happy {almost} thanksgiving.

Last year, we hosted 20 people in our new {old} house. We were just reflecting last night, 2009 was one of our favorite Thanksgivings in recent memory. A lot of work. A lot of fun. This year, sure we are making a few side dishes but we are going to make the 2 mile circuit to Mike's sister's house, my sister's house and a pop in on some friends en route. When we get a chance to host again, I am all over this decor. It has a lot of my favorites---Home Goods craftiness, metallic spray on pumpkins, wide pin-stripes and organic and sparkly all at once. The story behind this photo shoot and tablescape is here. I particularly like how creative smarts and family-friendly casual can sometimes go together in a photo shoot.

There is so much to be thankful for this year....made even more sweet by moments when we got a wake-up call to recalibrate and focus on the essentials- health, family, friends and a warm home.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

{erica + mike}

succulents + etsy

So happy with my latest Etsy purchase. I am really into low centerpieces + succulents- these would be perfect for an outdoor wedding on long tables. Monkeys Always Look puts together these charming little pots of succulents. It arrived last week ready to go and the best $50 mid week boost a girl could ask for.

And this wedding in Mexico combines it all---long tables, lanterns + linen, vintage boxes with succulents + color, fruitwood Chivari chairs, flowy bridesmaid dresses all slightly different + a pop of tangerine for the perfect tropical affair.

{erica}

pale and interesting.

I am definitely not a tschotkes girl ( chach'keys: had to google the spelling myself because it looks so wrong). I think of tschotkes as little things that are supposed to be sweet but just collect dust. They always seem to have the best intentions but are rarely staged and styled well. This site out of England, Pale and Interesting I first found on Decor 8 may change my mind. It has a fresh, lively and relevant approach to decor with the 'little things'.

The husband and wife team has a philosophy that seems the perfect approach to incorporating different generations and both bride and groom into wedding decor. It is all about mixing it up, teaming old with new, contrasting rough with smooth and pairing femininity with utility. Tschotke inspiration.

{erica}

what's for dinner?

So many elaborate and simple ways to present menus for any special event or wedding. From individually printed at each place setting (this one from 100 Layer Cake says simply 'open me') to the vintage frames and scrolly fonts (from Sunday Suppers). I am a big fan of simple chalkboards propped up at a buffet table. Good thing, because I think I am running out of time for Thursday to take on another creative whim. Some times you just have to let it go and focus on making sure the green beans aren't khaki.
{erica}

sweet +succulent

Thanksgiving has me a bit obsessed these days. Farm table arrived this week. Check. Menu planned. Check. Shopping list made and wine purchased. Check. I guess that leaves centerpieces. On Thanksgiving, I know everyone is way more interested in the tenderness of the turkey and the football score but I can't seem to get the runner decor out of my head. It brings me to my latest fixation. Succulents. They are all over the outdoor, arid and sunny California wedding scene and I can't get enough. Especially with a name like succulent.

I definitely have a thing for low centerpieces and collections and this find, courtesy of old sweet song blog is a new etsy favorite. Greenware design is a collaboration between two longtime friends. One a potter. One a planter. For less than $50 they might have the sweet and ready made solution for my farm table Thanksgiving vision afterall!

thanksgiving inspiration.

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Family style seating has always appealed to me for weddings. Long wide farm tables, low clusters of flowers and lots of delicious platters of food being handed down the table from friend to friend. These images are simple and elegant inspiration for family style seating regardless of the season.

Alas, the meal of all meals is coming soon....Thanksgiving dinner. Official word came in from relatives in Boston last night that our totals are looking like 18 adults and 8 kids (gulp.) Our almost 8 foot farm table is being built so my job is easy, right? Maybe wide oatmeal linen runner with dried hydrangeas in vintage, mismatched low vases, votive clusters and a few pops of color with fresh cut flowers? Our white hydrangeas from the trees out front have turned to this antiqued burgundy color from the sun-a beautiful autumn color. With the sun finally out today, I am going cut some to start drying.

Tablescapes? Done. Maybe I should start thinking about the two turkeys, fifteen side dishes and countless desserts yet to be planned?
{erica}

casual groupings

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I find casual groupings of brightly hued flowers a beautiful alternative to the large (blocked sight lines) centerpieces. It allows for easy conversation across the table and an opportunity to incorporate personal elements from the couple. As lovely for a Manhattan loft reception as it would be for a simple and elegant farm table at a vineyard wedding. My personal favorites are dinner plate dahlias, antique hydrangeas, spray roses, peonies and garden/cabbage roses. Use of mason jars, antique glass china and votives in odd numbers (three or five items seem to work) bring the look together. I highlighted other low and lovely ideas this winter but here are a few more....

{erica}

delicious bites: from tapas to antipasto.

It is quite possible the antipasto bar and seafood station ( a new spin on the raw bar) are the new candy buffet and signature drink table of 2009- both work beautifully in the summer wedding setting. Antipasto, panini and bruschetta set up in one end of the cocktail hour at a vineyard wedding or a raw bar with sushi, oysters and ceviche in for the New England seaside affair. Yum.

My cousin, Simran, is a pastry chef in California and introduced me to the beautiful work of Rebecca Thuss- event design and prop stylist extraordinairre- during our wedding planning. Simran, who is talented enough to work along side Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Napa-has the best ideas and offered to make our wedding cake last November. In the planning process, she would email me inspirational photos from Rebecca Thuss until we reached a delicious, classic and gorgeous consensus for the cake. I am sure she could tell a few (not so inspirational) stories about packing the frozen cake base into her carry on for the cross country flight from Northern CA to Southern Florida (could a flight be any longer geographically?) to be constructed on site the day of the wedding... (her work on our wedding day was priceless and so meaningful.)

I continue to go back to the website for the most artfully presented event ideas and designs-gorgeous inspiration from tablescapes to invites to fashion.

Morning Coffee #6 : wasabi green + gray

This posting of Morning Coffee is inspiration for how a masculine metallic slate grey with wasabi green can look sleek, modern, even feminine with a pop of color and fresh plantings. This is the vision for our bathroom with black frames, brushed chrome fixtures and accent colors of bright green or yellow. I absolutely adore this tablescape from Friday's Green Wedding Shoes- Poppies are my favorites. I had heard the Antelope Valley, California Poppy Reserve in the Western Mojave Desert comes alive with color in the Spring. Poppies bloom late March to early May and comes to full blossom in warm sunshine and curls up in wind and cold---hmmm- sound familiar? Poppies are the perfect Spring bloom. Happy Spring.

Room Photo: desire to inspire, Inspiration board from Green Wedding Shoes

it's not easy being green.

We'll admit it. We don't use soy ink cartridges or have solar panels and probably never will. But we do buy in bulk (reduce packaging), have a compost pile (okay so we haven't used it since we tossed our Halloween pumpkins there- so it could very well be a pumpkin patch next year), will plant a raised veggie garden, recycle, have Lucy use both sides of the paper for artwork and try to carpool whenever we can (phew, seems like a lot when crafted into a run-on sentence.) Yes, we believe in it and it certainly is hip to be eco-chic but sometimes, as Kermit sang years ago, it is just not easy being green. Today- we can all be green in our own little way. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Pass the green beer and check out these beautiful green wedding images... baby steps.

photos: Top Inspiration Board courtesy of Ruby Press Bottom two images courtesy of Corbin Images and Potted Shamrocks from Red Envelope.

low and lovely.

Love the vibrant colors with the fresh fruit from frolic or potted plants (wheatgrass green against white is fresh and minimalistic. Beautiful photo from Brooklyn Bride). Casual, low groupings on a linen runner with flea market finds (vintage bottles and bowls) can be an elegant and economical decor solution.

branching out.

It became a joke when we (by we I mean my mom, sister and I) were wedding planning that I was a bit fixated on branches. To me, they are the perfect DIY project for weddings of all different styles. Often a less expensive and more dramatic or unique alternative to flowers with longer life than fresh blooms. Somewhere along the line I described wanting something "driftwoody and organic" for our beach wedding....never lived that term down. But alas, I found Nettleton Hollow--and the centerpiece with tulips was exactly what I was envisioning. From our bamboo ceremony canopy to the curly willow centerpieces to our manzanita branch wish tree- this is the go-to spot for everything branchy. Their blog has a fantastic DIY step-by-step resource site if you are feeling crafty and, well....branchy.