One of the traditions I like, which we've only had the chance to do once, is Friendsgiving. We all have friends who are like family to us; some friends are more like family than actual family members. Whether you're celebrating the holiday together with friends in advance of a family Thanksgiving, or because you can't get home to see your relatives for various reasons, it's nearly guaranteed to be a memorable good time.
Maybe you can't get home because your family lives too far away for you to go back for just the weekend (or perhaps you don't have Friday off, or worse, Thursday). If your friends all come from different places, you can throw a little healthy rivalry into the revelry with these West and East Coasters from Paper Trail. A couple of years ago, I went to a friend's wedding in California. The bride and groom, both of whom I went to high school with, are from the East coast but live in California. The wedding had a contingent of friends and family from each side of the country and there was a hilarious back-and-forth about which coast was better. It bonded us to some of the other friends we hadn't met before and was just a lot of fun. With these amusing coasters, your friends can call out their loyalties and keep glass rings off your table at the same time.
2 Comments
Insert obligatory sentence about how I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a week away. We are still at that age and stage in our lives when our parents host the holidays, so while we host a lot of less-formal gatherings, we have yet to host a big family holiday meal. Right now, I'm okay with that, but I do look forward to hosting sometime, maybe when the girls are just a bit older and can both feed themselves fully!
I have wonderful memories of a Thanksgiving in Hoboken (pre-children) when I had to work during the day at my retail job and some great friends came over for a late dinner. We cooked an excellent meal, I had a special woodsy centerpiece made at the florist, we used our wedding silver and china (Wedgwood Oberon, goes great with a fall palette), and we had a great time. I felt like such a grown-up. It was so much fun. Until we host again I shall live a bit vicariously. I've pinned a few of my favorite table ideas (and some additional inspiration) for Thanksgiving to a board on Pinterest. Check them out and if you're so inclined, feel free to follow me, too! I haven't been pinning as much as I'd like lately, but hoping to change that soon. Do you host Thanksgiving? How do you style your table? Who didn't grow up with those ubiquitous electric candlesticks in the windows of your house during the holidays? I used to think taper candles were extremely old-fashioned and never thought I would be interested in them, but just as with everything else that follows the what's-old-is-new-again pattern, these lovely candleholders have changed my mind.
I love the colors and form of the Pleated candleholders, above, from BoConcept, which I wanted to include even though they're handle-less. And any of the selection below of modern takes on the chamber candlestick would look great as a single piece on a bedside table or console, or as a group on a dining table mixed with other decorative elements. The porcelain model by Klein Reid (bottom) comes with a removable candle insert, so when not in use with a real taper, you can still enjoy a tromp l'oeil effect of having a candle in place. Most of these are well under $30, with the Weight Here coming in under $50 and the Klein Reid priced at $98. In case you're in need: Creative Candles is a great source for taper candles in beautiful colors. I'm not sure why this week has felt so long, but I'm glad it's Friday! I've decided to publish the Under $50 Friday posts once a month, instead of weekly, and see how that goes, though I will always try to have a balance between inexpensive items and splurges/investment pieces in my everyday posts. I don't put a lot of stock in horoscopes, but I do like zodiac imagery. Thomas Paul's iteration: traditional zodiac motifs on dishwasher-safe melamine coasters, shown here alphabetically ($48, Home Remedy). I'm a Sag, all the way, in case you were wondering. As hard as I try, I'm more of a piler than a filer, so I need to make sure my papers are well-organized within those towering stacks. Large (2-inch) glasses-frame-shaped Specs paper clips ($7 for 10, Umbra) will get the job done in a noticeable, funny way. My cramped 1950s kitchen was able to fit very few of the things from our old house. Anything from medium-sized small appliances to all the decorative items are still packed away. But we have two empty walls (literally, no cabinets or anything) next to which my grandparents used to have their kitchen table. We have a table there for extra counter space, but eat in the dining room. As they're some of the only walls in the house not wood-paneled, I'd love to hang art like Australian artist Belinda Marshall's Possibility print ($44, Leif) to bring some life into the room. This is supposed to represent a calm meditative space. My kitchen and I both could benefit from that! I just felt like sharing my favorite clear lip balm, which is Mor Cosmetics' Lip Macaron in passion flower ($10, beauty.com). I wear it all the time, especially now that the weather is getting chilly. It's light (not sticky), I love the fruity scent, and the little tin feels more special than a regular stick of balm. This quirky plastic Kipik hedgehog toothpick holder made me smile; it can either perch on the edge of a bowl or be used freestanding. The little guy comes with 22 picks ($25, MoMA Store).
I've never had a cup of coffee. I know that probably sounds incomprehensible to some of you, but as much as I love the smell of coffee beans, I can't bring myself to get past a sip. And I'll admit I'm reluctant to pick up the habit. I do drink tea (usually peppermint), though mostly in the fall and winter. My other cold weather favorites are hot mulled cider and hot cocoa with a ridiculous amount of marshmallows.
My husband loves coffee though, and we're big fans of our Keurig Vue, but our collection of coffee mugs is pretty rag tag. We do have a set of tea cups that came with our everyday plates, but they are very shallow. And I'm not even sure that we have a creamer and sugar bowl. I am dying to upgrade to Sagaform's stoneware POP collection. The bright colors are exactly the wake up our kitchen needs and I love the architectural shapes of the pieces. The pink/red and plum pieces are my favorite and I'm definitely putting these on my holiday wish list this year. Click products to see the other colors available. I didn't intend to let a week go by before sharing some pictures from last Friday's party, but last weekend was so hectic (in mostly good ways; we also baptized our youngest), that I guess I took a little mental break from it. Everything came together well, and I was really happy with how the decor ended up, particularly because it actually came out close to how I saw it in my head. I wanted to share what I did because it was relatively inexpensive, easy to do, has a pretty fall palette, and was very personal. I was able to include several elements from our wedding. You know I love when people make things and spaces their own!
Wow, I want to take a minute to thank everyone who has visited my blog (especially return visitors)! Yesterday's post garnered the most views and likes/shares that I've had so far, and I'm so humbled that anyone even reads this. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this first month-and-a-half of blogging worthwhile.
Usually Friday is reserved for under $50 finds, but today I decided to share something really fancy, in honor of our big day. Our tenth anniversary is today and our vow renewal is just a few hours away so of course I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off to decorate and do everything else. Someone remind me to shower. So as a nod to our anniversary and the intimate party we're hosting tonight, I wanted to share this pretty amazing serving piece from Anthropologie. Feeling vaguely nautical and like a courtyard fountain spilling over into itself, the design is inspired by 18th-century British Puzzle Jugs which had holes in the neck of the jug challenging users to pour liquids without spilling them. Thankfully, this stackable server is more user-friendly. The price is a little hefty, but it certainly is a conversation starter! |
#checkout this blog with shop-themed puns
archives
August 2014
categories
All
© 2014 | mrkt
|