{our new years cards}

Ever since we have been married, I started sending out holiday cards (see 2012 here and 2013 here).  It wasn't so much prompted by the fact that we were married, but more so because the first holiday season after we got married was shortly after we moved to Chicago and I conveniently had nice high resolution wedding photos to use.  This year December was insanely busy for us and while I could have still made it time to get out holiday cards to our friends and family before Christmas Eve, I just wasn't that excited by the idea of rushing it.  Plus, I love celebrating the New Years Eve and the fresh start of a brand new year so sending out Happy New Year cards just sounded like a lot more "us."

I usually like to design the invites myself and have them printed locally at my fave printer in DTLA, but as I stated previously time was not my biggest asset this holiday season so I looked to Paperless Post's real paper options since I am obsessed with pretty much every single one of their digital invites.  Obviously I filtered it to only show me the options that came with gold foil...because when gold foil is on the table that's the only option there is. Period.  I toyed around with a few options for photos and since Muji refused to cooperate this year he got cut. (sorry muji!) I loved the way the black and white photo really made the gold foil pop even more so even though my dress was a banging holiday red I choose to lose the style points in favor of artistic points with the crisp B&W filter.

I've always loved those little details that make paper goods special whether it's a kick-ass liner (ahem Palm Leaves #humblebrag) or small enclosure cards like this one from the beer tasting invites I designed (I'm clearly in the mood to be patting myself on the back right now eh?).  In spirit of adding a little something extra to the cards (and also because I had a sweet coupon code!) we decided to add in a little 3" by 5" envelope with a cocktail recipe to ring in the new year!  I went with the extra thick paper on the recipe card and it was truly worth every penny so if you ever end up ordering anything through Paperless Post then...treat yo self!

I think I've discussed our holiday cards in way more detail than is truly necessary so I'll stop here and let ya check em out below including some awesome outtakes that landed on the virtual cutting room floor.

Happy New Year!

{this little envelope just kills me. in a good way.}

 {2015...the year of drinking}

and now...the outtakes...

 {strategically placed gold foil to preserve muji's dignitiy}

 {loved this one so much and was like 2 seconds from ordering it but it was a bit too candid}

{maybe next year muji will decide to be a part of this family}

{new year's eve party dresses}

New Year's Eve might just my favorite holiday of the year- it's probably the only holiday where you can get away with being ridiculously overly dressed in something glitzy and glamourous plus champagne flows all night long!  So why not use this chance to wear a really fun frock.  

Here are some of my faves (especially #1!):

1. Nasty Gal Angel Cape Dress

2. Model Gabby Sequin Dress 

3. ASOS Cami Dress

4. BCBG Tulle Insert Dress

5. Cynthia Steffe Leather Look Dress

6. Nasty Gal Stained Glass Dress

7. ASOS Slit Gown

8. ASOS Neoprene Dress

9. Sparkle & Fade Jumpsuit

10. Jill Stuart Gold Sequin Strapless Dress

11. Red Valentino Peplum Dress

12. Three Floor Model Behavior Frock

{party inspiration: nye}

Right now most people are centered on gift shopping, holiday parties and traveling home for Christmas, but you can't forget about planning a little New Year's Eve party or it will sneak right up on you while you are still enjoying your new Christmas presents!  Using Target's new celebration glassware form Threshold as inspiration, I created this NYE party inspiration using a muted palette of classic white and gold mixed with dove grey and a dusty vintage peach/rose.  For NYE last year, we went crazy with the color scheme (see photos from that party here and the inspiration here) so this time around I wanted to try a complete 180!  Be sure to check back tomorrow as I have some very exciting news about where I will be spending this NYE! :)

Cheers! Hi Ball glasses  |  Cheers! Old Fashioned Glasses  |  Confetti Cocktail Shaker  |  Classic Champagne Flute

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Target via Glam Media. The

opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of 

the opinions or positions of Target.

{a new years eve dinner party}

New Years Eve is one of my favorite holidays- probably because it's a holiday that requires getting dressed up and I'll practically take any excuse I can get to throw on some sequins.  If you saw my inspiration board earlier this week, then you know that we decided to throw a little dinner party on new years eve for 11 of our closest friends.  Everyone came dressed in their best, we served light appetizers, sat down for dinner around 9:30 and then rang in the new year followed by a very southern California late night pool sesh!

Originally I had wanted to try to re-create this party for the decor of our NYE dinner, but many of the elements I would have needed to execute this theme well were back in our Chicago place.  After spotting this Monte Carlo NYE boxed set at Moskatel's, I decided the loud color scheme would be perfect for an extra vibrant table setting.  I picked up a few yards of silver sequin fabric to use as a tablecloth and gold chargers to make each place setting really pop.  Details on some of the other smaller table elements are under some of the photos below.

We discussed different menu options for a while, but ended up going with a classic steak frites with filet mignon topped with herbed compound butter served alongside white truffle fries with garlic aoili and sauteed cauliflower with romesco.  We started the meal with our our go to Kale Caesar salad and ended with a trio of mini ice cream sandwiches. There is no better New Year's Eve (or any night for that matter) than one surrounded by great food, champagne and close friends.  Hopefully there is some truth to theory that how you spend your New Year's Eve indicates how the rest of your year will be because if it is then 2013 is looking like it's going to be pretty great... 

 {I threw together this backdrop using 2 packs each of gold metallic and white tissue fringe as well as 1 pack each of silver metallic and purple metallic fringe.  I simply cut pieces of the garland and arranged it in messy strips that I stapled onto on old sheet.  I also couldn't pass up picking up two of these awesome champagne bottle balloons}

 {NYE crowns from the boxed set, gold chargers from Sur La Table & custom menus I created}

{I re-purposed a box of silver Christmas crackers by using them as placecards with each guest's name printed on regular copy paper then adhered around the cracker with some spray adhesive}

 {Cheers coasters from Sugar Paper LA}

 {Raspberries for cocktails and champagne displayed in a vintage martini glass}

 {two batches of make-ahead Manhattans in vintage decanters}

 {one of my new favorite frozen appetizers from Trader Joe's}

 {frozen mini Eggos paired with box of KFC's popcorn chicken and a light drizzle of maple syrup created a mini take on "Chicken & Waffles"}

 {a little herbed compound butter never hurts anything}

 {guest's resolutions that we burned in the fire right before midnight}

 {for dessert we served a trio of mini ice cream sandwiches. from left: Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Sugar cookies with strawberry ice cream, Oreo Cakester cookies with dirty mint chip ice cream, and Trader Joe's soft baked Chocolate Chip cookies with Ducle de Leche ice cream.  This dessert is so easy to make and is always a crowd pleaser.  You can prepare the sandwiches hours ahead of time, pop them back into the freezer and then remove them 5 minutes before you want to serve.  Always make sure to get soft baked cookies- plus a little sparkler never hurts}

{my girlfriends and I with our favorite prop of the night- a gigantic glass champagne flute that we filled with an entire bottle of champagne!}

{new years eve dinner party inspiration}

This New Year's Eve, Chris' parents offered up their house in Huntington Beach for us to host a dinner party at while they are out celebrating the New Year in Palm Springs. Rather than have a stressful night out on the town, we quickly jumped at the chance to have a dressed up evening in alongside our closest friends.  Here's a little inspiration board I put together for the night and Ill be sure to share photos later this week.

Happy New Year!