For the Love of Literacy Gala - Friday, November 5th in Boston

Last year I attended the Room to Read fundraiser to support a friend who was on the committee.  After hearing John Wood speak, I was hooked on the organization. This group is truly making a difference for children around the world.  This Friday is the "For the Love of Literacy Gala" in Boston and I hope to see you all there.  Supposedly they have the band from Chelsea Clinton's rehearsal dinner and from what I hear, they are a lot of fun so be sure to wear your dancing shoes.  Individual tickets are $75 or $250 for VIP. 

http://www.roomtoread.org/Document.Doc?id=292

It's a Dog's World

I grew up with two labs, chocolate & yellow;  they were an important part of our family.  I can't wait to get a lab one day but right now I just don't have enough time.  I might want to hurry up though because apparently us non-dog owners are missing out on quite the social scene.  Recently my friend's Heather & Tommy invited us in to get a glimpse of the dog world, we were invited to Lily's second birthday party.  I did not know what to expect so you can only imagine how surprised I was to walk in to a bar setup, a full table of food and even dog and human party favors.  Dogs were welcome, of course. It was a fun night and I am just hoping I get invited back again next year!

Me with Lily, the birthday girl!

Party favors

The proud parents

One of the four-legged party goers with a birthday hat!

Fall Flowers to Set the Scene

I love walking into any Four Season's because their hotel lobby's always have the most beautiful flowers.  I am enjoying the fall colors right now and had to share this great "Glory of Fall" arrangement from Winston's flowers, if only I had $300 to spend on flowers!

A Beautiful Wedding on the Cape!

The final wedding I went to this summer was an amazing one, my friends Lyssa & Joe were married on the Cape.  It was a special wedding because I was out with Lyssa the night they met in Boston.  


The festivities began on Friday night with a rehearsal dinner at the Hyannis Yacht Club.  Sailing is important to Joe (and now Lyssa too!) so the the setting was perfect - a view of the water and nautical flags hanging above.  The dinner was very New England with clam chowder to start, yum!!!

The reception took place at Oyster Harbors Club, which is incredible.  When you are standing in the lobby you can look one way and see the golf course and the other to see the water.  Cocktail hour was outside and the bride and groom arrived in style, by boat.  They were glowing the entire night and Lyssa looked absolutely stunning in her dress.

One of my favorite details were the name cards, the starfish.  But rather than just laying them out on the table, Lyssa's Dad made wooden boxes which they filled with sand.  It was such a nice touch, it's all about those little details folks!  And each table had a name that meant something to Lyssa & Joe, I was thrilled to be seated at the Stowe table!  

Here are some more pictures from the wedding, enjoy!

The wedding cake 

The starfish in the sandboxes

Group shot with the bride & groom

Fort Point Open Studios this Weekend!

If you are in town this weekend, go to Fort Point to check out the work from over 150 artists!  Please go swing by to see Filiz Emma Soyak, one of my classmates from UVM, she will be at 15 Channel Center Street on the 6th floor.  


I am hoping to make it over on Sunday, but I am off to Newport to run a half marathon that I have not trained nearly enough for!  Ugh:(


Have a great weekend everyone!

Some Halloween Savings!

Today's dedicated DailyCandy email including coupons for iParty, so if you need a costume or decorations, print these out! In this economy, we'll take any savings, right?  Go to this link and print them out, they are good until October 31st.

http://www.iparty.com/coupon

Make Home Projects Great Contest - Martha Stewart

Simply upload a photo of any home project that "you made great" and your entry could appear in an upcoming issue of Martha Stewart Living.  Hmmm....I need to think of something to submit! 


Here are some of the entries that are posted to date.  To note, I had to do a double take of the starfish table cards because my friends had something very similar at their wedding (posting that soon, theirs were better!).  


Enter at marthastewart.com/microsoft  for contest information & rules.  Enter by November 3rd. 

UNICEF FEED Trick-or-Treat Bag

Remember trick-or-treating when you were little and raising money for UNICEF with the little orange, cardboard box?  Now you can continue to support UNICEF and help feed kids around the world by purchasing a FEED Trick-or-Treat bag for $13.20 through an exclusive partnership with HSN.  If you know of any kids heading out on the 31st, I would urge you to buy them one. And let them know that bag is providing one child with nutrients for an entire year, pretty amazing! 

Baby Shower in Boston

When you are thirty one you are very busy between friends getting married and friends having babies. This summer consisted of six weddings, one engagement party, two bridal showers and one baby shower.  I have to keep a gift list because I am so nervous I am going to forget to send someone a present. 

Three of us hosted a baby shower for our friend Sarah in September at the South End Buttery.  There were thirteen of us so a very manageable group and we wanted to go out somewhere cute and fun.  The Buttery has an adorable downstairs area and we arranged it so we would go at 2pm and would not have to pay a room fee.  Otherwise, most places will try to add on another few hundred dollars but you should always be able to find a place that will work around that. 

Below is a download of everything we ordered in case you have happen to be planning a shower too!  

INVITATIONS:  TinyPrints is a great resource, below is the invite we chose. 

FOOD:  We ordered a few bread baskets so everyone had something to snack on as they selected their meal from the menu and we also had pitchers of bloody mary's and mimosa's.  I am a firm believer that there should be cocktails at any party (even your kid's birthday party!).   For dessert we ordered a tray of cupcakes (the Buttery makes really delicious ones!). 

FAVORS:  We ordered two things: 1) nest egg soaps from Beau-Coup Favors, which we took out of the boxes and placed along the center of the table. 2) Cookies from Starlight Creative in Lynn, MA. We chose zoo animals to match our invitation.  We picked up the cookies but they will ship to you as well.

FLOWERS:  I bought some white hydrangeas and brought two of my own vases with me (I had purchased these pitchers for another party at Pier 1). Very simple but added a nice touch to the table.

Other pictures...

The Boston Lobster Party - Next Saturday!

Let's celebrate Lobster, a New England tradition, on Saturday, October 16th in the South End of Boston.  Enjoy food from Union, Gaslight, Rocca, South End Buttery, and many other great restaurants plus 15 local brews (including Cisco!).  $35 or $46 tickets are still available and proceeds go to three organizations: Community Servings, Share our Strength and Lovin' Spoonfuls. 

The Boston Lobster Party

Saturday, October 16th 

540 Harrison Avenue, South End

2-4:30pm 

http://bostonlobsterparty.eventbrite.com/

Guys are Tough to Shop For!

Every time I need to think up a gift for a guy, I struggle.  Now if I were shopping for my mom or sister-in-law I could come up with a zillion different ideas.  I saw Cuffhim.com on UrbanDaddy today,  they make custom cufflinks based on a man's signature.  Clever, right?  These would be great for groomsmen gifts or a little something to help someone celebrate a special day.  I would avoid those diamond ones though, a bit over the top for my taste. 

LuLu Powers Food to Flowers On Sale on OneKingsLane

From one of the most well-known caterers in LA comes a book to arm us with over 100 menu ideas and lots of party planning tips.  Yes, us regular people can throw kick ass parties too!  I have been eying this book and it is now on sale on onekingslane.com for just $24, but the sale won't last long, so buy now...I am!  If you are not yet a member of onekingslane, click here to join.  This is also a great hostess gift or housewarming present.

Halloween Decorations, Invitations & More from Martha

Martha Stewart is an empire, she is everywhere.  She has her own line at Michael's crafts and I found some fun, Halloween finds.  Seeing these has made me want to have a Halloween party.  My mom always said you should pick one holiday to host a party for and stick with it each year to build upon your decorations.  I have two traditions so far, Christmakkuh (thanks to the OC of course) and I have hosted an Eagles football party for five years,  bringing Philly traditions to Boston.  I now see a Halloween party in my future!  


Be sure to check out the Michael's website because there is so much more to see!

I love these beverage labels so much, 

I am getting them anyway. 

I am going to add these to the wine bottles since it is a tradition to hang in the garden, sipping wine as we hand out candy. 

Treat boxes & they come with the ribbon

Test tube favor kit - you can use these for non-Halloween parties too

 Hanging Skeleton

Mice silhouettes

Silhouette bats with gemstone eyes

Window witch cling

Trick or treat garland

Invitation in a bottle

Mad scientist invitations

Vampire invitations