Entertaining

Perfect Picnic Ingredients.

Last summer, my bestie and I had a girls night and picnicked while watching an outdoor movie in the park. We both kicked ourselves for waiting until the end of the summer to finally do it, and I made a promise to myself that this summer I’d do it much more often. We live in a small apartment, so it’s not convenient to store big coolers or picnic baskets — I usually just grab a small tote and fill it up with a few essential picnic ingredients: 1) A cozy blanket — I love the Gunn & Swain Mexican blankets. 2) A few festive drinks — IZZE sparkling juices are tasty, and all you have to do is pop them open, no need to cart around glassware (but striped straws are encouraged!). 3) Snacks! I hate having to bring a knife and cutting board for a cheese plate – the less we have to carry, the better. To solve for this I took a mason jar and layered ingredients to make individual cheese plate ‘kits’ — this one has mixed nuts, dried apricots, sharp cheddar, salami and crackers. 4) Bring some cloth napkins, they’re eco-friendly, and since they’re a bit heavier than a paper napkin they won’t fly away. Throw it all in a fun tote, grab your sunnies and girlfriends, and you’re ready for a day in the park! izze picnic ideas 3izze picnicizze picnic ideas 2
 

Please Note: This post was sponsored by Izze; all images, ideas and content are my own. 

Travel

Scenes from the weekend.

I had a little weekend away visiting coastal Portsmouth, NH for bachelorette excursion to celebrate one of my best girlfriends. The weather was grey, but the rain held out for a boat cruise around the Portsmouth harbor. I packed a little boat-picnic with prosciutto-wrapped-melon, cheese and crackers, and some tasty grapes and marcona almonds (and of course we got some cocktails aboard!). The rest of the weekend was a success, we shopped around town and hit up the always adorable Gus & Ruby Letterpress, filled our bride-to-be up with margaritas and Mexican food, and then danced our toes off until the band packed it in for the night. It was a really fun weekend, and probably one of the nicest group of girls I’ve ever bachelorette’d with!  And now comes the hard part — recovering from the weekend! 20140804-200619-72379599.jpg20140804-200621-72381171.jpg20140804-200620-72380317.jpg20140804-200621-72381435.jpg

 

 

Entertaining

Oyster Date Night.

We’ve had our fair share of cold winter nights this year, which means we’ve had to get creative with weekend plans and bring a few of our date-nights close to home. This weekend we had a little taste of summer with a coffee-table picnic. We had a plate of French cheeses — my sweet husband sent me a box of Murray’s Cheeses for Valentines Day (the way to my heart is Camembert, not roses!). We also had some local oysters, which I’ve always been intimidated to shuck on our own, but after some research on technique my husband mastered it in no time! The good news is the weather is warming up, so here’s hoping those newly obtained shucking skills are put to use at a real picnic soon.

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Entertaining

Picture Perfect Picnic.

Summer may be coming to an end, but while the weather is still warm, I’m planning to make the most of it with some picnic-ing! Check out my post over on Wayfair with all of my tips for throwing a picture perfect picnic.

64d6452824a8f58e3bc7de577801c4d2Image Source.

Entertaining

Cheese and a Summer Bucket List.

The summer is halfway over and I have a major item to tackle on my “Kate’s Summer of Fun” bucket list (why yes, I have come up with a theme name for this summer). That item? See an outdoor movie and throw a fabulous picnic while I’m at it. Luckily my neighborhood has a whole movies-in-the-park series this year, I just need to get myself into gear and make it to one. I clipped this great cheese pairings piece from a recent Martha Stewart magazine to use as inspiration for some picnic treats — don’t you just want to try them all?

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Life

Scenes from the Weekend.

It was a pretty amazing weekend; I had tons of fun celebrating my fiance’s birthday at the delicious Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston. Saturday was spent sourcing some eye-catching treats at Macaron Sweeterie. And Sunday was the cherry on top of a fun weekend, working on a styled shoot with two of my best friends — check back tomorrow for a sneak peek! How did you spend your weekend?
My new cooler tote is c/o Scout by Bungalow

Entertaining

Summer Entertaining Essentials with Julip Made.

Some of my favorite bloggers are sharing their summer entertaining essentials for being a savvy hostess this season, last but not least in the series is Julie of JulipMade!

Hi DomestiKated Life readers, Julie from Julip Made here sharing with you one of my favorite summer party ideas along with the tools to make it happen. For me there is nothing better than spending a day at the vineyards munching on cheese, sipping on wine, and wiggling your toes in the grass. See below for some ideas to make a vineyard picnic come to life…

JulipMadeforDomestikatedLife
1. Haus Interiors round nickel lantern 2. Furbish coral print cocktail napkin 3. Terrain rustic stripes throw 4. Terrain six stems basket 5. Corkcicle 6. Terrain garden croquet set 7. Sabatine tartufo honey and truffle 8. Saint Andre cheese 9. Virginia Chutney Co. spicy plum chutney 10. Anthropologie colorblocked baguette board 11. Sur la Table market umbrella food tent 12. Household Essentials woven willow picnic basket 13. Anthropologie meadowsweet salad plate 14. Anthropologie farmers market basket.

Thank you so much for having me Kate and please stop by for more entertaining, food, cocktail recipes and more!

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Entertaining

Summer Entertaining Essentials With Society Social.

Some of my favorite bloggers are sharing their summer entertaining essentials for being a savvy hostess this season, up next in the series is the master of the bar cart, Roxy, from Society Social:

Hi lovers!! I’m so tickled to be here sharing my summer entertaining essentials because a good social is what I love for! I live in New York City in a shoebox of an apartment so I’ve got to get creative considering the space constraints and I think a sunset picnic in the park is just the thing for the city girl craving big social style! In this case the park will serve as my living, dining, and bar area! Cheers to you!

Bamboo 21 piece insulated picnic basket, Watercolor Picnic Blanket, Francis Ford Coppola Rose 2010, Outdoor lanterns, Monogrammed linen cocktail napkins, Croquet Set, Bose Sound Link Wireless Mobile Speaker

Entertaining

Pack a Picnic.

I was sitting on my porch yesterday flipping through the new House Beautiful and enjoying the warm weather, it felt like such a treat to be outdoors. And just in time for Spring weather, I saw in the magazine this adorable picnic set from Acme Party Box Company. This would be such a cute gift to give a friend for a summer birthday — and the tote is cute enough to use everyday! I’m inspired now to get some picnicking in one weekend this Spring.

Image via House Beautiful

 
 
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