{valentine's gift guide}

I absolutely love Valentine's Day (like almost every other girl alive) and I feel pretty lucky that this year we get to spend the holiday in Paris (otherwise I would be hosting this party).  Here is a little gift guide of for all the last minute shoppers out there and the best part is everything is under $100 (so maybe you should probably get a few of them!):

1. Chloe Rose perfume- all the perfumes in this line are great, but this one is too perfect for Valentine's with the added rose notes and pink ribbon!

2.  Any gift from this list or otherwise must be accompanied by a beautifully written card on equally beautiful paper- any of these from Sugar Paper LA will do!

3.  Festive pink heels from ASOS - these feel like replicas of Barbie heels, but in a good way.

4.  Fun earrings that are sure to be different than anything she already ones.

5.  As with the card, no gift on this list should be given without a bottle of champagne to accompany it- Moet is one of my personal favorites- especially the Rose

6.  Pretty lingerie - if you can't figure out what direction to go with your gift, you can always count on lingerie.  I love this lace bralette or anything from this site or this one.

7.  Flowers- do not give her a sad bouquet of red roses on Valentine's day.  Take this picture or any one of these to a good local florist as early as possible before Valentine's and ask them to recreate it.  Here are some of my favorite florists in a variety of cities:

Los Angeles: Flower Girl LA or Bloem Hill

New York: Poppies & Posies or Violet & Verde

Chicago:  Four Finches or Hello Darling

San Francisco: Mums Floral Design or Natalie B Designs

Atlanta: Gertie Mae's

Dallas: Stems of Dallas

8.  I just recently added this book to my wishlist- even though I love a good macaron, I think the meringue is coming up quickly behind it as the new "it" dessert especially with companies like this popping up!

{our holiday cards}

Last year I used Minted to create our holiday cards and I was conveniently able to use one of our wedding photos since it was the Christmas following our April wedding.  This year I went the complete DIY route by designing the cards myself having them printed locally in Chicago.  I knew I wanted to take our holiday photo in front of the Chicago skyline so we opted to get a little dressed up and use North Avenue Beach for a quick photoshoot.

My handwriting is horrible so I always chose to fully print our return and recipient addresses since it doesn't take that much longer than handwriting them all.  I used the same envelopes from last year opted for the red version which I ordered from right here.  I am really happy with how simple this design turned out- especially the mix of the light mint green with the stark bright red seams on the envelopes.  Plus DIY-ing the whole thing saved money and allowed me to get exactly what I had in mind!

{gift guide: for the foodie}

1. Glass & Steel beverage dispenser- perfect for batch cocktails!

2. Beer Making Kit 

3. Libbey Mini Tasting Set - so they can act like a high end caterer at their next soiree

4.  Kitchen Scale- every cook needs one for the most accurate cooking!

5. Boos Block cutting boards - everyone could use a cutting board upgrade

6. Modernist Cuisine - the holy grail of cookbooks and the more affordable version they just released

7. Kitchen Stand for Ipad  - it beats using a ziploc bag which is what we do.

8. 3 months American Cheese delivery - its cheese delivered to their door- enough said.

9. Mythical beast Cheese Knives 

10.  Vintage cookware- especially retro Le Creuset because it always stands the test of time!

11. Shun knife set

12.  Food Magazine subscriptions- Food & Wine and Bon Appetit are my favorites!

13.  Truffle Salt- it's sort of like gifting people crack.

{holiday gift guide: for the ladies}

1. Napolean Perdis Make-up Brush Set - mostly because of the chic navy 

satin case it comes in...packing IS everything!

2. Asos Satin Pajamas  They are satin-enough said. 

3. Frends "Taylor" headphones - gold prism headphones- yes. please.

4. J. Crew Passport Cover in mint with gold foil - yes, I already purchased one for myself.

5. J. Crew Fan Earrings -tried these on in store the other day

 and they are gorgeous- along with the matching bracelet. 

6. Girly Throw Pillows

7. Kwiat Diamond Crossover ring - diamonds. always.

8. J. Crew quilted crossbody bag- my mom bought one of these for me in the 

black color for Paris and the leather is so incredibly soft!

9. Vanity Fair 100 Years book - great price for such a substantial gift!

10. Bond no 9 Saks For Her perfume - every single time I wear this

 I get asked by mutliple people what it is.

11. C. Wonder Black Quilted Flats - with a bow on it!

12. Simple notecard set from Sugar Paper LA

13. David Yurman Morganite & Diamond ring - because...well...diamonds.

14. Milly Feather Party Dress- have you ever seen a more perfect party dress in your life?!?!

15. Santi Beaded Miniaudiere - perfect compliment for that dresssss!

16. Jonathan Adler "secrets" Canister - girls have secrets.

17. Gigi New York embossed Ipad case

you can see all the past gift guide items on this pinterest board!

{an orchid arrangement for the holiday season}

This holiday season is already looking scary busy between hosting our families here in Chicago for Thanksgiving, holiday parties, some travel, lots of work and flying home for Christmas.  While I love to put together fresh arrangements for our dining table (like this one), I decided to take a little work off my plate for the coming weeks by putting together an orchid arrangement that I hope to last well through Christmas morning!

I have always loved the look of 4 or 5 smaller orchids planted in a large footed vase (like this or this) and while we do have the perfect vessel to achieve this look from ZGallerie I have never wanted actually fill it with dirt since we do use it often for champagne bottles at parties.  Last week on a Home Goods trip, I came across this silver metal drink bucket for a mere $29 (similar one here) and knew it would be perfect for making my orchid arrangement vision into reality.

I picked up a few different smaller orchids from my local Trader Joe's (you can also find these at your local flower store or even Home Depot for around $6 to $9 each) and a bag of orchid potting mix.  You will also need to pick up a small pack of stones (or steal them from your neighbor's yard- I won't judge) to allow for drainage at the bottom of the bucket.  I also topped the arrangement with some bright green moss- this part is totally optional, but I do think it brightens the arrangement while also hiding the unattractive orchid roots and weird look of the potting mix!

Whenever I buy orchids for our home they last for at least a month and I am hoping this arrangement will go for even longer.  I love the luxe look of the silver bucket and clean white orchids alone, but if you wanted to make it feel more "holiday" appropriate you could add a simple holiday ribbon around the rim of the bucket tied in a festive bow.  How amazing would this arrangement be as a special gift for a hostess or your family this Thanksgiving?!?

{4th of july party inspiration}

While I am excited to get the chance to spend another year in Huntington Beach for the 4th, I am a little sad to be missing the all out celebrations that Chicago and the midwest have for the holiday (I hear it's huge!).   In anticipation of a great day of bloody marys, bike rides, pool lounging and firework watching, I thought it would be fun to put together a little inspiration board for next week's holiday!

the attire: I love these breezy dress options from J. Crew (solid blue) & Indah (printed).  I will obviously be pairing it with my patriotic flower crown from last year (see a diy tutorial here), but if I didn't have that as an accessory I would definitely opt for the understated red/white/blue statement necklace from BaubleBar. 

the spread: I would definitely start the day out with our doctored up bloody marys and glasses of champagne from Chandon's seasonally designed bottle (although I liked last year's design better!) and in the afternoon I would serve blueberry and blackberry caipirinhas.  In addition to the normal grilling fare of hamburgers and sausages, I think Joy the Baker's pretzel dogs would make for a fun snack.  Berries make it so easy to create a patriotic themed dessert like these mini trifles, but if I didn't have time or energy to whip those up I would just stick a sparkler in some ice cream and call it a day!

the activities:  The fourth is definitely not one of those type of holidays to be overly planned.  Our day will most consist of lounging poolside and then watching the fireworks on the beach at night, but we might venture out on bikes to see the parade in our hometown. 

Hope you all have wonderful plans in store for next week's holiday!

{our holiday cards}

You might remember the holiday cards I reviewed for Minted back in this post.  While I did end up using Minted to print our holiday cards, we actually ended up using their "Big Picture" design with allows you to upload you own full bleed photos to both sides.  As with many people around the holidays, we had the best intentions to take a real photo for the card with the Chicago skyline in the background or something festive, but time got the best of us.  We decided to simply use one of our favorite wedding photos and then get a little more creative with the back of the card...

{scenes from thanksgiving}

This year we hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner at our place in Chicago.  My parents and one of my girlfriends flew out from California to spend the holiday with us which made it extra special.  Here are a few snapshots from the dinner:

 {banner made from this Rifle Paper garland kit}

 {the floral arrangements- see the breakdown in this post}

 {extra letters from the banner kit doubled as "placecards" on the back of each seat}

 {simple printed menu- we ended up making the most amazing pumpkin souffles for dessert instead}

{my parents sent along a case of Benziger's best wine to enjoy with dinner}

{amaryllis & paperwhite bulbs for the holidays}

Growing up I always remember my mother putting together amaryllis and paper white bulbs around late October/early November to display around our house for the holiday season.   When I moved out into my first place in San Francisco, my mother sent me care package filled with bulbs and all the supplies needed to plant some for my new home.  Every year since then, she sends along all the supplies for what has grown to become a long time holiday tradition.  Today I wanted to share with you the very simple yet rewarding process of planting these bulbs for the upcoming holidays.  The cost of these bulbs is low and you should be able to find them at your local garden supply or Home Depot- I have also spotted them in "kits" at Target or Trader Joes.  The ease of putting these together makes them a great hostess gift throughout the holiday season as well!

The process for planting either paper white or amaryllis bulbs is basically the same.  You can use practically any ceramic pot or glass vase you might have around so long as the bulb/bulbs can fit their width in it.  The key with bulb success is making sure not to completely submerge the bulb in water or dirt, but to plant it so that the majority of the bulb is visible above the moss in your container.  If need be place rocks or pebbles in the bottom of your container to get the bulb as high as you would like.  Use moss to anchor the bulb in your container.  Fill the entire container with water, let it sit for a few minutes and then drain all the water out by holding the bulb/moss/pebbles while tipping the container to its side.  This should be the extent of watering your bulb will require.  These potted bulbs can be placed anywhere in your home- they do not require a specific amount of sunlight!  You may want to add water and drain it once more in a few weeks if your home is very dry from air conditioning or weather.

Paperwhites and amaryllis make for great hostess gifts since they are pretty and require little effort on the part of the person you are gifting them to!  Simply plant the bulb into a nice ceramic container following the directions above and attach a cute tag like this sticker tag from Rifle Paper I recently picked up on a trip to Paper Source:

While normally I would show you the end result of planting these bulbs, if I waited that long to share it with you then you wouldn't have time to plant some for yourself!  So here are some photos of what you can hope to achieve.  While the amaryllis is my favorite because it is so dramatically beautiful, I also thoroughly enjoy the strong scent that paperwhites will fill your rooms with:

 {amaryllis}

{paperwhites}

{friday cocktail: pumpkin fizz}

Even though the month of October ended yesterday, pumpkin is still very much a viable ingredient all the way through November so I figured...let's make some cocktails with a little pumpkin!  I discovered this recipe, along with a ton of other great cocktail recipes, on the Kitchen Konfidence blog.   This is one of the few vodka recipes I have made on this blog and you could easily switch out the spirit on this recipe for a spiced rum or even a bourbon.  I love the seasonal taste of the pumpkin in literally everything and while i enjoyed this cocktail, it definitely lends itself to more of a carbonated smoothie taste than a stiff drink!  I added a few dashes of cardamom bitters to give this drink a little interesting spice.  I would also recommend a tiny punch of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon to garnish!

The two lucky winners from last Friday's Julibox giveaway are:

**Rachel Jass**

**Leigh Kozak**

Congrats you guys! You will be contacted via email shortly!


Cheers!

{friday cocktail: the blackthorne}

 In honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, I knew we had to try out a cocktail with Irish Whiskey.  Last year we celebrated St Patrick's with a dinner party and a very appropriate cocktail, Irish Coffee.  This year's cocktail is twist on a very classic cocktail out of the The Savoy Cocktail Book from the 1930s, The Blackthorn.  You can see the other variations of the cocktail and some history behind it here. 

Cheers!

{valentine's gift guide}

Here's a quick little Valentine's gift guide for all you last minute 

shoppers with a little something for every type of girl.

{Ladies- if you are looking for a gift for your man then 
I suggest checking out my holiday gift guide from December here.}

1. sequin "LOVE" sign

2. ruffly Badgely Mischka Randall peep toes

3. peony lace Robert Rodriquez Shift dress

4. lace & silk lingerie shorts

5. polka dot honeydew bralette

6. macarons from Bottega Louie

7. vintage pink glass champagne coupe, set of 4

{plaid party invites}

One of my favorite parts of hosting a big party at our place is designing and sending out real invites.  Our plaid party is coming up and I knew I wanted the invites to be simple, but still quirky and fun.  I took a lot of inspiration from this image on Pinterest and whipped up this invite using some fonts from dafont.com.  The envelopes were purchased on amazon and I used the leftover Kraft sticker sheets from our Save The Dates for the envelope address wraps.  We normally print out the invites ourselves as well, but Columbia printing did such a great (and reasonable!) job on our Save the dates that we went back to them for these as well.   

{diy christmas ornament garland}

During the after christmas sales last year, my mom  picked up a bunch of gold ornaments which we intended to make ornament wreaths out of (like this). But then, I came across this image on Pinterest and I knew it would be an even better project for the ornaments.  While I still love the wreath idea, the diy ornament garland fits in our loft since most people in our building don't do a lot of decorating on their hallway doors.  This project was surprisingly easy. You will barely even need to pay attention to what you are doing (in fact, I completed these two garlands in about 30 minutes while watching a movie).  What really makes this project look good is making sure that you have a variety of ornament sizes and textures.  I would suggest at least three different sizes of ornaments and two to three different textures like glitter, metallic, frosted, etc.

What you need:

• 30 to 40 large ornaments (3" to 4" diameter)
• 30 medium ornaments (2" diameters)
• 20 to 30 small ornaments (1" ornaments)
• 1/2 wide ribbon

Simply string ornaments onto the ribbon in a random pattern of the different sizes. As you push the ornaments closer together they will begin to form the "cluster" look.  Continue placing ornaments until you achieve the desired length.