Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Lemon Tea Party

Lemon Tea Party

The snow may still be on the ground, the storms may be brewing outside, but it's March and I officially deemed it Spring in my house!  When I'm tired of the winter blues, all i want is the color Yellow everywhere.  As I was thinking about what I should do with yellow, I thought of my favorite place in Italy which is the Island of Capri.  It's this beautiful Island that has the most amazing food and it's all inspired by Citrus, not to mention its probably the most romantic place I have ever been.  So as I thought about that, I thought about my favorite tea and one thing lead to another and I came up with this...

Capri Italy



So this room was all inspired by citrus Yellows and lime Greens.  I wanted to bring in the whole vintage spring look and make it feel light and fresh in my house.  So we brought in greenery, spring flowers, vintage pieces along with a nice blend of modern and vintage dishes.  For my table cloth, all i had was a white table cloth so to add texture, color, and help bring in the Vintage look I wanted, I took some vintage handkerchief that i picked up at a thrift store for cheap,  and laid them across in a diagonal pattern.  The chairs were given a wreath of greenery that just brought in a touch of color, and were hung by a simple yellow ribbon.  The couch I switched out the Valentine red pillows and brought in fresh greens and yellow.  The dessert is a lemon and chocolate petifore that i picked up from Mrs Bakers Bakery in Salt Lake City.  It is the only place I know of that carries traditional petifores, and I must say, probably the best thing in their bakery!  The tea is a lemon cinnamon tea that my roommate introduced me too and has become a nightly favorite of mine.




Lemon Cinnamon Tea

1 Lemon
2 Sticks of Cinnamon
2 Cups Water
Honey to Taste (or Agave, but I typically use Truvia)

In a tea pot place 2 cups of water, 2 cinnamon sticks, and one fresh squeezed lemon in a pot of water.  Let boil for 20 minutes and add in tea cup, add sweetener and enjoy!  Simply I know, but its amazing and great for your metabolism since both lemon and cinnamon rev it up!










Tuesday, March 22, 2011

St. Pattys Dinner


Sorry this is a wee bit late, but I've been a little behind and now im playing catch up!  So as I have explained, I have the most amazing, talented Mother who has created a love of holidays for me.  Ever since we were little my Mother has always made every Holiday special in our home.  So for St. Patricks day, she would always do a "Green" meal.  So for this St. Patricks day, we looked up Irish recipes, and decided to mix it with our Green dinner. Then we set the table scape to match our Green Irish theme...

Meal Plan

1st Course-   Irish Cheddar Cheesy Broccoli Soup
2nd Course-  Green Fruit
3rd Course-   Green Salad with Creamy Pesto Dressing
4th Course-   Irish Shepard Pie
5th Course-   Green Bread Pudding (we used Paula Deans recipe, it was so sweet I could hardly eat more then a bite.)

And the drink was Irish Luck Smoothie which i will share with everyone on my next post...


Four leaf clovers... had to have the Luck of the Irish!







We wanted to mimic the ribbon to be a 3 leaf clover theme

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Valentines Party

Valentines Day... the least favorite day for singles... So if you have to endure it, you might as well make it fun right?  So since it was a Monday and everyone had to work, we decided that we should get together and have a girls night with good food, good drinks, and chick flicks.  We picked "Someone Like You" because I think the whole Cow theory is pretty hysterical.  Then we made homemade sushi, Chocolate popcorn, drank Sangrias,Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris, and ate low fat black forest custard... its probably one of my favorite desserts!  I actually got it out of the South Beach Diet book and then tweaked it a little... the other desserts on this page I made throughout the month for different events.  Theres sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting, and cupcakes that are Strawberry shortcake with strawberry frosting and chocolate dipped strawberry, black forest cupcake filled with cherries in the middle, and chocolate ganache and some cream cheese frosting, and Vanilla bean with cream cheese frosting and shaved coconut.













Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Ice Castles

For those of you who live in Utah, I highly suggest taking a little excursion up to Midway to see the Ice Castles.  Last year, my roommate Maria and I were heading home from a day in Park City, when she wanted to show me the ZerMatt Resort in Midway.  One of our favorite teachers from Design School had done the interiors of it, and I had always wanted to see it.  Its really charming, with the whole Swiss look, including sheep grazing in the hills behind it, a spa, and restaurant.

When we pulled up, we noticed these huge ice sculptures in front of the main building.  We wandered inside and met the man who created them, and he told us about his "art" and what he had dreamed for them.  They were amazing last year, so we thought we would journey up and see them this year.  They moved to a different location, but are larger and you can actually walk through them.  So if you have ever dreamed of walking through an Ice Cave or having a fun time taking pictures in a Winter Wonderland setting, I highly suggest visiting these at night when they turn the lights on inside them.  The most beautiful part about it, is all these photos are in the raw, i didn't tweak any of them.  Thats just what the ice does, the only lights in them are white. Then of course, after you finish you should go out and have yourself a little Cuppa hot coco!




Monday, March 7, 2011

Alice's Tea Cup- New York City


The first week of December, my Mom took my younger sister and I on a lovely girls trip to New York City.   I have always wanted to see New York during the Christmas season so I was beyond excited.  On our flight over, my sister bought a gossip magazine and read up about Alice's Tea Cup, and how its Katie Holmes favorite place to take her daughter.  Since I have such a love of Tea Shops, we decided that it was going to be a must do on our list.   So with the four days we were there, we went window shopping and of course actual shopping,  saw a few musicals  (loved In the Heights) and then we decided to skip our usual brunch at Normas, and before we flew out, we went to Alice's Tea Cup.


I was completely enchanted by the whimsical charm of the building, its pretty much a little girls dream come true. The moment you walk in they have little Alice in Wonderland pictures, and figurines all over the place (Its pretty similar to Serendipity.)  The stairs have children's butterfly wings attached all the way up the stairs, then the booths are fun and playful along with the seating.  They have a list of homemade teas that they make, I ordered Christmas Tea and it was fantastic!  We ate brunch there, my sister got the pumpkin pancakes (fabulous), my Mother ordered some eggs benedict on a ham and cheese scone (we didn't love it), and I got the french toast bread pudding style with berries and cream that were cooked on the bottom.  It was pretty delicious.  All and all i highly suggest going there next time your in New York.  It's not really close to anything, but its fun and the food is great, but the experience is just exciting! They also have a cookbook, which i purchased and will do a tea party on in the spring... stay tuned for recipes.  So heres some pictures of our trip, and of course my favorite little tea shop in New York City!