Lemons, Ladies, and Lunch!

One of my very favorite groups to entertain is my Bridge Buddies!  We are six women who have been together for years and years and play bridge once a week.  Usually, we meet at 2:30 and play, but several times a year, we have lunch and then play.  This week, I invited them to come for lunch.

These ladies seem to appreciate every little detail, and I love giving them lots to look at!

My inspiration started with this cheerful tablecloth from Homegoods.

After an epic fail (I wish I had photos to show you the sad attempt), I came up with this centerpiece.

Lemons and daisies!  Sure felt like summer! 

In place of a wreath, I simply tied a small bouquet with gingham ribbon onto the door.

The tag read "Please Come In".  My landscaper happened to come to the door before the girls arrived and asked me if I was expecting company, or was I just lonely!!!!!!!!!!!

These placecard holders were from Pottery Barn a year or so ago.  I cut the layered name card out with my Silhouette cutter, and then hand lettered each name. 

On top of my every day white dinner plate, I placed a bright yellow napkin and topped it with a menu card.  They were a simple rectangle, even though they photographed sort of misshapen.  I always add a quote to the menu card and this one says "Girlfriends help us think our best thoughts, do our noblest deeds, and be our finest selves."  (Anon.)  Love this!

I used a rattan charger and this bamboo handled flatware from Horshow.

Initially, I planned to use these bright yellow glasses, but I found I only had four.

Didn't they look cuter?  The other glass is a plain Tiffany wine glass.

And here's what we put in them!  The cutest bottle of pinot grigio!  These daisies on the bottle just sent me into orbit.  And it was really good!!!!

This is really a candle holder from Italy.  I would have used it on the table, but I only have one, so I filled the little hole with water and placed just a few daisies in it and used it on the sideboard.

In one powder room, I added daisies and a hand towel with a lemon tree.

I forgot I had this till I was looking for a towel.

The other powder room got a small daisy arrangement, too.

In the bar, I used some lemon napkins and some small yellow appetizer sized napkins. The fern covered dish held buffalo chicken roll-ups that were a hit.

This tray held the coffee fixings.

I made lemon-thyme salt for favors.  It is so good on chicken or veggies.

And the other favor was raffle tickets for produce from my grandson's farm.  He's TEN!  And he has his own farm.  Last year he harvested 300 lbs of potatoes alone.  This boy can work!  These raffle tickets afforded him the cash to buy his seeds, etc. this spring.  I'm going to do a post about him later in the season.

After a leisurely lunch and lots of laughter, we got down to business.  We never take our games too seriously, though.  This is party bridge.  Boy, was I ever surprised to find these cards with lemons in my stash! I don't remember buying them. It was like a miracle.

Joining:

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21 Rosemary Lane

Turquoise Gingham on the Deck

It was time to have our bachelor neighbor over for dinner.  And time to post something!  I haven't posted anything in a month, maybe six weeks.  I've done a Cinco de Mayo dinner, a Kentucky Derby dinner, several small dinner parties, and a lovely picnic, but the situation just wasn't right to photograph blog-worthy pictures.  I'm a firm believer that the event is much more important than capturing it on film, even for a languishing blog!  And that, folks, is why I don't accept advertising.  I just can't promise a certain number of posts. 

But last night's dinner on the deck was simple and lovely and much appreciated by our neighbor.  I went with serene and summery.  He pretends to be all macho, but he loves to be pampered and enjoys a pretty table almost as much as good food!

I started with a white linen caterer's cloth, and then added a pale turquoise straw place mat.  These came from an awesome store in Seaside, Florida called Seaside Style.  The whole store looks like this!  Do not miss it if you are in the panhandle area.  Then I added this whitewashed wooden charger from World Market.  I love how it becomes soft and interesting with the whitewash. 

Then, I chose this scalloped edged dinner plate from Target.  Really!  Target!

These natural handled wooden flatware is Martha Stewart's from years ago when she had her on-line merchandise store.

And these turquoise glass tumblers are Martha Stewart also, this time from Macy's.  I didn't set the table with wine glasses, because we just brought our glasses we used with appetizers to the table.

The salt and pepper and butter looked a bit lost on the table, so I corralled them on this small bamboo tray.  It echoes the color of the flatware. 

White roses and hydrangeas continue to keep things serene.

Today's flowers are brought to you by Whole Foods! 

These candlesticks gave another element of blue/turquoise.

It was a beautiful evening.  We are enjoying the weather before it gets too hot.

The meal was a hit.  Pasta salad and grilled shrimp after an old fashioned appetizer of chips and clam dip.

But the very most enjoyed course was the banana pudding made with Nutter Butter cookies in place of vanilla wafers.  Unbelievable!

Mr. Pressed Pants thought I was way to generous when I sent all but one serving home with Ronnie!  

This deck holds several sitting areas, and  I've softened them with pillows covered with outdoor fabric from Ballard Designs.

The best part is the view of the lake, and of friendly faces across the table!

Joining:

 Tablescape Thursday 

at

Between Naps on the Porch

Dishing It and Digging It (Sun.)

at

Rustic and Refined

Inspire Me Monday

at

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

The Scoop (Mon.)

at

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Inspire Me Tuesday

at

A Stroll Thru Life

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

at

The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

at

French Country Home

Foodie Friday

at

Designs By Gollum

Wow Us Wednesday

at

Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

at

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

at

The Dedicated House

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Amaze Me Mondays

at

Dwellings

Merry Mondays Link Party

Twelve on Main

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Sundays At Home

at Love of Home

Share It One More Time (Sat.)

designthusiasm.com

Share Your Style (Thurs.)

21 Rosemary Lane

A Blue and Yellow Birthday

One of my dearest friends recently celebrated a birthday and some of us took this opportunity to show her some love. This lunch was the result of this group effort.  It was held at our mutual friend, Anne's, beautiful home.

I agreed to do the flowers, and when I arrived, this beautiful table is what I saw!  Our honoree is a blue and white lover, so Anne pulled out this wonderful Blue Danube china, and set it on this Ralph Lauren tablecloth.  Waterford and vintage crystal added to the glamor.  Notice how, placing the china on a blue placemat makes all this pattern work perfectly!

Here's my centerpiece!  I have soooo many blue and white pots of all sizes and shapes, so I brought them filled with all sorts of bright yellow spring flowers.  Easy and pretty!

This worked so well and felt so fresh.

There were primroses,

tulips, daffodils, and gerbera daisies,

in a real mix of pots, including this one flow blue gravy boat.

The star is, of course, the daffodil. 

We even slipped one tete-a-tete daffodil into each silver napkin ring.

Anne added these precious little gifts for each person.  They are made from little left-over bits of clay from a potter.  Mine was this pink smile, and I have it on my kitchen window sill.  It brings a warm feeling to me every morning as I check the temperature and make coffee. 

Beth's was a tiny bunny, as she is a bunny lover!

One end of the table had these beautiful silver and crystal salt and pepper shakers,

And the other had these chubby little bluebirds.

Isn't this a beautiful table?

And isn't this a beautiful meal?  These are all Judy's favorites.  I wish I had a picture to show you of the delicious pound cake with blueberries that Beth made for dessert! 

It's my policy not to photograph my friends for my blog, but I wish you could see and know the incredible woman we celebrated here.  I have this birthday crown for all my friends to wear as we party with them, and it never sat on a more deserving head.  She is so caring, so spiritual, creative, funny, gorgeous, interesting, and just about perfect.  I am so fortunate to be her good friend, and I want her to know how loved she is.  My wish for you is that you all have such a friend.

Photo Shoot for Equestrian Wedding

I was flattered when Seven Barks asked me to do a photo shoot for a spring equestrian wedding feature.  I wasn't clear exactly what they wanted, but I began to play with some items that said spring wedding to me. Here's my path to this pretty photo.

This was the tablescape I started with, but as soon as I shot it, I knew it was too busy and had too many items in it.  After all, that beautiful snaffle bit letterpress place card was to be the featured item, and it was almost lost in the complete setting.  Note: These are totally un-edited photos, just to show my thought process and where I was going.

I got a little closer, but still thought it was still not the star of the show.

Closer still, but now it's out of proportion to the napkin ring.

Getting closer.

Almost there, but something's still wrong.

I added the napkin and ring back to the mix, but.....no.

Here's a close up of that gorgeous silver napkin ring with a setter and pheasant.  I. Love. This.

Well, hello, beautiful!  By tipping the placecard a bit, I had it.  I can't tell you what magazine it's going to be in just yet, but I can't wait to see their spring equestrian wedding article. 

This placecard/enclosure card ( 2" x 3.5" and twelve to a pkg ) comes in many other letterpress designs, and Seven Barks,  Purveyors of Fine Papers, has so many other distinctive items in their line.  Go to www.sevenbarks.com to check them out.  There is an adorable bunny design that would be wonderful for Easter, and so would their Easter party poppers!