This past Saturday I hosted local design bloggers for a meet'n greet
High Tea at my apartment. A few of us had met before, but it was so great to be in one room all together. We are trying to keep up our blogging social meeting once a month - power to the DC bloggers!
Here you see Beth of
Style Redux and
Chinoiserie Chic serving champagne to the guests.
Only a blogger can know how fun these online friendships can be. We get to share our design passions and interests online daily with one another and it's fun to bring these into real life conversations!
Michele from
My Notting Hill poses by the drinks station. Champagne, lemonade, sparkling water, tea and coffee were the drinks of the day.
Allie from
Summer is a verb took some artistic shots of the tea table, which she thinks are blurry but I think are more impressionist!
Strawberry shortcake, croissants, tea sandwiches and some other snacks all proved popular!
The spread before.......
And the spread afterwards -chaos and empty plates show that everyone had their fill! I used my
Harebell by Coalport china for most of everything, but couldn't resist using a plate from my
strawberry cream service by Royal Doulton for the tea sandwiches to go along with the strawberry theme!
Whats a sign of a good party? Empty champagne bottles and glasses litter the coffee table!
Also in attendance was Scott from
Domicidal Maniac (who I've known since early college days and motivated me to start blogging),
The peonies even got some showtime in the bathroom - I put one single flower in a bud vase to liven up the sink.
As little 'host' gifts, I gave away my favorite carrotcake cupcakes from
Georgetown cupcake -a nice little treat for the ride home :-) Hopefully this will encourage you to meet some of your local blog buddies!
This past weekend, I hosted Easter dinner for six and thought I would share it with all of you via the weekly Tablescape Thursdays at Between Naps on the Porch.
I was tired of the white tablecloths I have, so I went to Pottery Barn and got this beautiful tan paisley cloth. It has tiny specs of green in the pattern that match the green linen napkins I already had.
I used my white sanssouci plates for the main course (roast lamb and vegetables) with some pretty antique plates by Ernst Wahliss with a red floral pattern for the salad course (waldorf salad).
The serving pieces are an antique pattern by Minton that I rarely get to use as they're so big! I dream of having a dining room someday so I can hang that huge platter on the wall!
I chose 2 small bunches of ranunculus on either end of the table, leaving the main course as the center of attention (family style).
I had to have a fun party favor to embaress my guests with. These candy suckers in the shape of a bunny snout will come in handy for ransom someday as I insisted each guest had their picture taken 'wearing' them!
I hope you enjoyed my Easter dinner tour!
Bacon and eggs (fried and runny), wheat toast, english breakfast tea with milk and OJ were on the menu. While the bacon fried (and then eggs done in the same pan afterwards), I took a few pictures. Daisies were snipped from a larger bunch ($4 at trader joes) elsewhere in my apartment and put into a bud vase to brighten up the winter gloom. Daisies are the most cheerful flower in my opinion and really last a long time (up to 2 weeks if you change the water frequently!).
NPR was on and featured the listener's favorite top 10 soprano solos which was a wonderful backdrop. Renee Fleming singing o mio babino caro by Puccini was #1. I hope you are all finding ways to brighten up your winter as well!
6 months later, days before becoming king upon his father's death, Edward's thoughts were only of Wallis as he wrote from his fathers deathbed:
The top photo is a 1930s piece of Minton I have on my coffee table with some Valentine's day themed red candies as my gift to you! It reminds me of something Syrie Maugham might have used when she decorated Wallis's flat (and her second husband, Ernest Aldrich Simpson). This is where Wallis would come to entertain and become close to Edward, Prince of Wales. 
I hope everyone has their own great romance come true: Happy Valentine's Day!
This past weekend I had a few friends over for dinner and they were nice enough to let me interrupt the party to photograph the table settings for the weekly 
Here is what we had (ignore the lamp cord!) - roast beef with carrots, potatoes and celery -a hearty winter meal on a snowy day. 
For dessert (lemon pound cake with fresh whipped cream) I used the bread plates for Wedgwood 'Cuckoo', the small coffee service is antique Austrian by Ernst Wahliss, the teacups are antique Minton and the sugarbowl is cobalt jasperware by Wedgwood.
The tea (violet from Laduree) was served on my sideboard from my wedgwood 'cuckoo' teapot. The sterling tea strainer was NOT fun to polish after a few years of not being used! Crystal candlesticks I brought back from my trip to Paris in the fall.
The evening had some ups and downs -the foil from the champagne gave me a nasty cut which would NOT stop bleeding! The rest of the rose was the best medicine......
I hope you enjoyed the meal as much as we did! 
So my favorite wedgwood cuckoo pattern was used along with a royal doulton cake platter, wedgwood cobalt jasperware cream & sugar and limoge underplates. 
While at the Chicago Institute of Art, I came across a piece that was surprising to me: A ceramic vessel by Paul Gauguin. Yes, THAT Paul Gauguin: the post-impressionist with the colorful exotic paintings based in Polynesia. I had no idea he was so prolific!
This past Thursday I had some friends over for a little supper. Nothing fancy, just a little pasta and salad after work. I set the table the night before.
I know you're not supposed to put flowers with a lot of fragrance on the dinner table, but I couldn't resist these pretty peonies!
Easy as 1, 2,3 -I think it turned out ok. Beats pizza at the coffee table!