Happy Easter!

A Ranunculus Bouquet I got from the farmer's market!

Happy Easter Everyone!   Enjoying a wonderful day with my family, I hope yours is wonderful too:)

Weekday Flower Arrangement

Pretty Pink Camelia

I can't believe the Camelias are already blooming.  Crazy nice weather!  I love good weather in January, but hate that the flowers are all going to be inevitably snapped by a cold snap!  So bring in all the flowers you can, while you can.

Happy Monday!

Tables around the house.

Verdegris via Moi

via moi

This is on my coffee table...this vinette gets changed up weekly.  I love it.  .A verdegris vase that I got at an auction a while back.  This piece has been moved all over the downstairs and seems to be happy where ever it lands....and white roses with vinca from my pots out front.  I love using vinca as a filler, and to my suprise it had these beautiful purple buds.  Oh, and an old, old book that goes well with the verdegris, and the fact that my table needs polishing:)

by moi

This is on my dining room table.  This bunch of small roses just spoke to me at the grocery store the other day.  I am loving the pink, orange, and red together.  It actually makes the fruit a bit more inticing...the kids have been trying to snag them...which is a good thing:)

via moi, excuse the lighting was taken this morning.

In the kitchen.  I felt like I could pick a few daffodils from outside since we have so many.  Usually I feel bad picking those pretty things from outside.  So there you have it.

Just a little spring inside.

Happy Hump day!

Snippets of Spring...

Camellias, Daffodils, and Winter Honeysuckle from my Yard.

 

ou have heard me moan and groan about the lack of cutting flowers in my new yard....well, I will groan no more! Being in the busy fog that I have been in, I almost forgot to look up and see what I really do have! Flowers, lots of them!!!!...Lucky for me, my bright eyed children gasped the other day
" MOMMY, LOOK AT ALL OF THE FLOWERS!!!!".  Camellias, and Daffodils, and Snowdrops, OH MY!!!  It seems like it is going to be a good spring after all:)

And keeping with the flower theme, her is a little snippet for My Little/Big Girl's room....I found this awesome fabric that I think will be the jumping off point.  It is painterly,(for my little artist) and bright,( for her personality) and screams Eliza to me.  (I am going to sit on it for a week to make sure I am not just having spring fever)...but I really think I can do alot with it.  Drapes and a Bedskirt....and all of the colors in between!!!

A New Mommy luncheon AND a New recipe.

White roses, baby's breath, and polka dots...couldn't get more baby than that!

I have had a few friends become mothers in the past few months and wanted to do something special for them. I had not yet met the little ones, and thought it would be fun to Celebrate their births and the girls launch into mommy hood with a special luncheon. It just makes me so happy to see them with their little ones. I got my fill of baby hands and feet and hopefully it was a nice couple of hours for the new moms...it was so fun hearing them discuss all of the "new mommy" things....I felt so far removed...Do you know how many products have been invented since my last one was born 4 years ago????  There is something called the Nap Nanny, and they have special boogie wipes....although the old fashioned bulb thingy still does a great job!

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it...from start to finish....I love setting the table and getting all of my fun stuff out. 

Here are the pics of the tablescape.  I used scraps of fabric and just ironed them under to make runners.  (pink AND blue).  A simple little flower arrangement of roses and baby's breath (of course.) And my collection of pink depression glass.  Oh, and I am such a dork I have to confess....there were only 4 moms but I had to set the table for 6 because 5 place settings didn't look right, 6 was symetrical and prettier:)

Mini quiches are easy to make, and I made a  couple different kinds....just in case of dietary constraints:)
One with spinach and mushrooms, and the other with aspragus, onion, and bacon.
TIP: Just saute the main ingredients and make the cream, milk, and cheese mixture separate....dispurse in the tins and then pour mixture over the top.

A small little gift on each place setting...
they are vintage napkins that I embroidered on my machine with the babies names and dates of birth

On the menu were mini quiches (2 different kinds) made in tart molds, a fresh salad, fruit salad, and cheesecake for dessert. Oh, and each of us had a mimosa....it was a celebration afterall:)  Simple and fun.

On to the cheesecake....now when my 21 year old brother stopped by later that afternoon and said "Gretchen, seriously WHAT is that cake you made, it is the bomb!, it is the perfect mix of citrus and cheese!" I knew I had to share the recipe.

Meyer Lemons really do live up to the hype!

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham crackers
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons sour cream 
• 1 tablespoons meyer lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh meyer lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh meyer lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Prep Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 2 hrs

1. *If you can't get Meyer lemons, mix equal parts fresh orange and fresh lemon juice to approximate their sweet fragrance and flavor.
2. Preheat oven to 325°; grease a 9-inch springform pan with 3-inch sides.
3. Crust: in a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter; press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.
4. Filling: in a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar on med-high speed for 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. 
6. Add in sour cream
7. Mix in zest, juice, and vanilla; pour over frozen crust.
8. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the top is light brown and the center has a slight jiggle to it.
9. Cool on the counter for 10 minutes (do not turn the oven off); the cake will sink slightly.
10. Topping: in a small bowl, combine sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla; pour mixture into the center of cooled cake and spread out to edges.
11.  Bake for 5 minutes more.
12. Cool on rack for 2 hours; cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.

I have to tell you it was DELISH!

A Luncheon Success.

Isn't the sterling beautiful??  Not mine, borrowed.

Do we ever grow out of tea parties?  I think not:)  When I was asked to help host a luncheon for a friend's very special birthday, I said "But of course!", not only to celebrate a milestone in a friend's life, but to have an opportunity to get all girley and bring out the "good stuff", get dressed up, make fun food, and have a cocktail at 10:30 in the morning (something I don't ever indulge in, thank you, especially on a Monday!!!)

I spent all  weekend preparing, cleaning, sewing (an opportunity to get those drapes up in the dining room!), preparing linens, ironing, all over frooffing of the house.  The the fun kind of preparing, not the drugery of everyday.  I HAD GUESTS!  This is my element, and I LOVE it!  To coin a new friend's word I was was all around Zhushing (even got a new dress for the occasion!) My husband says I am channeling Martha, I just might be, what is so wrong with that!

Anyway, on to the good stuff.

It all started with an invitation to set the color scheme...being a fan of navy and green I thought, what the heck? This is a design I did a while ago, and I thought it oh, appropo. 

THE INVITATION

THE TABLESCAPE

I just scored quite a few beautiful linens at an auction ($17.50 for a lot, woot!!) so it was fun to bring them all back to life. (the process on another post).  This table is a mix and match of old and new, fine linen and scraps.  I had an old piece of navy blue fabric, and I just ironed the ends under, something I have done tons of times to get color to a table without spending $$$.  The green is a cloth that has tons of spots on it, but with the overlay, and the plates, no one but me ever knew:)  Also, not everyone has full sets of silver, I know I don't.  So we mixed and matched, borrowed from mothers and mother-in-laws, and made it work.  You will find that friends and family are more than willing to let you use the good stuff.  At least it is being used and brought out of closets, and it comes back clean and polished!

Photos by moi.

Note to self remember to bring chair down from upstairs bottom right (luckily we had a noshow:)

Bring the party outside too, it didn't hurt that it was beautiful outside too.  The doors were opened and the conversation could flow freely, and every one was comfy and felt part of the party.  Just as I had imagined it when we added the porch off the dining room.

THE FLOWERS

I have a local wholesale florist that I like to work with, they have a big cooler and you just pick what you want. (my dream would be to go to the flower markets of chelsea, but Branhams in Columbia, SC works well too.  I spent $38 on flowers.  I bought 6 stems of mini hydrangeas, and 2 bunches of stock.  Keeping it simple and fresh and low.  Luncheons or dinners are not the times to bring out HUGE arrangements. No one likes to try to peer thru foliage at the person across the table from them!  I used silver juleps (2 borrowed one from moi,) and 3 vases I got for $14 at pier one.  It brought the element of blue to the table that was missing.  Very simple and pretty if I do say so myself.

 Notice the drapes in the background...funny how they have green and blue in them.  I told you I have been having a green and blue moment lately:)

We used little sterling peppers and salt cellars with the tiny spoons.  The tiny details. 
Borrowed.  But who doesn't like to use a salt cellar??

THE FOOD and DRINK

You can't have a luncheon without food. There is no need to blow a gasket when it comes to the menu. We broke up the tasks and it was totally doable.  A little bit of prep the night before, and 1 hour of cooking before and voila the food is done!  I will post these recipes later, really perfect for a luncheon.

Salad with Gorgonzola, pears, and candied pecans
(plated before the guests arrived)
Shrimp and Grits
(a southern favorite, if you haven't tried it you must!)
Cheese Biscuits
(the ones from the side of the bisquik box)
Fruit Salad
(yummy, yummy)

BIRTHDAY CAKE
(made by a guest who makes delish cakes as her gift)

Water
(with and without gas)
Mimosa's with Blood orange
Lemonade

We plated the salad before guests arrived, and it was already dressed...who wants to mess with dressing?

A little bit for everyone.  Having sliced lemons in the lemonade was another detail.  Having the mint although not used, made the drink tray really pretty.  We had regular water in glasses on the tables.

and coffee of course.!

No pictures of the shrimp and grits or cake, I put my camera down and forgot to take pics.  Sorry:(

I have to say the guest of honor was, well, honored.  You could tell she felt really special.  Every girl likes to be the princess at a tea party, and this was just the grown up kind.  The kind you really dream of when you are a little girl.    It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, I spent a total of $50 a little more than I would have spent on a gift, but the smile on my friend's face when she walked in the door was worth every ounce of effort...and the camaraderie I feel when doing this with friends is awesome, even cleanup is more fun, we chatted up a storm while polishing silver the day before and doing dishes after the party...and NOW our silver is polished and my house is clean, and I couldn't have done any of it without my friends.

THE END.

A sneak peak...

photo by moi.

t is party day.  Have much to do, but wanted to show you a sneak peak of the party.

Have a great day.

Missing my flowers....

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas, in a makshift vase (a scrap from a column on the back porch)  I really like using found objects as vases.  but  Please Ignore that my silver needs to be polished!

oooooooooo I had to borrow some.    I figured they were kind of poking into the street and needed a good trimming...  I was desperate, I had impromptu guests, and no time to go out  for flowers, no flowers on the table was NOT an option.  I know, I know what you are thinking....she STOLE flowers!!! Actually, it is my neighbor, and we are friendly, so no worries...I didn't ask at the time, but I knew they wouldn't mind....we are neighbors like that!

Once I get my garden going again (I mean we just moved in, first things, first)! ANYONE is welcome to come "borrow" my flowers too.  Aren't these oak leaf hydrangeas pretty, AND they last a long time, AND dry nicely...my neighbors are safe, for now!

Has anyone else ever had to borrow flowers or greenery, from the side of the road or from a neighbors garden????

Also, I am linking up to the Fabulous Blog Pure Style Home of Interior Designer Lauren Liess for her "from the yard (or borrowed) flower project.