Valentine's Dinner Party

Friday night, Valentine's Day, twelve close girl  friends came for dinner!  We are a mixed lot- some married, some wanting to be married, some unmarried and some never wanting to be married. But for those of us who are married, our husbands gracefully relinquished the romantic holiday to just the girls!  Yes, it was definitely a girly girl affair! 

I had lot's of surprises prepared for the evening. 

 

 

Large pink rose balls in tall urns flanked the front door.  Candles in vases filled with rose petals were lit on the wall.

 

 

 

A small batch craft vodka for Valentine's Day!

 

A charcuterie, cheese, onion confit, sweet cherries, cantaloupe and roasted grapes appetizer offering in the living room while having cocktails.

 

The Dinner table was in pinks and whites with lots of sparkle.

A rhinestone embellished Cinderella carriage was in the center of the table with pink roses inside.

Twigs, my favorite florist, made the beautiful pink rose arrangements.

 

Every place setting had a personalized tiara, a menu and place card.

The napkins were tied with stamped feathers and seam binding ribbon.

 

 

 

I used a vintage menu and photo shopped the menu into the center and printed it on vellum.

After adding glitter highlights and rhinestones, I layed it over parchment card stock and tied them together with a hand dyed ribbon. The corners were punched with a decorative corner detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name cards were done using a carriage motif download that I found on Etsy.

Again, they were hand glittered and placed on a gold card stock for the backing.

 

Crowns were made for each girl and placed at their seat in a cellophane bag.

 



 

 

Gorgeous rose arrangement from Twigs, our local florist. 

Glittered hand cut butterflies were also added for sparkle!

 

 

 

 

Several white and lace cloths were layered together.

 

I found the carriage at Hobby Lobby in a hot pink color.  After spraying it gold, I embellished it with my rhinestone stash and placed a bouquet inside. 

 

 

Dinner was very simple.  The Barefoot Contessa's Slow Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Basil Parmesan Aioli, Twice Baked Potato Casserole and a large Salad served with a Basil Lime Dressing.

I highly recommend the tenderloin recipe- so so very easy and the beef was cooked perfectly with no smoke alarms going off!   We cooked it to 128 degrees internal temperature and it was a perfect medium rare after resting.

 

 

Flash cooked green beans and baby carrots, along with artichoke hearts, roasted beets, tomatoes and artisan lettuces were arranged on a large tray.  Edible flowers garnish the salad.

The Candle Lit Table

 

Details of the buffet

Dessert was a Cranberry and Fresh Berry Gelee with Vanilla Whipped Cream and a French Macaron on top, garnished with a pink rose petal.  A small slice of Chocolate Tart with a kettle chip crust was added to the plate.

 

Served in an antique glass with a Love Disarmed ice cream fork!

 

For entertainment, I  prepared a slide show  of all the girls in gorgeous dresses, swim suits,

and couture fashion and put it to fun music of our generation like "I'm so Sexy", Dancing Queen,

Groovin,  - you get the idea.  So on our huge  flat screen, we watched a  35 minute show of  292 great fantasy pictures of everyone put to fun music.  (Actually we watched it three times and were dancing by the 3rd!) With a little wine and good photo shop skills, anyone can look sexy, rich and famous- even if just for an evening!  

 

 As a gift when departing, each received a 20 by 30 inch poster of their best picture in a special canister for safe keeping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  Real Girls!

 

 

 

The Rich and Famous Girls for the evening!  A bit taller maybe?????

 

 

Hope everyone had as much fun as I did on Valentine's!

 

 

 

Snow Bound and a Big Case of Decorating Fever

The amount of snow and frigid temperatures in Chicago this season are almost comical!  Never in my thirty years of living here, do I remember a winter this "wintery"! However, a look outside this morning is magical-

 

The gazebo is frosted with newly fallen snow -

The wooden tree arch is coated in snow.

 

                                         Another 12 inches overnight on top of the table-


But the prettiest things that  I saw this morning were the perfectly iced kale on the front porch.  Little works of art !

 

 

 

Snow bound again.  The snow is so high that the dogs can't even go out without being completely covered in snow.  The fireplace repairman that was scheduled today, just called and said he was  stuck in a very deep ditch. Laurell, my friend, was coming over to finish an armoir that she painted for me. She called too- roads are too bad to travel.   So home alone ! So what does a girl do when stuck at home ? It is time to start a  decorating project. I have been thinking about changing the colors in my library, so for now I think I will just re-work the accessories and art.

 

 

I light a fire in the fireplace. This fireplace was original to the house. This room was previously used as the formal parlour in the late 1800's to 1960.  It has very high ceilings and the original ornate plaster moldings on the walls. 

 

But today, I will focus on the accessories and art.

 

 

I move the Aiden Gray mirror from the powder room entry to over the fireplace. 

 

I add the boxwood balls to add a light brightness and a natural touch. 

 

 

 

 

Add height to the gold statue,  by placing him on a stack of black books.  I place the black fishnet sea fan behind him to create textural interest. 

 

Re-work the book shelves with old books and art.

 

 

Laurell and I found this desk at Grayslake Flea Market. It was an ugly 70's finish. Laurell painted it with Annie Sloan's chalk paint and highlighted the details with gold.  It is the perfect size for this space.   I am going to use this room for a bar during the cocktail hour for a party next week.  So I place a silver champagne bucket and silver tray on top. 

 

Finally take down the old picture and hang a gallery wall of the black and white engravings that I have been collecting.

 

 

Iron statue under the cloche with some French letters.

 

Old writing binders are placed on the top of the desk with some old deeds.

 

 

 

Laurell and I were studying the ceiling yesterday.  I think it is time for a change.  I found this antique mirror tile wallpaper by Cole and Son and think it would be fun on the ceiling.  I still love this lighting fixture that I brought from California. But I think it needs to go to another spot and be replaced with a crystal one. 

 

The woman I purchased it from, makes the shades from vintage fabrics and trims.

Gold embossed metal cornices top the menswear valences, which hang over the long silk side panels. 

 

I still love the details of these drapes, but again I am ready for change. Maybe these will be moved to another room too.  I am thinking about   velvet drapes in a deep ebony color  with a dark gold taffeta lining in here.  Need to start working on that! 

 Laurell and I are talking about grey walls with a deeper gold color on the original plaster moldings.

 

Need to start working on that too! 

 

 

This snow is causing all kinds of trouble- not only outside , but inside too!  Being cooped up inside, really makes one closely examine the  details in their home. It is amazing how much money  one can spend without ever leaving the house! My husband is hoping for an early spring!!