Wouldn’t you just love to be the party goers that get to walk up this path? I recently got to “meet”, via this wonderful blog world of ours, Kate Todd, the voice of the Party Resources blog. Kate is the daughter of renowned party planner Ann Perry Todd, a.k.a. “Dixie”.

As luck would have it, Kate invited me to be a guest on her blog and throw out a few of my favorite party ideas. I was very flattered and more than happy to oblige! I hope you have a chance to hop over and take a peek! Kate has been quite busy collecting great party ideas for all of us to try out ourselves. AND while you are at it….you will want to take a look at Dixie Todd’s website. So many spectacular parties! As we all know, it is no small feat to put together a party as beautifully as those shown on Party Resources. My party hat is off to Dixie and Kate!!!

Creme Brullee

Chocolate Covered Truffle Loaf Bundt Cakes and Cream Cheese Brownies

Cakes ready for Take Home

After I realized surrender was really the only option, I relaxed and enjoyed the clean and contemporary surroundings punctuated with an Asian flair. The restaurant had a relaxed feel, but I still felt like I was in a place where I would be pampered.

So….are you curious as to what we picked? Tim had huge self control and only ordered the Kiwi Lemonade (made with crushed Kiwi fruit….there were many other flavors as well….yum!).

That control seemed to fizzle as soon as my, and my daughter’s, desserts were brought to the table. My daughter had the chocolate croissant bread pudding.

I had the Nectarine Crostata. (I am a sucker for fruit desserts of any kind.) Tim dove across the table like it was his last meal. I literally had to move my plate out of reach before it was completely devoured. My poor daughter had to fend for herself at that point. Nothing comes between me and my dessert.

I can never get enough of gorgeous outdoor inspirations - especially when

there’s a gorgeous garden and greenery to go with it.  Isn’t the backyard

above just gorgeous?

The white curtains in the background are so romantic in the summer breeze.

The lavender fabric is also a perfect color to complement the surrounding

greenery.

Indoor lamps really make this gorgeous garden setting look polished and chic.

Chips and salsa on a barrel…

Colored glass vases make this garden pop.  At night, all you

need are some tea lights in the vases for it to give a soft

magical glow with color.

The fabric makes this dining area so cozy.  Candles really

top it off.  I can just imagine what this would look like at

dusk.

What a great difference just a pink runner an pink flowers can make!

Love the pillows on the hammock - it really creates

a pop of color and gives the scene an exotic look.

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Last week the Denham family was gone for a break in sunny San Diego and we took full advantage, packing a lot into a 7 day trip! It is a long drive to San Diego from Sacramento….it can take 8 hours on a good day. To break up the drive, we like to stop in San Juan Capistrano for a leg stretch and some dinner. On this trip, we tried a restaurant I had seen last time we were in town…..and right next door, I found THIS cute shop:

How lucky was that?! Studio Pink is an off-shoot of Whim Design and is all about the “pink”. Unfortunately for me, the shop was closed by the time we rolled into town (one less bathroom stop and we would have made it!), but I had fun peeking in the windows! And the storefront is adorable.

I did run across more info about Whim on the Fabulous Finds Gal blog, so hop on over for a look!! The pillows, the shell mirror, the pink gourd lamp, all so fun and flirty with the Pink walls as a backdrop.

I am peering through the windows taking pictures and when I am done……Tim had disappeared. I suppose pink is just not his color. More likely, he is just starving….so the girls and I hunt him down next door:

Diamond Baratta Design is a fantastic interior design

firm based in New York City.  This post shows selections

of their work in New York City from the magazine New 

York Spaces.  For those of you Turquoise, Teal or Blue

lovers, this is a great post for you.

Such a gorgeous rug and carpet!

Beautiful blues.

Pattern on Pattern.

Perfect way to match wall art to hardware 

(in this case the pendant light fixture.)

A pop of turquoise with brown.  Not a color combinaton

one would normally think of but it definitely works.

I’m a big fan of using photography as wall art.

This could have been such a drab space but 

Diamond and Baratta did no neglect it - 

instead they really dressed it up with glass

panel walls in blue.

If you like the aesthetics of Diamond Baratta designs,

you’ll really enjoy this book that has great samples of

their work.

So what was your favorite item or room?

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Yesterday, I promised to tell you what I received from my girlfriends on the trip to Lake Tahoe. One of the gifts was finding out that my friend Diane (the Master Gardener friend) is starting up a brand new company of hand blended herbs and spices!

Diane has a spectacular garden, which I have blogged about before HERE. She has been collecting rocks in the shape of hearts ever since moving to the lake…..so it was only natural that the name for her new company would be Heart Rock Herb and Spice Co.

Diane surprised us with a little herb and spice blending party of our own! We are all big “foodies” and cook a big dinner whenever we visit, so this was right up our alley. We got to recreate some of her recipes for ourselves! SO cool! Diane let us choose the blends, so we picked her Moroccan blend, her Herbs de Provence blend, the Malaysian blend and we had to try the Tahoe blend, of course.

Diane has sourced herbs and spices specifically for their freshness and is blending the spices per order right before they are shipped so that they are at their peak of fragrant flavor.

Fresh Herbs and Spices

It was so much fun getting to play with all of the ingredients….like the rose petals and lavender, which we used in the Moroccan blend, and the lemon grass and dill we used in the Tahoe blend.

There is so much information on Diane’s website HERE about all of the herbs and spices, and about how you can take advantage of all of the goodness yourselves! Diane not only has an array of cooking herbs and spices, but she has put together a delicious collection of room fragrance blends as well. (Part of our gift was a blend of the month club…..yes…..that means we are getting a new blend every month!!! Lucky or what?!)

Diane is donating 10% of her profits to two non-profit organizations she is passionate about:

Bread and Broth, a food program for the hungry of South Lake Tahoe where Diane is the Director, donating her cooking talents and direction, and also to the Thunderbird Gardens, where Diane is the Master Gardener/Garden Coordinator. Yes….Diane is one busy woman. She puts me to shame…..while at the same time inspiring me to do even more.

Diane I “heart” you too! You are my favorite Spice Girl!!!

A heart rock we found on our picnic at Thunderbird Lodge. Our Girl’s Weekend could not have held any more wonderful and coincidental little surprises!

I have been away a bit…..perhaps you have noticed? It has been a busy summer working with wonderful clients, weekend getaways and a vacation thrown in for good measure

A couple of weeks ago, I made a yearly jaunt with my friend Lori to spend the weekend with our long time friend, Diane at her Lake Tahoe home. On Saturday, we headed over to the Thunderbird Lodge, where Diane is the Master Gardener, for a picnic on the beach. Old Omar Khayyam had it right:

Lake Tahoe is known for is crystal clear waters, and Lori and I took full advantage jumping right in for a swim. Meanwhile, Diane uncorked the wine and got the party started.

After a couple of glasses of wine, it was obvious to us that the clouds had formed into a giant Thunderbird in honor of our visit. Can you see the full wingspread? And then there is the head at center.

Not more than a few minutes later, we saw original lodge owner’s, George Whittell Jr.’s, yacht, also named the “Thunderbird” motor up to the boathouse. It had been out ferrying people back from the Oscar de la Renta fashion show that had been taking place on the North shore of the Lake. If you want to see more about that fabulous show, check out Tartanscot’s blog HERE for another Lake Tahoe chic affair! (Although our little tete a tete was pretty chic, if I do say so!)

When we finished lunch we sauntered on over to check out the gardens and just happened to pass by the boathouse. Luckily, the captain and his mates were still there and let us in to have a closer look at this gem of a yacht. Truly a beauty to behold….all varnished wood and chrome buffed to a brilliant shine. Sigh…..it conjures visions of movie stars making their way across the lake to the infamous poker parties thrown by George in the 30’s and 40’s.


It is only fitting that this stunning bird should have just come from Oscar’s party! (Although I did hear that Oscar did not make an appearance! Ah..C’est la vie! There were still gift bags with sunny yellow umbrella’s and stationary!)

After our well deserved “Oh”ing and “Aw”ing, we said goodbye and headed up the hill for a garden tour and a visit to the Lodge.

There is always another thing of beauty to see on the grounds, some occur all by themselves:
And others are the result of Diane and her volunteers’ talented efforts.

…..but Blogger is being a bit pesky with letting me upload any more pictures. (Granted….I have got tons!) Apparently I am a tad “over my limit”. Not to worry….I have just requested more space, a “bigger room” if you will, but I have been informed that it will not be available until tomorrow. It seems the previous guest has not vacated said “room” and the staff has not had a chance to put the chocolate mint on my pillow quite yet. And then there is the bottle of champagne I ordered….

I look forward to showing you all my traveling adventures tomorrow!

Isn’t that a wonderful collection on the wall with a fantastic paint color for

the background?  This is Ben Brougham’s studio in New York City.  Ben 

is from over the pond (the UK) and is a prop stylist who moved to the Big

Apple 5 years ago.  He now also helps curate for Jonathan Adler stores.

Wall Paint = Benjamin Moore’s Surf Blue

Notice that he did not paint all the walls in the room Surf Blue.  This

is the other side to the bedroom.  As you can see Ben is quite the collector

with all sorts of collections from pillows to wall art, glass and much more.

You can see his mirror collection on this wall.

A wonderful image of the opposite wall 

through the view of one of his mirrors.

Ben also collects all sorts of rugs which he uses to completely cover

 the floor of his studio.  He scours Ebay among other sources to purchase

his rugs.  Exceptions are the Union Jack and Zebra rugs which are from 

Jonathan Adler.

Ben has some fantastic tips for collecting that he follows.

I love that the kitchen and hallway are painted in a dark color.

It really brings out the color of the paintings and other items

and fabric in the room.

Ben hangs his prized Liberty print bike on the wall.  You’ll notice that his drapes

are from IKEA but customized with vintage fabric.  That’s a great tip right there on

 a super economical way to dress up any window on a budget.

His collections are curated and displayed in groups.

Midcentury Modern Glass (which I collect as well)

Colored glass bottom vases and a vintage yellow straw phone.

Just a few of the types of items that Ben collects.

I love the different tiered night

stand and portraits on the wall.

My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living
Jonathan Adler

I hope you enjoyed Ben’s apartment and gleaned some 

ideas for collecting and displaying collections.  I do 

recommend Jonathan Adler’s book if you like interiors

that have a bit of whimsy and eclectic flavor.  Adler’s 

interiors or chic but fun at the same time.

So do any of you have collections?  I think I’m addicted

to collecting things (not good since I’m probably a hoarder.)

What sort of items do you collect?  I’ve dabbled in everything 

from vintage Christmas ornaments to mercury glass, midcentury

modern glass, vintage costume jewelry, tea cups, Fireking… I 

wonder of shoes, clothes and books also count as collections…

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I just fell in love with this image.  What a way to make 

the outdoors like a fantastical and wonderful place! 

Dining outdoors under stringed lights and candles?  Can 

it possibly get any more beautiful and romantic?

The countryside in England and the Cotswolds are definitely not overrated.

Who can resist the gorgeous country side and quaint villages that come 

straight out of history?  Many of the wealthy and stars like Madonna have

homes in the Cotswolds.

What a wonderfully plush and feminine room.  Beautiful

lighting in the room with gorgeous hardwood floors.

Who can resist a bed in a nook?  Not I…  When I was young, I loved

building tents indoors to sleep in.  This bed in a nook is absolutely

gorgeous.

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