Happy Mothers Day

I want to wish all your fabulous moms out there, a wonderful Mother’s Day.  Hope you get pampered, spoiled, and relish in the moment.  You deserve it.  Hmmmm, could she be reading Fifty Shades of Grey?

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Overcooked Easter

Hope you all had a great Easter or Passover.  We had wonderful weather, here in LA, for the holiday weekend.  I spent all day Saturday out and about shopping for food, prepping and getting as much done as possible so I could relax on Sunday, which of course, never happened.  We had our neighbors Gale and David and my friend Maureen over for dinner.  My other neighbor Andy and his girlfriend Kirsten popped over for a glass of wine or in Andy’s case “Miller Lite” after their family dinner.  While hosting Easter is something I have done many times, this was the first time we had a chef come to our house.  My neighbor David, is a chef and partner, at Park Avenue & Il Garage in Stanton, CA.  For all of you who ask, “Where is Stanton?” like I did, it’s located just East of Huntington Beach on Beach Boulevard.  It’s a destination restaurant that has won many accolades and was recently ranked in the Top 10 of OC Restaurants by Orange Coast Magazine.  In the last few years it’s been ranked number one and landing Chef David Slay on the cover. Ok, as if that isn’t pressure.

We have eaten at his restaurant several times, (which is amazing) and Blake and I have been guests at their house on numerous occasions for parties and impromptu dinners.  I wanted to extend an invitation to them for Easter since they graciously hosted us for Christmas and David is always working and never gets to relax.  I am a perfectionist when it comes to entertaining and love everything to look perfect and taste perfect.  While I love to cook, I’d prefer to do the hosting aspect and décor.  I still haven’t gotten the hang of the whole timing thing.  With my girlfriend Nick flying back from Australia (she normally helps me serve), I was on my own.

Well let’s just say it was a disaster.  I’m laughing about it now.    We cooked our ham in their oven (which Gale warned me gets hot) so I could reheat our sides while the ham was finishing up.  You would think we would have checked on the ham, nope!  This is what happens when the wine starts flowing.  Turns out the ham which, is PERFECT every year, was over cooked. The veggies were soggy because I reheated them and forgot to take the tin foil off and everything was a hot mess.  The only thing that was good was the wine, the company, and the table setting.  While they were more than gracious, I’m sure my soggy asparagus was likely  the topic of conversation the next day.  Everyone had plenty of wine to drink thank God!  Food (when painfully overcooked) always tastes better when your drinking wine.  Overall, we had a great time except me, the perfectionist, cringing every time I looked at the food.  Oh well,  I can only go up from here, right?  Now anything I cook will look good.  LOL!

Now on to the positive aspect of the evening, the table setting.  I was pretty happy with how the table turned out considering everything was purchased either on sale or at a thrift store.  See below for details of where everything was purchased.

TABLE ITEMS:  Table cloth from Williams Sonoma purchased last summer.   Plates are Spode Fine Bone China, England, Pattern Y8549-L Chinese Flowers Prunus purchased at a local thrift store.  Glasses are by the Imperial Glass Company in Shoji pattern purchased at a local thrift store along with the brass candle holders and napkin rings (which they threw in for free).  Wine glasses are by Riedel (Vitis Collection).  Chargers are from Cost Plus, vases from One Kings Lane, burlap runner from Pottery Barn (last year), candles from Home Goods, tulips from Whole Foods, and napkins from Target.

The table setting in all it’s glory before it got bombarded by the hot mess of over cooked food.

Up close as the sun was going down.

I couldn’t believe how well the dishes and table cloth matched.

On  a side note, my great friend Nick has an Aunt who we call “Auntie Syl”.  She lives in Salem, Oregon and loves to entertain, just like us.  We are always sharing recipes, ideas for table settings, and swapping pictures of how we decorated our tables for the holidays.  Take a look at her creative table setting that she did for Easter.  She used burlap as the table cloth, stuffed egg shells and urns with wheat grass,  hanging eggs on branches and put chocolate bunnies on the dinner plates.  I love it.

She also sent me this picture of her deviled eggs.  These are no ordinary deviled eggs. They are decorated with real violets, fresh dill, chives and parsley.  Look at the little baby chick in the right corner.  I call her the Martha Stewart of the North West.

Menu:

APPETIZERS

Cheese Platter with Various Cheeses, Crackers and Grapes

Hartford Court, Four Hearts Vineyards, Russian River Chardonnay 2009

SALAD COURSE

Beet, Rhubarb, and Orange Salad (Couldn’t get Rhubarb anywhere)

Gary Farrell, Russian River Chardonnay, 2008

MAIN COURSE

Roasted Asparagus

Tri-Colored Carrots Roasted with Olive Oil

Scallop Potatoes with Gruyere Cheese (Bon Appetit)

Honey Glazed Ham from our Local Market

Calera 35th Anniversary Vintage, Central Coast, Pinot Noir 2010

Regusci Stages Leap District Merlot 2008

Burgess Napa Valley Merlot 2007

Robert Foley Vineyards, The Griffin Red Wine, 2009

DESSERT

Fresh Mixed Berries with Home Made Whip Cream Topped with Fresh Mint

 

Also, to my parents who’s 45th Anniversary was Sunday.

Happy Anniversary!

&

Jan, my Aussie friend.  I’m so glad we re-connected! Happy Birthday!

 

p.s.  I’m too tired to edit!

PHOTO CREDITS:  All photos are taken by me (Peggy & Fritz) except the last two which are taken by Auntie Syl.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Wishing you all a little sugar, a little bubbly and lots of love this Valentines Day no matter what your relationship status!

Happy Valentines Day!

Photo Credits:  Photo 1:  www.polyvore.com via www.photo-forum.net Images by Rali7u, Photo 2: Via www.google.com source unknown if you know please let me know for proper crediting, and Photo 3:  toocutethings.blogspot.com

A Time to Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and sharing the holidays with the people we love or maybe not, LOL!   At our house, we usually host those that can’t make it home.   Some years we have had a full house and some years we’ve had just a few people.   Friends bring friends or someone they know doesn’t have a place to go, we don’t discriminate.  One year, my girlfriend Nick brought the local mailman.  It always makes it more enjoyable and interesting. We have a tradition where we go around the table and say what we are thankful for… The guys all groan, it puts our new guests on the spot and the rest of the “regulars” giggle.  It always ends up being fun and meaningful.  The best thing about an orphan Thanksgiving is there is no drama, complaining, or conflicts.  Everyone is just happy to have a place to come together and usually our dinners last well into the evening.    

Images from www.digsdigs.com

This year Thanksgiving has extra meaning for me. It’s no secret that I have not blogged over the last few months. My creativity and mind has been pre-occupied by something bigger.  As you know my posts started to get less frequent last spring just as I was getting new readers. I was so excited that you took the time to read my blog.  Especially knowing how many amazing bloggers there are out there.  Mine started as a way to communicate with my friends and along the way I met new friends. The one thing I admired about many bloggers was their ability to be truthful and sincere.   I think it’s time I’m honest with all of you. I really struggled over whether I should divulge this because doing so means I am divulging this to some of my friends who will be hearing this for the first time.  But I finally realized, the importance of honesty and how as women we really need to share information.  By sharing information, we can make better and more informed to decisions and assist each other along the way.  It is my hope that I can lend a hand to someone and/or guide them like so many did for me.  The truth of the matter is….in June after having a lumpectomy, I was diagnosed with the early stages of Breast Cancer.

Over the next four months I had two additional surgeries, a whole lot of doctors appointments (14 but who’s counting), two MRI’s, a set of titanium clips and a pair or lovely wires put into my boob.  I went from one doctor to four and a whole lot of second opinions.  The positive news is my cancer was non-invasive and chemo was not required.  However, five weeks of radiation was required.  I am happy to report this Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving is my last day of treatment.  While there are many factors that go into treatment, I won’t bore you with the details now but at some point, I will share with you things that you should look for and how my diagnosis came to be.  Had it not been for four of my friends that had breast cancer, I would still be walking around with BC and going untreated.  It’s so important to trust your instincts and know what questions to ask.  We must be our own advocate and as women share information.  I consider myself very fortunate and extremely lucky.  Especially, since the people I know people had to face far more than me.  Overall, I feel everything happens for a reason, and truly believe my cancer was found because I listened to my inner voice and had an amazing doctor.   I have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

As you can imagine, I had to take a step back from blogging.  There were so many times I wanted to blog but in the end, I just didn’t have the energy.  I worried about losing my subscribers if I wasn’t blogging regularly. Then I thought, I can’t get caught up in that.  I do have to say I had some faithful readers who have twittered or emailed me.   Especially,  Ms. Katie at  www.goodniteirene.com who has an amazing blog (gorgeous images and has an amazing writing style).  I only wish I could write like her or come up with the adjectives and analogies like she does.  Also, Ms. Karen at http://gardenhomeandparty.com/ who is always so kind and we share a love for gardening. Living in LA we all have our limitations, so I love watching what she does with her small space. I just want to say thank you to you both!   I look forward to getting back to blogging!

I want to thank my family and friends for being so supportive. I also want thank my two roommates from college Laura and Cari for coming to visit me in October.  I know how hard it was for them having families but it meant to the world to me.  It was great to have my East Coast friends meet my West Coast friends.  Some for the first time. It was truly a special and magical weekend for me. Friendship is such an amazing gift and I’m very grateful for the wonderful friends I have. They have been there every step of the way for me with giggles, their kindness, and listening to all my crazy doctor stories.

Cari – Laura – Ann in Palos Verdes

Thanksgiving is also about celebrating friends, family, and being there for someone in need.  The holidays can make any of us a little crazy.  May we all be a little kinder and say please and thank you.  Everyone wants to feel appreciated.  It’s time to extend a hand and remember that it’s about giving back and remembering what is most important.  I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for being such loyal and fabulous readers and bloggers. I look forward to a fresh beginning and getting back to blogging. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

~ Happy Thanksgiving ~

Valentines Day is for Everyone

Valentines Day for me always feels forced unless you are a bit creative.  Most people race out to a get card, guys order flowers and then your off to dinner..don’t get me wrong, I love all those things including lovely gifts….I’m really a simple girl.  For me gift giving is really thinking about your gift or doing something creative.  It’s not about the amount of the gift or how luxurious it is, it’s more about the thought or intention behind it. My all time favorite Valentines Day both giving and receiving was one of creativity, thought and attention to detail on both sides.  It’s one that’s hard to top.  I encourage all of you to go out on a limb and do something creative.  Instead of having flowers delivered…leave a single rose on your loved ones car and wish them a beautiful day, write a beautiful letter to your loved one and tell them all the things you love about them, for those of you that live in LA…head to the beach at sunset with a blanket, bottle of wine, and some snacks and enjoy the lovely winter sunset, etc.

Whether you are single, in a relationship, married or divorced.  I believe Valentines Day is for everyone.   Creativity can be for the singles as well…grab your girlfriends and a bottle of Champagne, chocolates and watch your favorite movie.  If your home by yourself, light a beautiful scented candle, take a bubble bath, get into a cozy robe and repeat above (champagne and chocolates).  Whatever, your plans I hope you have a fabulous Valentines Day! 

My favorite Rose Champagne.

 

These Edge Flutes from Crate and Barrel are sleek, sexy and affordable.

The best truffles EVER!  Champagne truffles from Charbonnel & Walker which can be purchased at Neiman Marcus.

I’ve never been a red rose person.  I love pink roses…why not bottle them up in a candle. 

I’m dying to hear from all of you. What was your best Valentines Day EVER?  What was the most creative thing you ever did for someone?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous day filled with lots of love and laughter from sunny Manhattan Beach, CA.

A Sprinkle of Holiday Decor

I’m not going to bore you with the details but I’m behind on blogging due to computer issues.  UGH!  Back in the saddle again and now trying to play catch up.  FEW!  Here we go with a little post on how we decorated our house.

We purchased and decorated our tree the first week of December.  I like to enjoy it the entire month. I relish in the ambiance it creates.  I enjoy  lighting the fire and candles, having a nice glass of wine or champagne, and gazing at our sparkly tree.   Our color scheme is simple; white, silver and anything that sparkles.   I kept our holiday decorating to a minimum by just accessorizing a few key areas.  I hung stockings on the fireplace, added some holiday decor to the dining table, and planted paper whites and amaryllis (I love the smell and enjoy the blooms).

I started in the dining area.  The runner on the table stays on all year round along with the ceramic urn.  I just added some touches of mercury glass and tea lights to dress up the table.  The branches were purchased from Michaels (got 50% off for $3.99 a stem), I wanted more, but this is all they had.  They look like real tree branches with fake snow and pine cones.  I had about six women in line ask me where I found them only to tell them I grabbed all that were left.  Since we live in LA finding tree branches is next to impossible.  I added these two trees from Home Goods which are made from pine cones with a silver color.  The little reindeer are from Pottery Barn and were purchased last year (see my post Winter Wonderland).  I fell in love with these little vases from Pottery Barn, made from mercury glass.  When I first saw them, I thought they were candle holders but they are actually bud vases (plus, they were only $8.00).  I had to have them.  Also, I bought eight or nine of the mercury glass tea lights from Target.  They were $.99 each.  Can you believe it?  I bought eight of them. They are great to use all year round.  Well take a peek inside our little beach house for a sprinkle of our holiday decor.

      

 

I had this bell wreath from my old apartment, it’s been sitting in a box for years. I pulled it out and added it to our China cabinet and it had two matching bells that were ornaments (too heavy for the tree) so I hung them on the drawer knobs (purchased at Pottery Barn).

On the chest that sits across from our dining table, I added a few touches of greenery and silver to compliment the table.  Each year, I use my grandmothers vintage casserole dish and fill it with paper whites.  I like the vintage look of the dish.  You can really use any vintage piece of silver or container for paper whites.  I reused the nuts left over from Thanksgiving.  They sit in a vintage silver candy dish given to me my mom’s best friend (she was cleaning her closets and throwing a bunch of silver away, I was like a little kid in school…pick me! pick me!), and a silver mercury glass candle holder I got from my favorite store,  Home Goods.  The mercury glass candlestick adds a hint of sparkle to tie in with the table. The photo below that one, is another tray I got from my mom’s friend.  Remember the one cleaning out her closets.  I used it at Thanksgiving for the champagne.  I added pine cones, a beaker with some left over greens from Thanksgiving and added a candle.

Here’s an overall look at the chest.

It’s so hard to capture our tree.  Whenever, I have taken it with a camera it just never comes out.  I found a setting called “night” and I tried that.  Waa Laa! Finally, something that shows how it looks when it’s  lit up at night. I use on average five to seven boxes of lights.  I used to be a wrap it around the tree girl, until I met my old roommate, Jen.  She taught me how to weave the lights in and out so it sparkles from within.  I liked it so much, I have kept it up over the years…however, I curse her every year for showing me how great it can look, because now I’m obsessed with it. It takes so much time to put it up and take it down.  Thanks Jen :)  The only thing I wished I purchased was starfish garland.

 

 

Here is a close up of some ornaments that I have collected over the years.  Rosie do you recognize the one in the center?  It always goes at the top of the tree.  I look for things that will sparkle when the lights hit them.  Most of my ornaments come from Home Goods and Marshalls.  They have tons of ornaments that look vintage at the fraction of the cost of major retailers.   Most of them come from Poland where the higher quality glass ornaments are produced. 

I love my clip on birds. The Santa below is from Home Goods and the starfish is from my mom.  Every year she sends me one ornament.  I love my big fat puffy lady below too….Compliments again of Home Goods.          

Oh Yes! To satisfy the man in the house we have a football, a rocket and somewhere on our tree a Minnesota Vikings helmet.  He makes sure they are front and center to screw up my color scheme.  It’s also his way of reminding me there is a guy living in the house. LOL!

      Our stockings.

        We have a tiny bathroom guest downstairs that I decorated.  To keep it simple, I just added some eucalyptus to the vase, some holiday guest towels, and greens in a tiny bud vase to add a splash of color. 

That’s it folks! I didn’t have a lot of time to edit so sorry if I’m rambling, but then again, what else is new?  Ha! Ha! I’m on a rice and beans budget this year, so everything was repurposed or purchased on sale or at a discounted store.  How about you?  Did you repurpose or go hog wild? What color scheme did you use this year?  Hope your enjoying all the festivities….look forward to your comments!

What a Fabulous Holiday

Well, we ate, drank, and were very merry.  How about you?  We had two of my girlfriends over for  Thanksgiving and a few of our other friends popped in throughout the night.  Blake was our token man.  I think he was feeling the estrogen in the room.  Give four women a few glasses of wine and we all become chatty Cathy.  One of the things I love about women is we can start and stop and go back to previous conversations.  I think Blake tuned out after the first round.  LOL!  I should note that when you get to the dinner pictures, we were all so hungry that I started to take pictures for the blog and then was like forget it.  I didn’t have time to stage it, place it nicely on the table, etc. I just snapped a few but they are totally cheesy.   Oh, well!  What can I say?  We had a blast. Hope you enjoyed your time with family and friends.  Did anyone get their tree this weekend?  I will get ours this week.  Can’t wait for the smell of pine in the house, lighting a fire in the fireplace (In LA it’s called Duraflame) for a little snap, crackle, pop. 

Here’s a peak at our Thanksgiving.  I ended up adding wicker chairs to the end of the table since we were having a few extra friends over.  I also added our Riedel Chardonnay and Cabernet glasses to the table for each course.  The table looks a little different.

    I loved this picture taken below in the mirror opposite the table.

The table as the sun was setting with with the wicker chairs added.

My girlfriend Lisa dropped by, while I was prepping for our guests.  She brought homemade Bloody Mary’s.  I thought what a fun gift to do.  She had it all wrapped up including the fixings, all I had to do was pour into glasses.  I just happened to buy two large mason jars and thought what a fabulous hostess gift this would make, especially for a brunch.  You could prepare fresh Bloody Mary’s (like she did) and put in a quart sized mason jar and tie it with raffia.  In a small size jar you could put celery, onions, green tomatoes, or whatever is your favorite sides (you could put a tiny jar of horseradish and Tabasco).  Wouldn’t that make a great hostess gift?

 

APPETIZERS

Artisan Cheeses

Fig and Olive Oil Raincrisp Crackers

Cured Meats

Gourmet Olives, Artichokes, Peppers

Veuve Clicquot Champagne 2007   It was a little chilly on Thanksgiving but, we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine sipping champagne and eating our appetizers.  Nick Below.

SECOND COURSE

Butter Lettuce with Grape Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, and Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Gary Farrell Chardonnay 2007

MAIN COURSE

Organic Turkey

Green Beans with Shallots,  Slivered Almonds and sprinkled with Dried Cranberries

Baby Carrots with Dried Sherry & Italian Parsley

Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Biscuits

Chateau Montelena Cabernet 1995

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet 1997

We had the most beautiful turkey and of course the boyfriend starts cutting it before I could stage it for photos.  Life of a blogger learning in progress.  Doesn’t he know I have to photo everything?  He’s learning.  But unfortunately the sliced turkey was not photogenic.  HA! HA!  My friend Maureen made the mashed potatoes.  Can you believe I don’t know how to make mashed potatoes?  I normally do roasted potatoes but living in a small house, we don’t have a double oven.  Note to self, when you have a “grown up house”, make sure you install a double oven!

Ok you can see my photo skills are going down hill!

 

DESSERT

Homemade Apple Crisp

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Here’s some photo’s throughout the evening. Here’s Nick doing her wine tasting.

 

Kirsten, Maureen and Nick.

Me and Kirsten who’s adorable and we love her.  My neighbors girlfriend.

Maureen and Nick.

Our token man, Blake.  What a trooper.

Maureen had to run home for something and changed because it was cold out.  When she came back, we joked that she looked like a construction worker with the black and yellow (or a bumble bee) hence, the reason for hand signals.

Getting Silly.  Kirsten and Maureen

Hail, Hail, Hail the gangs all here! OOPS!  Except our token male who is taking our picture. 

L to R:  Me, Kirsten, Maureen, & Nick.

We had a beautiful day!  I hope you all did as well.

Now time to prep for Christmas!  Ready, Set, DECORATE.