Gift Guide for the Bar and Home

Continuing this week with more gift guides! Today I’m featuring gifts for bar and home- perfect for the hosts and foodies in your life!

1. As you may know, I LOVE astrology trinkets- these constellation note cards would make lovely birthday or thankyou notes!

2. The best candles are ones that last even once the wax is gone as beautiful jars you can use around the house.

3. I saw this cocktail book in a store on Charles Street- would make a perfect gift for anyone who is looking to shake up their drink repertoire (pun intended)! The book focuses on infusing each drink with seasonal flavors such as fresh ginger and summer plums.

4. While the summer season seems AGES away (seriously Boston? 21 degrees this morning??) this herb kit would make for a lovely gift- a promise of warm weather to come!

5. If you are gifting someone a bottle of wine, its always a nice touch to include a bottle opener or topper- and how festive is this gold bow???

6. For the foodie who has EVERYTHING- Fruit Chipotle Hawaiian Black Sea Salt. Who knew such things even existed!

7. Bitters. You either have them or you don’t. But most likely you never have them when you are looking to use them. This set has a great assortment of flavors

8. I once was at a party and one of the guests brought three dozen oysters as a gift for the host- weren’t they the best ever!?

9. Call me traditional, but sometimes the best gifts aren’t the fun novelty items but the treasures that you will have forever. While you probably would never go to a store and buy yourself a silver bowl- how pretty would one look say, by the front door so you can toss your keys in it, in the kitchen filled with lemons and limes, on a bookshelf filled with matchbooks, etc. And every time you notice it you think of it as the special gift it is!

Click the photos for links!

Gift Guide: for Her

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?? I can’t believe it is only two weeks away! With that, I’m bringing back my gift guides for nearly everyone on your list. Starting today with gifts fit for the pickiest princess. But some budget friendly items mixed in too!

1. SWANS. This beautiful coffee table book follows the jet set to beautiful parties around the world- perfect gift for your favorite society damsel or just a girl who wants to be one!

2. This cute Nina Ricci crossbody bag has the versatility to go from day to night. Not too small- not too big and the perfect colors to wear all year round.

3. Ray Bans Wayfarers never go out of style.

4. This makeup stick from NARS is the perfect item for the girl on the go to stick in her purse- works for eyes cheeks AND lips!

5. If this fur funnel scarf is half as warm/ snuggly/ luxurious as it looks then it is a must. Makes an equally beautiful accessory as it does warm winter necessity.

6. the best Balenciaga fragrance

7. While I have quite the collection of statement scarves- I have very few stand out necklaces. Recent research has led me to find Lauren Hope’s beautiful line of jewelery.

8. Pointy toe flats are the hot shoe style this season- and how can you not love these JCrew ones with rose gold toes!!

Click the images for links!

A Modern Thanksgiving Table

My favorite holiday is almost here! I am very excited for Thanksgiving this year because I will be spending all of next week home with my family. I don’t think I’ve had the luxury of a full week there since college!! I am already dreaming about our feast: new recipes to try, new drinks to mix up and OF COURSE a fresh new way to style the table. While last year my ideas were all about different color combinations- this year I am thinking more simple. Black, white, brown, gold. I want it to feel textural and rustic yet still edgy and modern. Of course I took to pinterest for some inspiration:

This is how I am envisioning pulling it all together:

How will you be setting the table?

2013 Halloween Costumes

I can’t believe that Halloween crept up on me so quickly! Probably because I still like to think its summer (wake up call: its not). Either way, time to start thinking about a costume! Today I decided to put together a list of some “culturally relevant” ideas for your enjoyment since last year’s list was such a big hit!

Its difficult to think of the biggest moments of 2013 that ALSO translate into a funny/ clever Halloween costume. And even if you come up with an idea, executing it so that you don’t have to explain who you are all night long is a whole other challenge! For example- lights out at the Superbowl, the NY Times review for Guy Fieri’s restaurant, Cronuts, etc- CLEVER- but how do you DO that? Here are a few ideas that I don’t think would be too hard to pull off:

Starting off, I thought it would be appropriate to do something scary. It IS Halloween after all. The show Walking Dead has everything you would want for a group costume- great characters from the show, and a team of horrifying zombies that can follow you around all night.

Daft Punk came out with their album Random Access Memories this year and it was an instant sensation. This CD was pretty much on repeat all summer in our apartment (and still is?) and I think the duo would make for an AWESOME costume. Maybe take old ski helmets and spray paint them gold and silver?

The MLB playoffs are in full swing, and there are so many players to dress as! I’m sure a lot of people in Boston are thinking: Big Papi with a Superman cape on (I mean, even a Yankees fan has to have some respect for that grand slam the other night) but the other star to emerge from that game is none other than Boston Police Officer Steve Horgan. Although good luck finding a friend to be Torii Hunter upside-down all night.

July seems like a faraway memory, but certainly we can’t forget the hoopla surrounding his Royal Highness Prince George. I’m certain some beautiful smiling brunettes with perfect blowouts will be walking around in blue polka dot dresses:

100% placing a bet that someone this Halloween will be dressed as Train Wreck Miley Cyrus- don’t forget your foam finger! (this would also make a great couples costume)

And the more clever (classier??) variation being Miley as Michelle Bachmann on SNL:

Just in case you missed the video its here.

and on that same note of the shutdown.. I’m certain there will be a few costumes of government employees:

Astronauts…Smokey the Bear…The Statue of Liberty….

with the key additional accessory being a big “FURLOUGHED” sign on the front

Have you thought about your costume yet??? I’d love to hear some more ideas!!

Easter Recap

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! I am exhausted today after hosting my first real dinner party in my apartment yesterday! It was really fun to pull out the fancy tablecloth and set a proper table, and of course to spend the day cooking! And then eating!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, mostly because it signifies the true start of Spring. So I really wanted to celebrate that! I tried to keep things fairly simple, but of course ended up going a little overboard. The table was a theme of blues, pinks and greens. I folded the napkins into cute rabbit ears and used hard-boiled eggs as placecards- then used napkin rings to prevent them from rolling off the plate. The result was whimsical but elegant:

For the food, I probably bit off a little too much to try to cook AND serve in my tiny kitchen. I went with a nontraditional choice of Brisket over an Easter Ham- but it ended up being a huge success. And everyone LOVED the chocolate Mouse- with freshly made whipped cream and raspberries.

The Menu

White Lillet Cocktails

Frisee, Radicchio and Fennel Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Braised Brisket with Bourbon Peach Glaze

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Mustard Mashed Potatoes

Chocolate Mousse

As you can imagine we were STUFFED by the end but it was all so worth it and the festivities lasted late into the night. Once everyone had gone I had a little time to unwind- finishing up the wine and tidying up the kitchen. I’m not gonna lie that the triumphant feeling at the end of the night is very addictive- I can’t wait until my next excuse to plan a party.