Vintage Pretties

Girl's Night Out Book Exchange Party

It's been a busy week so far, with Valentine's Day on Tuesday, Hope's picture day on Wednesday, two grad school projects and volunteering.  It's good, though.  It's so wonderful to see Hope so excited about holidays and creating memories that I know that she will have for a lifetime.

Last weekend, I hosted a girl's night out book exchange at my house.  Everyone brought a few books or magazines that they no longer wanted and everyone got to take a few home.  I provided a buffett of mini desserts (so that everyone could try a bit of everything!) and a coffee and cocoa bar with a variety of add-ins. As a favor, I made up simple bookmarks with an image of a Victorian woman reading. 

The best part was being able to share time with my girlfriends without the obligation of children or distraction of spouses/boyfriends.  We laughed so hard and everyone agreed that we need to have more girls nights.

2010 Holiday Party

Our home was aglow Saturday night with candles,

abundant in food,

filled with dressed up children snatching cookies when mom & dad weren't looking,

and warm with good friends.

Such a good night.

Annual Ladies' Tea

Every year, my friend Margot hosts a ladies' holiday tea at a fine hotel in DC.  It is a treasured time for all of us to get together & have girl's time in the midst of the craziness of the holidays.

Today was the day & it was so much fun.  Lots of sweets & caffeine made us one giddy group.  That & it is the day of the Kennedy Center Honors & the location of the tea (the Madarin Oriental Hotel) is a hub for many of the attendees.  We were on the look out for celebrities and were not disappointed!

We saw:

Alec Baldwin...he looks in person just like he does on tv...my friend claims that I was so excited to see him that my nudge to her was more like a jab, but I think that she exaggerates... ;)

John Lithgow...he was immediately recognizable...again, looks in person just as he does on television.

John Travolta...OK, I admit it, I only saw the back of his head.  I was taking the photo at the top of this blog entry when he was walking by.  The girls assured me that it was indeed him.

Merle Haggard...he is one of tonight's honorees at the Kennedy Center.  I admit, I didn't recognize him, but I was told that I was looking at him.

Forrest Whitaker...saw him just as we were leaving...his wife was in a stunning gown.

I was slightly disappointed, as I'd hoped to see more female celebrities..Oprah is being honored & we hoped that we'd catch a glimpse.  But, truly, the best part was enjoying time with my girlfriends.

*****

All photos of celebrities were found on the internet:
#1- connect.in.com, #2- anthonycovino.blogspot.com, #3- thelmagazine.com, #4- metroactive.com (photo by Piper Ferguson), #5- people.com (photo by Michael Buckner)

300th Post Give Away!

Every blogger says it when they hit their 300th (or 500th or so on) post, "I can't believe I've written 300 posts!".  Isn't it the truth?  I started blogging in late December of 2006, after a year of being a frequent visitor & commenter on many other blogs.  I felt like I had something to contribute to the community that had given me so much.  My blog has changed somewhat over that time, but one thing is the same -- the blogging community still makes me feel like there are others out there like me & continues to inspire me.

As a way of giving back to you lovely blogging friends, I'm hosting a give away!  It has two components.  First, some wonderful little things to make your day brighter:

A faux mercury glass votive holder from Anthropologie, a tin of french candies, a small bar of Mistral Lait soap, & a tin of old fashioned Rosebud Salve.

The other component is a package of gorgeous vintage wallpaper, ranging in age from the 1940s to the 1960s:

All that you need to do is to leave a comment by midnight Friday the 14th & tell me which package you would like to win -- the items in the first photo or the wallpaper.  While you are here, take a look around!  I love, love, love new blogging friends.  

I will choose two winners, one for each package.  Good Luck!

I Heart Little Girl Clothes

I have been going on a sale shopping spree in the past few weeks, scooping up all of the darling girl's clothing that are on winter clearance. I started at Gymboree:

Check out that adorable fair isle snowflake collar!

The leggings have little "sprinkles" on them, like on top of the cupcake!

I know, there are sparklies on all of these.  I love my girly-girl clothes!!!

Look what I found on clearance at an adorable local children's clothing/toy store:

When Hope saw it, she loved it!!! I sort of wish that I could get away with wearing bell bottoms with flowers on the cuff.  I'll have to be satisfied with seeing Hope in them.

Hopie's wardrobe for next winter is already off to a good start!

******
I haven't been doing much in the way of decorating around the house or crafting because I was readying myself for a scrapbook crop that I attended on Sunday. A sweet woman from work is part of a scrapbook club in her neighborhood & invited a few of us to crop with her. I try to be so organized before these things & plan out the arrangement for every page, placing all of the photos, papers & embellishments for each page in a large plastic envelope.  The crop was a lot of fun but, despite my significant preparations, I only finished 3 pages!  I think that we were having too much fun talking & eating :)

Having said that, decorating of a sort is going on in my house, without me actually participating (or, with minimal participation on my part).  We have had really awful wallpaper in our upstairs hallway & stairs since we moved in 7 years ago, but couldn't do anything about it ourselves because of the way that the walls are around the stairs.  We just don't have the proper equipment to reach the walls safely, without tumbling down the stairs!  So, after 7 years, we have a contractor here this week, removing the wallpaper & painting the hall!  The only participation on my part was assisting in the selection of the paint color (Cream -- Martha Stewart "Diploma") & of course, the payment!  We are so excited for everything to look fresh & new.

I Heart Little Girl Clothes

I have been going on a sale shopping spree in the past few weeks, scooping up all of the darling girl's clothing that are on winter clearance. I started at Gymboree:

Check out that adorable fair isle snowflake collar!

The leggings have little "sprinkles" on them, like on top of the cupcake!

I know, there are sparklies on all of these.  I love my girly-girl clothes!!!

Look what I found on clearance at an adorable local children's clothing/toy store:

When Hope saw it, she loved it!!! I sort of wish that I could get away with wearing bell bottoms with flowers on the cuff.  I'll have to be satisfied with seeing Hope in them.

Hopie's wardrobe for next winter is already off to a good start!

******
I haven't been doing much in the way of decorating around the house or crafting because I was readying myself for a scrapbook crop that I attended on Sunday. A sweet woman from work is part of a scrapbook club in her neighborhood & invited a few of us to crop with her. I try to be so organized before these things & plan out the arrangement for every page, placing all of the photos, papers & embellishments for each page in a large plastic envelope.  The crop was a lot of fun but, despite my significant preparations, I only finished 3 pages!  I think that we were having too much fun talking & eating :)

Having said that, decorating of a sort is going on in my house, without me actually participating (or, with minimal participation on my part).  We have had really awful wallpaper in our upstairs hallway & stairs since we moved in 7 years ago, but couldn't do anything about it ourselves because of the way that the walls are around the stairs.  We just don't have the proper equipment to reach the walls safely, without tumbling down the stairs!  So, after 7 years, we have a contractor here this week, removing the wallpaper & painting the hall!  The only participation on my part was assisting in the selection of the paint color (Cream -- Martha Stewart "Diploma") & of course, the payment!  We are so excited for everything to look fresh & new.

May Happenings

Greetings! I'm finally back after a hiatus.  Not an intentional hiatus, but before I knew it, it was the end of May.  We have been busy, busy, busy!  First, my parents were here.  Then, our friends from Indiana came for a visit.  You may remember the wife as my friend who bakes & decorates the most gorgeous cakes (February 12, 2007 blog entry that Typepad won't let me link to at the moment).  She completely inspired me to start baking more.  Since she left, I've purchased this:


And this:
I'm going to try out the Paula Deen Boston Cream Cupcakes this weekend.  Our officemates are the happy recipients of many of these baked goods.  We try a few servings & then get them out of the house!

After Leslie & Brian left, my sister & brother in law came for a fun-filled visit.  They just about ate up Hope...Cue to a gratuitous Hope photo....

I also have been reading a lot.  My recent reads:

So, so gorgeous.  I'm a fast reader & I made myself put it down so that I could savor it for awhile longer.  Also, The Interpreter of Maladies by the same author.  It's a collection of short stories & I normally do not like short stories.  But, I Loved these.  Again, as with The Glass Castle, I urge you to read these books if you have not.  I've been very lucky recently to have come across a few authors who have that incredible rare gift of taking the ordinary words that comprise our language & craft them into art.

I'm resting up this weekend, after a month of being hostess.  I purchased the peony that is pictured above on the way home tonight.  Peonies are one of my very favorite flowers & they only last such a short time each season. I wish that I could send their scent to all of you over the web. Just heavenly.

May Happenings

Greetings! I'm finally back after a hiatus.  Not an intentional hiatus, but before I knew it, it was the end of May.  We have been busy, busy, busy!  First, my parents were here.  Then, our friends from Indiana came for a visit.  You may remember the wife as my friend who bakes & decorates the most gorgeous cakes (February 12, 2007 blog entry that Typepad won't let me link to at the moment).  She completely inspired me to start baking more.  Since she left, I've purchased this:


And this:
I'm going to try out the Paula Deen Boston Cream Cupcakes this weekend.  Our officemates are the happy recipients of many of these baked goods.  We try a few servings & then get them out of the house!

After Leslie & Brian left, my sister & brother in law came for a fun-filled visit.  They just about ate up Hope...Cue to a gratuitous Hope photo....

I also have been reading a lot.  My recent reads:

So, so gorgeous.  I'm a fast reader & I made myself put it down so that I could savor it for awhile longer.  Also, The Interpreter of Maladies by the same author.  It's a collection of short stories & I normally do not like short stories.  But, I Loved these.  Again, as with The Glass Castle, I urge you to read these books if you have not.  I've been very lucky recently to have come across a few authors who have that incredible rare gift of taking the ordinary words that comprise our language & craft them into art.

I'm resting up this weekend, after a month of being hostess.  I purchased the peony that is pictured above on the way home tonight.  Peonies are one of my very favorite flowers & they only last such a short time each season. I wish that I could send their scent to all of you over the web. Just heavenly.

Let Me Entertain You

This weekend was all about parties! A dinner party, a birthday party & a baby (shower) party.  We hosted two couples for a small dinner party on Saturday night.  It's been awhile since we've had a grown up dinner, so it was quite fun to put the table together.  I made a little centerpiece of roses & tulips (above) and pulled out some of my etched glasses.

The birthday party was for a friend's kid at a play room at a local rec center.  I had nothing to do with the planning or decorating of that party, but it did produce this super-cute photo:

On Sunday, I was in charge of decorations for a friend's baby shower.  She isn't a very "cutesy" person, so I wanted to keep the decorations as sophisticated as possible.  I took my new apothecary jars & filled them with lemons & rosemary and made a "baby" glittery "banner" for a wreath that I already had.  I love how it all worked out.


Maybe one of these days, I'll be as amazing at this party thing as Tracey.  I'm having fun getting there!

Let Me Entertain You

This weekend was all about parties! A dinner party, a birthday party & a baby (shower) party.  We hosted two couples for a small dinner party on Saturday night.  It's been awhile since we've had a grown up dinner, so it was quite fun to put the table together.  I made a little centerpiece of roses & tulips (above) and pulled out some of my etched glasses.

The birthday party was for a friend's kid at a play room at a local rec center.  I had nothing to do with the planning or decorating of that party, but it did produce this super-cute photo:

On Sunday, I was in charge of decorations for a friend's baby shower.  She isn't a very "cutesy" person, so I wanted to keep the decorations as sophisticated as possible.  I took my new apothecary jars & filled them with lemons & rosemary and made a "baby" glittery "banner" for a wreath that I already had.  I love how it all worked out.


Maybe one of these days, I'll be as amazing at this party thing as Tracey.  I'm having fun getting there!