Entertaining Tricks No9 & No10

 

It's been a little while since we've highlighted an entertaining trick, and we need to fix that!  We've covered the most important (and super obvious!) in the past but a few other things have jumped out to me lately. 

How to | Throw a Derby Party like a Local

You guys probably already know we're big fans of the Derby, especially mint juleps! We've talked about the style and cocktails before and today we're so excited to have a Kentucky native, Emilee from Dot & Bo, with us to show us how to throw a Kentucky Derby party just like a local. Take a look below...

We at Dot & Bo love a good party. Especially when it comes with some sort of festive theme. And when bourbon gets involved? Be still, our beating hearts!

So you can only imagine how excited we get each year when the first Saturday in May rolls around. Better known as “Derby Day,” this is the perfect time to gather friends, get a little gussied up, and sip mint juleps in front of the TV as the world’s top 3-year old racehorses compete for the sport’s ultimate prize. The race itself is thrilling - they don’t call it the “Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” for nothing! - but the real fun comes from the just-as-storied tradition of throwing a Derby Day bash. And with a Kentucky native on our editorial staff, we have the inside scoop on how to throw such a soiree like a Louisville local.

Step 1: Set the Scene

The Derby is nicknamed “The Run for the Roses” because of the blanket of red roses draped over the winner after he or she crosses the finish line. This is why we suggest decorating with red roses to match.

You don’t have to go nuts. A small arrangement of red roses in a simple vase or even a silver julep cup will set the tone nicely. If you want to take the look in a more rustic direction, use clear mason jars.

Other décor ideas? Anything equestrian will do. After all, there’s a horse race involved.

Step 2: Dress the Part

One of the perks of Derby Day is the chance to wear a festive hat. I mean, when else do you get the opportunity?

Massive sun hats, tiny fascinators, novelty Derby-themed hats…it all works. Pair your hat with a floral frock or other spring attire, and you’ll be looking Derby-ready in no time.

Step 3: Mix up the Mint Juleps

You can’t celebrate the Derby without a mint julep in hand. The popular drink is made with bourbon, Kentucky’s trademark spirit. Did you know that 95% of all bourbon is made in Kentucky? Our favorite is Woodford Reserve, but there are dozens of local distilleries churning out delicious options.

Here’s how to make the refreshing libation, the Churchill Downs way:

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Sprigs of fresh mint

Crushed ice

Bourbon

Julep cups

Make simple syrup by boiling water and sugar for approximately five minutes. Then infuse it with mint by cooling it overnight in a covered container with six to eight springs of fresh mint.

When it’s party time, make each mint julep individually. Simply fill a julep cup with crushed ice. Add 1 tablespoon of mint syrup, and then 2 ounces of bourbon. Stir rapidly to frost outside of cup. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Insider Tip: If the drink is too strong for your preference, you can add soda water to temper it a bit. Just don’t tell anyone we told you that.

Step 4: Serve the Hot Browns

A hot brown is the best possible kind of sandwich. Served open-face, it piles turkey and tomato slices, smothered in hot, melty cheese, and topped with crisp bacon. Trust us when we say no finer combination exists.

Here’s how to cook up the signature sandwich, made famous by Louisville’s own Brown Hotel, and keep your guests full and happy.

1 ½ tbsp. salted butter

1 ½ tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups heavy cream

¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese – plus extra for garnish

Ground nutmeg

Salt & Pepper

14 oz. sliced roasted turkey breast

4 slices of crusty country bread

4 slices bacon

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

Paprika

Parsley

In a two-quart saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined to form a thick paste or roux. Continue to cook roux for 2 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk heavy cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino-Romano cheese until the sauce is smooth. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

For each Hot Brown, place one slice of bread in an oven safe dish and cover with 7 oz. turkey. Arrange two slices of tomato on top of the turkey. Pour half of the sauce over the dish, completely covering it. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove and cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley and serve immediately.

(Makes 2 Hot Browns)

Step 5: Slice the Chocolate Chip Walnut Pie

This traditional pie is impossibly easy to bake, but you’d never know when you bite into it. Like a chocolate-y walnut-studded chocolate chip cookie in pie form, it’s the ultimate crowd-pleasing dessert.

Note: It’s technically known as Kentucky Derby Pie, but the name is trademarked (along with the exact recipe). This is our take, and trust us, it’s pretty darn close. Here’s how to cook up one for your party.

½ cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup melted butter

2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 pre-made pie crust (shh don’t tell)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the eggs and butter, then mix to combine. Stir in bourbon, walnuts, chocolate chips, vanilla, and salt. Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool before serving.

Step 6: Make a Friendly Wager

If you were celebrating Derby Day at the track, you’d likely place a few bets. Bring the tradition home with a friendly Derby pool. Here’s how to get it started.

Print out a list of all Derby entries. Traditionally, there are between 15 and 20 horses competing. Get out your scissors and cut the list into little slips of paper, so one horse is listed on each. Put them all in a hat or bowl and have party guests each choose one – without looking! If you want to compete for money, have everyone contribute $5. Not much of a gambler? Set aside a special prize (an extra pie to bring home? A fancy hat?) for the winner. Whoever has the winning horse takes the prize.

And there you have it. All the fixings for a perfect Derby Day, no matter how far you are from the Bluegrass State. Sounds like a fun afternoon, right? Let us know if you’re planning to host your own Derby Party. We can swap recipes!

Thanks Emilie and the entire team at Dot & Bo for joining us today and for tips for celebrating like a local. Can't wait for a julep and a slice of pie!

- Mary Keller and Heath

image 1 | image 2 | image 3 | image 4 & 5 from Dot & Bo team | image 6 

New Years & Beef Bourguignon

Since this blog is really like our little sister/family journal we snapped a few (iphone) pics that I want to record from New Years if you're interested.  I've mentioned that we didn't really do much for New Years.  Since we traveled for Christmas, J.D. and I really just wanted to stay put and have a quiet night.  I knew I wanted to make something really yummy (always thinking about yummy food!) especially knowing that I had a little more time on my hands with it being the holidays.  Heath ended up sneaking out of work early that night (by early I mean 7) so she and Andy came and joined us. 

I ended up making Ina's Beef Bourguignon and guys I HIGHLY recommend it if you're looking for a not-too-difficult, elegant, feels special make ahead meal.  Beef Bourguignon is basically French beef stew, but something about the bourguignon makes it seem so much more elegant.  Maybe because of the wine??  Not sure, but we all loved it.  It takes a little while to make, but it really is easy - just ask your butcher to cut the piece of meat into chunks for you.  (That will save you the most work.)

My little French menu in case anyone is looking for make ahead dinner party ideas.  (The stew is best if made a day in advance.)

Cocktails with French Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese Straws

Beef Bourguignon with toasted garlic bread

Warm Goat Cheese Salad, plus a cheese plate with blue cheese and brie

I served the stew with just garlic bread, but people also love it over a bed of mashed potatoes or with noodles.  I served the salad and a cheese plate after the Beef Bourguignon, as apparently the French do which is kind of fun.  For dessert, I just picked up cupcakes because I used all my cooking energy on the beef, but instead this Chocolate Mousse could also be done in advance, and it would be so much better and tres French! :)

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year, cheers to 2015!
~Mary Keller

Dinner Lab Review

Heath mentioned that we attended Charlotte's first Dinner Lab event last weekend, and it really needs a little more of an explanation.  Guys we loved the event!  So much fun!  Some thoughts from the night below...

 

 

We've heard that Charlotte's Dinner Lab now has a wait list!  (Happy for Dinner Lab's success here!)  But, if you're on the fence, I'd recommend getting a group of friends and getting on the list.  I promise it's a fun adult night out for a group, and in this stage where many of my friends have young children at home, it's SO much easier than any of us hosting an event.  Also, if you entertain for business, this would be PERFECT way to treat clients.  Dinner Lab often has weeknight events and as a member you can host non-member guests.  It would be the perfect unusual thing to invite a client to attend.  Have you guys been to an event?  What did you think!?

~Mary Keller

Images by Dinner Lab and Jeff Thibodeau

Collections | Cocktail Glasses

Do you guys collect anything?  For some reason, in my mind I think of collections as kind of an old fashioned thing, like everyone used to collect something random, but people don't really do that anymore.  Am I wrong?  I was thinking the other day, I think I started a collection without even realizing it.  I LOVE tumblers - you know tumbler drinking glasses.  You can use them for juice, water, wine or my favorite, an interesting cocktail glass.  I have a handful in my "collection."  We have the standard clear with J.D.'s monogram that we received as a wedding gift, my aunt has gifted me and Heath with beautiful tortieshell tumblers for years, my mom and dad brought us a beautiful set of colorful handblow glass tumbers from a vacation in Maine, and recently I bought a set of quirky, crooked tumbers at Tulu in Turkey.  They aren't necessarily expensive, but they're all different and they're all fun, and I switch them up for my Friday night cocktails!  I can't get enough!

Do you collect anything random, intentially or not? 

~Mary Keller

p.s. J.D. and I also have a dorky collection of café mugs, but those are less glamorous and less fun to talk about.  We basically can only find them at fattening southern restaurants. :)

image via glitter guide

Entertaining Tricks No7 & No8

Next up in the list of entertaining tricks is an idea credited to my aunt.  I remember her mentioning this idea when we were at her house around Christmas one year, and it's stuck with me. 

No7 - Multiple Parties in a Row - It's kind of counter intuitive, but her suggestion is basically to host lots of parties and get togethers right in a row - multiple parties in one weekend.  It may sound stressful at first, but if you really think about it, it makes sense.  You (kinda) clean your house once, you buy flowers/make sure your plants are fresh once, and you pretty much do a big grocery and run to the liquor store once, you get the idea.  The weekend before last, JD and I sorta put this theory to the test. 

We've wanted to have so many people over recently and it seems like every weekend we're tied up.  We had one free weekend in October and we took advantage.  We kicked off our "weekend of entertaining" Thursday night with me hosting book club.  (So much fun!)  Then, on Saturday we hosted a few people for brunch, and on Sunday we hosted a little cookout for the Panthers' game.  A girls night, brunch, and couples (plus small kids) cookout.  All simple enough on their own, but honestly, I think it was actually much easier because we hosted them right in a row.  I really did only go to the grocery store and liquor store once, I really did only tidy my house once, and best of all, it forced me to keep the menu really simple for each.  I think the key to hosting multiple groups in one weekend is to switch things up - cocktails one night, easy brunch, pizza night, etc.  I don't think I'd attempt to throw 3 full dinner parties in a row. 

No8 - Only "Cook" One Thing, assemble the rest - This may sound impossible (or lazy!) but I think this is my new goal.  My idol Ina suggests to always serve one store bought course- it's too much work to make homemade appetizers, main course, and dessert, but I'm flopping this rule and pretty much saying I only cook one course, and I'll assemble the rest.  When you entertain multiple night in a row, it forces you to think simple.  When I first started thinking about what I wanted to do for bookclub, I had a yummy appetizer pinned, chicken pot pies and a brownie pudding dessert that I was eyeing.  When I remembered that I was hosting two other events that weekend, I changed my mind - store bought cheese and crackers for apps, simple salad plus chicken pot pie for the meal, and store bought candy plus graham crackers for smores dessert.  I only cooked the chicken pot pie, and I did that the night before.  Much more manageable. 

What do you guys think?  Do you already throw lots of little get togethers in one weekend, and I'm lame for just figuring it out, or does this sound stressful?

~Mary Keller

Images | Progressive Dinner Party Tablescape | Barcart | Bruschetta Bar

Ina Garten in Bon Appetit

If there are any other people obsessed with Ina Garten like me out there, you may want to check out Bon Appetit's feature of Ina in their "My Morning Routine" column.  I don't know what it is about hearing about people's routines or a "day in the life" of someone (maybe I'm nosey??) but I find them so interesting.  Fun facts - she microwaves oatmeal every single morning for breakfast.  Dinner - she eats dinner out most evenings during the week (she's tired of cooking from recipe testing all day) and entertains most weekends.  I don't know why I find that crazy that she eats out most evenings.  I've always imagined her having perfect dinners every evening with Jeffrey!!  My favorite two tips: One - "When guests arrive they want to feel like this is something you just whipped up in the few minutes before they got there," implying that guests don't want to feel like they've caused you a lot of trouble.  And two - "Pick five recipes that are very simple...then do variations on those five recipes."  Love this and I'm trying to implement this in my kitchen.  That's why Heath and I made a point to "master" roast chicken, pizza dough, etc. recipes that you can turn to over and over.  What would be your 5 go tos?

Ina's newest cookbook Make It Ahead is now out and I'm hearing really good reviews.  Definitely on my Christmas list!  Last thing, my friend sent me this funny link, Bow Down, Because Ina Is Our One True Queen, if there are any fellow Ina lovers out there.

~Mary Keller

Image by Alex Eau on Bon Appetit

FIVE (doable) Fall Parties

With Halloween coming up, I feel like we're entering the time of year when the social calendar starts filling up and people love to host and attend parties.  There are so many fun fall party ideas, but a few of my favorite "doable" parties are below...

Easy Evenings | Anna Watson Carl

You guys may remember we kicked off a new series last month - Easy Evenings - all about, just as the name implies, easy evenings with family and friends.  Evenings that are more about good friends, good conversations, lots of drinks, and yummy food.  Evenings that aren't necessarily about perfectly set dinner tables.  Today's we're sharing what an easy evening looks like to Anna Watson Carl, the voice behind The Yellow Table.  If you aren't familiar with Anna and her work, she's pretty much the perfect cheerleader for easy evenings.  She makes whipping up simple, satisfying meals for friends look easy, and she makes these types of evenings seem doable and worth it.  Heath and I pretty much had to pinch ourselves when Anna agreed to chat with us, and we can't wait to share what she had to say below!  (Details on her new cookbook below too!)

Virginia's First Birthday

We've mentioned that we just celebrated Virginia's birthday this past Saturday.  We shared a few pictures here, but I'd love to share a few more below if you're interested.  I love going back and seeing these personal memories.  I knew I didn't want to do much for Virginia's birthday.  I wanted the day to be simple, filled with love and family.  My parents, my grandparents, J.D.'s parents, and Heath and Andy came over for a simple celebration.  More pictures from Virginia's day below....

FEED Supper

I've been seeing a few things lately about Feed's newest fundraising project, FEED Supper, and I think it's a really amazing idea!  The idea is simple.  Invite friends to join around the supper table to enjoy a meal together and raise money for children and families around the world.  100 Layer Cake just featured this party highlighting the FEED Supper initiative, and this party is stunning.  So many pretty details.  Love the red goblets, the string lights, gold flatware, and the cursive name plates too.

Entertaining Tricks No5 & No6

These entertaining "tricks" we're sharing may be obvious and they could probably go without being said, but they've stuck with me since I first heard them and I pretty much live by them when expecting guests.

Easy Evenings | Megan Gilger of the Fresh Exchange

We're so excited to be kicking off a new series on the blog called Easy Evenings!  We pretty much live for easy evenings with friends and family in our real life.  Of course dinner parties with perfectly set tables, matching flowers and linens are always wonderful, but what we really love and want to highlight are those evenings with tables full of delicious food, wine flowing, maybe a few casual flowers and candles flickering.  We want to show off that dinner parties do not have to be perfect to be memorable for guests.  It's better to drop the goal of perfection, and instead just get in the kitchen and invite guests over. 

First up we have a really awesome Q&A with Megan Gilger of The Fresh Exchange to share.  Are you guys familiar with Megan?  Her blog, The Fresh Exchange, is always an inspiring read.  See below for lots of great thoughts and ideas on what Easy Evenings look like to Megan.

 

Dinner Lab Membership Giveaway!!

We're so excited to announce a really fun giveaway!  We're teaming up with fellow Charlotte bloggers Goldmine Journal and Comfy Cozy Couture to giveaway one Dinner Lab Membership since Charlotte has been selected as one of Dinner Lab's newest locations!

What is Dinner Lab?  "Dinner Lab is a social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the conventional restaurant experience.  Our events bring together a group of interesting strangers around a common table to share cuisine crafted by up-and-coming chefs from all of the country."  Dinner Lab puts on events in major cities across the US (yea for Charlotte now being included in their lineup!) and invites members to attend one of a kind events.  Kind of like a big, foodie, "members only" supper club!  Another fun fact, the event location is always announced just the day before the event, so there's an element of surprise to the location as well! 

Today we're giving away one Dinner Lab Membership that is good for any Dinner Lab location across the country!  With the one membership, the lucky winner will be a member for one year and can purchase tickets to any upcoming Dinner Lab events for two people.  (See additional FAQs here.)  To enter, comment below and/or on Goldmine Journal and Comfy Cozy Couture blogs.  For additional entries follow @DinnerLab and us on Twitter and regram the giveaway on Instagram.  Be sure to tag us in your Instagram post so we see it!  Winner will be drawn on Wednesday, August 20th. Giveaway open to US residents only.

A few images of Dinner Lab events below.

You can check out more about Dinner Lab here, see the cities with Dinner Lab locations here, and see a few sample events here.  Thank you to Dinner Lab for sponsoring the giveaway!  We're thrilled you're in town!

~ Mary Keller and Heath a Rafflecopter giveaway

All images by Dinner Lab, Bottom photo by Jeff Thibodeau

Entertaining Tricks No 2, No 3 & No 4

 

The next three entertaining tricks are seriously easy peasy and just as obvious as No 1, but I'm really bad about forgetting them in the hustle of getting ready to entertain company.  They seriously take 2 minutes and make the biggest difference.

No 2 - Music On!!!  In one of Ina Garten's cookbooks (I know you're sick of hearing about my idol Ina) she mentions that there's nothing worse than showing up at a party and ringing the door bell, the door opens, and there is no music.  You kinda feel early, like you've shown up before the party.  Turn that music on at least 30 minutes before your party begins, it will make sure the house feels festive and it will put you in an entertaining mood before guests even arrive.

No 3 - Candles lit!!!  You don't have to have tons of candles lit, or even the candles on your table lit if you don't plan to sit down to dinner for another hour or so, but just having one or two candles in your house lit will make things instantly feel more festive.  A candle in your den where you may be having drinks, and a candle lit in the powder room is always nice, but I always forget this one!

No 4 - Cocktail in hand, and get one in your guest's hand pronto!  It's much more fun to show up to a party and see that your host is enjoying herself and as a hostess, get your guest a drink asap too!  Even if the rest of the night you'll encourage guests to help themselves self serve at the bar, it's always nice when someone arrives to quickly say "what can I fix you to drink?" "can I pour you a glass of wine?" "would you like to try a Gin and Jack Rudy?"  They'll be happy to have a drink in hand to let the party begin!

Honestly, even though making food ahead of time (my all time No 1) will make entertaining easier, Music On, Candles Lit, and having a Drink in Hand will make your party more fun.  These are arguably more important to me because they make things feel festive and relaxed.  They really go without saying but it's easy for me to forget about them, and another thing, no need to save these for a "party."  I think the same apply if just a girl or two who live next door stops by for a glass of wine on a weeknight.  If you light a candle and turn on the music, small get togethers instantly feel more special too. 

~Mary Keller

rooftop dinner party image via ...etc | record player via urban outfitters | tortoise ice bucket via furbish | candles via furbish

Entertaining Trick No 1 | Make Ahead

We're starting a new little series on entertaining tricks and tips and hopefully we'll have some ideas to share that make entertaining seem more doable.  The first one is so extremely obvious that it's not exactly post worthy, but I feel like it wouldn't be a proper series without including the most important trick in the book - Make Food Ahead of Time, seriously, make just about everything ahead of time and you'll thank yourself while entertaining.  My mom's done this for years and now it's now second nature....

Perfect Parties | Bastille Day

 

So Tara Guerard's Bastille Day Party that was just featured in Lonny definitely goes on the list of parties of my dreams.  Perfect Charleston garden location, adorable little baguettes at every place settings, celebratory sparklers at send off, and delicious looking cocktails.  Seriously, if you didn't see it, it was absolutely stunning.

Burgers and Bubbly

Over the weekend a few of us threw a couples baby shower for a friend of ours.  Our friend Amanda is expecting her first baby (a girl!) in early August and we knew we needed one more celebration before the baby's arrival.  She's already had more traditional baby showers, so we wanted to do something more casual and relaxed, and we wanted to include the guys too.  We decided on Burgers and Bubbly, perfect for summer, casual enough but of course celebratory with the bubbly too. 

We kept things really simple.  Burgers on the grill with lots of favorite toppings - pimento cheese, blue cheese, white cheddar, bacon, jalapenos, avocado.  For sides, we made a brussels sprout slaw, summer corn salad and a watermelon salad.  All were perfect because they could be made in advance and served at room temperature.  (No cooking during the party except for the burgers!)  It was also kinda nice to have a change from the normal burger and bbq sides.  The brussel sprouts had a fresh, lemony vinaigrette with lots of grated pecorino cheese.  The summer corn salad was simple and fresh with arugula, a few peppers and tomatoes.  And the watermelon salad had yummy feta and mint.

For dessert, we served King of Pops popsicles in different flavors - sea salt chocolate, raspberry rosewater, banana pudding and fresh peach with agave.  Summery, easy and if you haven't had them, they're so good!  Along with the pops we had mini cans of Sofia champagne for us girls to toast.

If you're interested in putting together a similar menu for a party, links to the recipes we used are below:

Brussels Sprout Salad with Red Onion and Pecorino - we used about half the amount of pecorino

Summer Corn Salad - we omitted the feta cheese since we were also using it with the watermelon

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad - We used a cranberry pear white balsamic from Pour Olive, but any balsamic vinegar would be delicious.  Also, we used less feta cheese.

We had so much fun and loved spending the evening with friends.  I think I asked Amanda 50 times if she was "ready" and quizzed her about what everyone has told her are "absolute necessities" for newborns  I think it's so funny how much they change from one person to the next.  We're ready for this sweet baby to get here and can't wait to include the kiddos one day for summer burger and popsicle nights!

Do we overthink dinner parties?

Every few weekends or so, I get a call from Heath around 4:00 on Saturday afternoon that goes something like this..."What are yall doing tonight?  Do yall have anything going on?"  Me: "No we're just putting Virginia to bed and hanging out here if you guys want to come over."  Her: "Oh well Andy and I are thinking about making an Italian Steak Florentine with a few sides" or "Oh well we have a bunch of stuff to make chicken and veggie kabobs" or "we're whipping up some homemade ricotta and crostini if you want to get together for cocktails."  I say yes please and they come over and take over my kitchen.  The next thing I know, a few hours later, I'm sitting around my dinner table with a really delicious meal, candles are lit, music is playing and lots of cocktails and wine are flowing.  Sometimes my parents are in town and join us, sometimes friends come by, sometimes its just us, but regardless I went from thinking I had no plans that night to having a really fun dinner party.  No fuss, no stress and just a lot of fun.

So, my question is, do we (you, me, everyone!) over think dinner parties?  I love to entertain and even though I love it I find myself not having people over nearly as often as I would like because I think I overthink it.  I plan out appetizers, have intentions for flowers that never get arranged, etc.  So, I'm rethinking what a good dinner party looks like.  I think that these are my MUSTS:  lots of flickering tea light candles (I always have tons of cheapies from Michaels at the house), music playing, lots of wine (cheap Trader Joes is fine!) on hand and ideally a stocked bar, and then just one dish that is special.  I don't think you need tons of elaborate dishes, just one really yummy item.  So what do you guys think?  What really makes the party?

~Mary Keller

Image via dustjacket from What Katie Ate

Trader Joes Floral Centerpieces

This past weekend J.D., Virginia and I headed to Atlanta for a friend's "Sip & See."  (For those who have never heard of a Sip & See, it's similar to a baby shower but you get to meet the baby.)  We were so excited to see friends we had not seen in a long time, and we of course couldn't wait to meet our friend's beautiful baby.  We stayed with the girls who were hosting the party, and Virginia was sure to get us up bright in early to start getting ready for the shower.

While half the crew got started cooking, I tagged along with my friend Kirsten who was responsible for flowers.  (This friend plans parties, big parties, for a living and has gone to floral school.  We were in design school together in college.  She's creative and very talented.)  I was pumped because we were set to go to Atlanta's big wholesale flower warehouse where they have everything, but we got there that morning and we were seriously disappointed.  The flowers just didn't look special or jump out at us.  We were super bummed and kinda scrambled to come up with plan B for decorations.  Our Plan B was Trader Joes.  Guys, we got so many flowers for such a deal and my friend came up with all of the beautiful flowers for the party in what seemed like just a few minutes.

Okay, for the centerpieces above, Kristen used 2 bunches of gerber daises (they felt so baby showerish), 2 bunches of beautiful orange tulips, and 2 bunches of alstroemeria to use as filler.  She used most of the gerber daises in mass in the largest vase in the center and just tucked in a few of the filler flowers as an accent.  In the medium vase she used most of the orange tulips in mass, and she didn't add anything to the big tulip arrangement because tulips are beautiful on their own.  Then, she made a bunch of small arrangements with the remaining flowers in simple julep cups (you could use any cup) to scatter around the table.  I thought it looked so beautiful!  I tend to overthink flowers - they can be tricky, but seriously this came together really quickly and made a big impact.

I snapped these pictures as they were getting set up so not everything is "done" but it was a beautiful party.  Pink and orange decorations because this sweet baby girl will someday become a Tennessee Vol, of course!  :)

~Mary Keller