall colors, so there is often a room that is mid paint job.

But here's the thing - my parents are always company ready. If an unexpected guest happens to drop by, their faces light up and you get bear hugs, and they will push aside a stack of projects so you can sit down and talk.

Which really seems so much better. Because I would rather be a company ready person than a person with a company ready house. Wouldn't you? After all, your friends aren't going to don white gloves and do a dust check before they sit down to gossip. And if they do, I would get some new friends, stat.

Bridal shower recap

Get ready for a longish (and gratuitously personal) post here - the big bridal shower was on Saturday and it was a blast! The bridal party is huge and mainly made up of my dear (and supremely talented) girlfriends from high school, so we had a lot of fun putting it all together and making it special for our lovely bride to be.

Friday night Stace and I were back in my apartment, prepping for all we were worth. Here we are icing dozens of glass slippers and tiaras for favors (yes, those are bikes behind me in the dining room - we live in a small apartment!).


The maid of honor outdid herself with the planning. Guests were greeted at the door with this little table. The bells were for a game, there were blinged out name tags, and the favors are all packaged and lined up in those little trays. The gorgeous flowers for the whole event were done by Kris (aren't we lucky to have a friend/fellow bridesmaid who also happens to be the amazing head floral designer of The Treasured Petal?).


Here's the food spread...


And, of course, the dessert got its own area.


Here is the room, set up and partially filled with people busily filling out quizzes.


And, a close up of the gorgeous flowers (notice Jasmine hiding out in the middle - each table was themed with a different Disney princess).


Here is a collage to give you an idea of the overall feel - be nice, because it's my first attempt at one of these.


And here's the beautiful bride, front and center, with all the rest of us surrounding her.
I really do love my girls and I can't wait for the wedding next month!