Entertaining

Holiday Tablescape Ideas.

Please note: This post was created in paid partnership with Time Inc. and Chinet.

I love to entertain year-round, but the holiday season makes it so much more fun! I partnered with Chinet on a fun video that shares a bunch of ideas for how to add some sparkle and detail to your holiday tablescapes, including custom dinner menus, glittery tea light holders, and personalized place settings. With a neutral metallic palette, you can use these ideas from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and right through to New Year’s Eve! Check out the full video below:

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Entertaining

Stocking Your Holiday Bar Cart.

If you’ve ever read one of my blog posts, chances are you’re aware of my affinity for cocktails, bar carts, and all things drinking-accessory related. My collection of striped straws and cocktail stirrers rivals the prop closets at my favorite magazines (and could actually be teetering on hoarder status). With the holidays upon us, it’s the perfect time of year to get your own bar cart stocked with all of the essentials for easy entertaining (and more importantly, impromptu cocktail mixing!). I broke down all of my favorite pieces that are absolute must-haves to stock your holiday bar cart, from the bar itself, to glassware, tools, and all of the fun stuff that makes our drinks look festive! build-the-bar-cart_v2 read more

Entertaining

A Cranberry Friendsgiving Feast.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and in the past few years, Friendsgiving has been moving up the list too! At Friendsgiving you get all of the perks of a Thanksgiving feast (more stuffing please!) without any crazy family drama, and usually a few more holiday cocktails. We attended a Friendsgiving brunch this weekend and it was a blast, I ate enough that I started to resemble a Thanksgiving turkey! In preparation for lots more holiday events, Friendsgiving included, Target Grocery sent me a big box of Thanksgiving essentials, and challenged me to step up my holiday table game using only products from Target. Inspired by a local and seasonal treat — cranberries —  I set out to share a handful of ideas to bring cranberry flavors to your holiday table with all of my favorite Target products. From cocktails to appetizers to desserts, I’ve got a cranberry spin on just about every Thanksgiving angle! 
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Entertaining

All-Time Favorite Holiday Entertaining Pieces.

Thanksgiving is only 10 days away, which is totally boggling my mind! Over the weekend I started to write down a quick list of recipe ideas, items I need to stock up on from the grocery store, and a handful of my favorite entertaining pieces I plan to pack up and take with me when we head to my family’s house! My siblings and parents give me a hard time because I arrive for the holidays as though I needed to bring my entire kitchen with me – but I’m loyal to my favorite cooking tools, and have some go-to entertaining pieces that always make prep and serving easier. I ‘ve done a post before on my cooking essentials, and thought it would be fun this year to share my all-time favorite entertaining pieces to expand my list!entertaining
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Entertaining

Happy to Host with Family Circle.

It feels like the holidays are so far away, but Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, and Christmas is creeping up right behind that! I’m feeling a bit of that holiday spirit today as I flipped open the holiday issue of Family Circle and saw an entertaining piece I worked on with them sharing some easy tips for hosting during the holiday season. Check out the new issue to catch all of the tips and start getting ready for your own holiday hosting plans! img_5954

Entertaining

Baby Shower.

I had a celebration-packed weekend as some of my closest friends and family showered Baby B with gifts and treats at our baby shower!  It was such a special event, and I loved that so many people who are close to me were involved in contributing to making it an awesome day — my two friends Navya and Taz hosted it with the help of my mom and sister, and lots of girlfriends and family lending a hand to help! Everyone added their own special touch from handmade gifts and party favors, baked treats and my favorite sweet snacks as far as the eye could see, and darling pink decorations and bright colorful flower arrangements that a party-fanatic like me really appreciates!  I feel so grateful for all of the work that these ladies put into making the event special, and for all of the amazing gifts that everyone brought (this baby will likely never have to wear the same outfit twice!), but at the end of the day what I was most grateful for is that our baby girl is going to have so many awesome, thoughtful women (and men!) in her life growing up!  baby-shower-1 read more

Entertaining

Pumpkins and Apples Party.

This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain®. All opinions, images, and ideas are my own.

Earlier this year I threw a little blogger potluck party with some of my blogging-buddies from Boston Bloggers. We always bump into each other out at events in the city, but rarely get time to really hang out and catch up. With the cool weather creeping in this time of year in New England, I decided to host another potluck get-together – this time with a seasonal theme featuring everyone’s two favorite fall flavors: pumpkin and apple! pumpkinsandapples5 read more

Entertaining

Pumpkin Spice Party Prep.

We’ve still got a few more hours until the official first day of fall, but I’m jumping in head first while planning for a little autumnal get together this weekend! I had so much fun with my potluck dip party earlier in the year, that I decided to revive the idea and invite a few friends over for a pumpkin-spice themed potluck. Everyone is bringing pumpkin or apple themed recipes and I’m serving up some treats of my own, along with warm apple cider and pumpkin spice coffee from my pretty new white Keurig Brewer! For my party preparations I got a chance to visit the new World Market near us and stocked up on the prettiest palette of fall tabletop decor, and some classic white serve ware pieces. I’m planning on coupling these pieces with lots of pretty white pumpkins for a soft, serene fall tablescape. Can’t wait to share more after the party! pumpkin-spice-party_edited-1

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Entertaining

Setting Up A Margarita Bar.

I’m having a little bit of trouble coming to grips with the fact that summer is coming to a close this week, I’m not quite ready for the warm weather, and beach days, and patio cocktails (and mocktails!) to end. This weekend I had a girl’s night with some my girlfriends and we enjoyed the fading summer with some al fresco dining and porch swinging and all around warm-weather merriment. In preparation for our hang out I set up a make-your-own style margarita bar with all of the essentials, and thought I’d share a few of my tips for setting up a margarita bar of your own. Once you have the tools, the garnishes, and ingredients in place, it’s super fun to let your guests mix up their own cocktail creations.Margarita Bar 1 read more

Entertaining Life

Summer Concerts and Tailgating.

Last weekend was a multi-day celebration of my husband’s birthday; I am a firm believer in the “birthday week” over just one night of festivities. We planned to kick off the weekend with friends heading out to a concert (Huey Lewis and the News played, and yes they were awesome). To me, one of the best parts of outdoor summer concerts is the tailgating before the show. We were heading to the event with friends, and we own a tiny car that isn’t ideal for this type of pre-concert picnicking. Luckily Enterprise CarShare reached out me about trying their car-sharing program in Boston and it was the perfect opportunity to borrow an SUV that would hold our friends and concert tailgating spread!IMG_4313 read more

 
 
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