Our Royal Wedding Celebration!

We put a Design Muse spin on our Royal Wedding celebration and unsurprisingly things got real over the top real quick.  Enjoy these highlights from our terribly fun day!

Instead of sending plain 'ol invitations we decided to up the ante and mail tiaras to each of our guests.  While we usually have a the-more-the-merrier take on party invites, we limited the guest list to family only for this particular occasion.  Granted, our family is huge so there were no shortage of invitations to send out, but the cap allowed us to include a lot of personalized touches for each guest.  Instead of just including local family, we sent invitations across the United States and I'm thrilled to say a handful of gals hopped on a plane and joined us!  

My favorite part of the event itself was the table decor.  We raided our event styling inventory for our favorite ornate pieces and put together a few beautiful flower arrangements using peonies, brightly colored poppies, a variety of roses and a few other beautiful blooms.  We couldn't fit all 16 guests at the dining table, so in an effort to avoid the feel of a "kids table", we got creative and came up with an inclusive T shaped layout.  We bought a beautiful gold fabric to create custom tablecloths and red velvet to fabricate the runners.  Each place setting included one of Hester and Cook's Gilded Frame Die Cut Paper Placemats and a personalized Table Accent Place Card...the perfect finishing touches!  

I used our Cricut (a purchase which- for the record- pretty much changed my life) to create a few embellished monogrammed seals that we placed on the runners.  I also used it to create some precision cuts on the Instrument of Consent we displayed that gave Harry and Meghan permission to marry.  

We rolled out the red carpet (quite literally, as you can see) and guests were greeted by a friendly member of the paparazzi (alias: Paul Wharton of Paul Wharton Photography).   When my Mom came up with the idea to order a red carpet I cracked up, but it was such a fabulous addition to the day and really added to the VIP experience we were trying to create. 

We kept the menu fairly simple, and decided against making it too British (because let's be honest...the Brits do a lot of things well, but food isn't one of them).  I ordered an assortment of Tea Forte blends, and a special Harney & Sons Royal Wedding Tea for the occasion.  We also set up a Mimosa bar and station for coffee.  Since our celebration was taking place mid-morning, the menu consisted of fresh fruit, macarons, tea sandwiches (peach/honey/ricotta and avocado/cucumber), shortbread cookies, charcuterie, quiche, yogurt parfaits, breakfast meats, a light salad and my Mom's famous homemade scones.  I also whipped up what turned out to be a delicious replica of Harry and Meghan's Lemon Elderflower cake and topped it with fresh flowers. 

One of the most memorable moments of the day was when my cousin, Natalie, made a quick costume change and re-entered the party wearing her mom's wedding dress.  It was hilarious and sweet all at the same time.  

Another special moment came when I received a few picture texts from my mother-in-law.  She and my beautiful niece Ava weren't able to make the trip from Virginia to join us, so they threw on their tiaras, invited over a few special guests of their own and had a lovely satellite party.  

                   

We watched the guests arrive while we ate (with much commentary, as you can imagine) and then moved to the sofas to watch the wedding itself.  Royal Wedding fan or not, if you haven't watched the ceremony yet you should put it on your to do list!  It was beautiful from start to finish but, as many have said, Bishop Michael Curry stole the show with his impassioned message on the power of love.  

I teared up on a few occasions, but cried very real tears when The Kingdom Choir performed Stand By Me.  While many moments of the Royal Wedding made me think of my own marriage and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband in Davey, this particular song made me grateful for the community of women that surrounded me in that moment.  The last few years have been challenging for our family, but the women in that room and the ones who couldn't attend but celebrated with us from a distance have consistently poured so much life into me.  I looked around and saw strength, love and the main characters from most of the best stories I have.  The gift of a life crowned with family is unlike any other.  Makes me feel luckier than a princess. :)

Let's give this another go, shall we?

I’ve started, erased and re-started this sentence many times over the course of many months…each time with the same image in my head.  In said image I’m standing on top of a mountain yelling “hello! (*echo*echo*echo*)….is anyone out there?! (*echo*echo*echo*).  And then I laugh- both the me in my head and the me doing the imagining- because of course no one is out there!  It’s been well over a year since my last post!  

Truth be told, I didn’t so much decide to take a break from blogging as it just sort of…happened.  A week turned into a month, “after the wedding” turned into “after the holidays” and then- at some point- it just wasn’t even on my radar anymore (there’s a sermon in that, ladies and gents).  

Cut to today…I’m out of practice and starting from scratch.  But I’m going for it anyway!  And it’s gonna be a little bit tricky- sure- but I’m so genuinely excited to be back in the game.  Here’s a few things you can expect to see unfold over the next few weeks (and months and years, provided this pans out according to plan)…

-New topics: We’re covering a bit more ground on the lifestyle front and dabbling in mens fashion, music, and a few other uncharted territories.  It’s gonna be a lot of fun and I’m excited for you to check it out.

-New ideas: Our goal is fresh and truly original content which, truth be told, is really hard to come up with!  We’re focusing on quality over quantity these days so instead of posting every day (or multiple times a day like I used to at the peak of my insanity), we’ll post about 3 times a week.  My hope is that this approach allows time to improve the posts themselves and gives me some room in my schedule to engage in social media.  

-New faces: I’ve recruited some help from my family and it’s- hands down- the best call I’ve made in awhile.  They’re so creative and brilliant in ways I could never hope to be.  My husband, parents, brothers (by blood and by marriage), and a handful of my cousins will pop up every so often and I can’t wait to share their wit and wisdom with you.  

So there it is, folks- I’m back!  I hope you’ll check back in every so often cause we’re filling this space with all the inspiration, resources and merrymaking we can create.  Have the most fabulous day!

-Gab

Never Fear, I'm Still Here!

Guys…I am loosing it.  I'm the worst blogger in the world!  I've always liked to think consistency was my strong suit but the last few weeks I've just been all over the place with my posting.  I'm so, so sorry!  Let the record show, I'm not looking to wind down and call it quits here…just adjusting to the new normal of house and wedding planning, moving, etc.  From what I'm told, this too shall pass but in the meantime I'll try my very best to stay on the ball.  It's a new week and a much needed fresh start, let's make it a great one!  

Adventures In Italy: Venice

Venice gave off the strongest movie vibe of any of the cities we visited for two main reasons...1) A city on the water just doesn't feel like it can exist outside of a set and 2) We ran into a few dilemmas there that were script-like in nature.  Turns out navigating Venice is not for the faint of heart.  It goes without saying, however, that it's a phenomenally gorgeous place to visit...case in point:

After finding our way to Hotel Pesaro Palace (which was beautiful and in a great location, for the record) we headed out towards the famous Piazza San Marco.  We strolled around for a few minutes and enjoyed the grand architecture, abundance of live music, and the strange feeling of being around so many people without the sound of cars in the background.  We even saw a couple get engaged (and more than likely dominated the background of their pictures...here's hoping we're out of focus)!  

We walked from the Piazza San Marco to our first official Venetian activity, a night at the opera, and enjoyed a performance of The Barber of Seville in the spellbinding Musica a Palazzo.  The lighting didn't lend itself to pictures, but I snapped this shot just before we left to give you an idea of one of the rooms we were in.

The venue, Barbarigo Minotto Palace, was a treat in and of itself and set the evening apart from any other opera we're likely to experience.  The performers' powerful voices filled the small, intimate rooms of this 15th century palace and it was all but impossible to not feel like a part of the story.  The various acts took place in different rooms of the house and we moved about accordingly, stunned at how each space was somehow more beautiful than the one before it.  

We spent our last full day in Italy exploring off the beaten bath with an Urban Adventures Cicchetti of Venice Tour.  Our guide, Cecelia, was perhaps the most entertaining character we encountered all trip (true story: my Mom is actually somewhat intent on getting her on television).  She showed us the value of wandering even one block away from touristy areas and gave us a really fun taste of local life.  Our tour focused on sampling Cicchetti, the Venetian equivalent of Spanish tapas...small, often bite size dishes that pair oh so nicely with Venetian wine.       

We toured five different Bacari wine bars, each with a different delectable offering, all filled to the brim with people.

There were a couple we couldn't even fit in, though standing in the street came with it's own set of benefits.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

We had the great pleasure of taking our tour alongside another traveling family of four, a lovely couple from Chicago and their two young daughters.  Turns out their eldest, Caitlin, is a food blogger!  While she and I exchanged information, Joey attempted to teach her sister a few youngest child strategies, explaining how you can- and I quote- "get away with anything" (which he- true to form- got away with haha).  For detailed notes about every dish we ate and all kinds of other really tasty looking recipes, check out Caitlin's blog, A Ginger's Gourmet Goods.

Not surprisingly, I think I can best compare our trip as a whole to a really phenomenal meal.  Rome was an ideal appetizer- the best imaginable introduction to Italy's storied history and culture, Florence turned out to be the heart of the trip- an unforgettable main course if ever there was one, and Venice was the intensely rich dessert- too much could get to you but the right amount is the perfect ending.  I'll be forever grateful to my parents for taking us on this trip of a lifetime!  In a phrase, Italy was more than- more than I imagined, more than I expected, more than I hoped- it was just more.  To be able to share this experience with the best family in the world was such a gift.  Every day with them is the best kind of adventure...can't wait to tackle our next one together.

Adventures In Italy: Florence

While I'll try my best to keep it in check, I can't promise I won't severely overuse the word "favorite" in this post.  And why is this?  (That one's just for you, Beretta crew) It is because Florence is my favorite.  It just was and it is and I suspect it may always be.  From the moment we got off the train, I knew we'd landed someplace special...an idea that was confirmed on the way to the hotel when I saw the Florence Cathedral.  Even after all the grandeur of Rome, this building blew me away (though again, you can't get a good sense of scale which is a bummer).  

We also found what I'm pretty sure is/was a way to tie up your horse for the day but what I want to believe is a gigantic door knocker.

Our hotel, the NH Porta Rossa was (wait for it) my favorite of all the places we stayed.  Somehow I managed to leave without snapping a single picture, but you can check out their gallery here- the way they combine classic and modern decor is genius.  

We spent our first evening in Florence at Giglio Cooking School with the wonderful and talented Marcella.  Since I come from a family that loves food- we grow it, we talk about it (a lot), we enjoy it- we were all particularly excited to take the class.  Oh, what a night it turned out to be!  Learning from Marcella was delightful.  Her knowledge of food and technique was so impressive, and it was obvious off the bat that she had a wealth of experience as a chef and teacher.  

Marcella provided great direction which made the hands on nature of the class fun instead of intimidating.  We went through every step of the process...if there were almonds to mince, we minced them, when mussels needed cleaning, we cleaned them...none of those pre-chopped bowls of veggies you see on cooking shows.  You left with the feeling that "I could actually make this"- cause you did actually make it!  

One of the most incredible elements of the meal was how fresh all the ingredients were.  The pears were picked that morning, the herbs cut right from her garden as we needed them and the seafood was some of the freshest I've ever enjoyed.

I'm gonna share the recipes we learned in upcoming Foodie Files which I'm so excited about.  You can't believe how delicious they are!

We made a seafood risotto...

...lamb breaded in almonds and herbs (with the most incredible fresh beans)...

...and a tasty dessert I'll feature next week.  You're just gonna have to check back in to see it (pretty tricky of me, huh?).  We spent our second day in Florence touring beautiful Montepulciano through Italy and Wine.  Our expert guide, Giovanni, kept us interested and entertained throughout all four hours in the car (two there, two back) and shared all kinds of great insights into the history of Tuscany and the regional wine trade.  I'm sure the trip should've seemed long, but between Giovanni's tidbits and the lovely scenery it was actually really enjoyable.  

Arriving at our first vineyard was like a dream.  We toured the Boscarelli estate and learned all about the care and harvesting of their vines (all done by hand!) and development and production of their wines.

Next we headed to a glorious wine tasting.  After seeing the artistry of their production, the depth and flavor of their wines came as no surprise. 

I'm hesitant to name a favorite because they were all so delightful, but if you forced my hand I think I'd say the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva.  At the risk of boring you with a bunch of snobby sounding wine language I may or may not be using correctly I will just say this: it tastes really, really delicious.   

If we had turned around and headed straight back to Florence at that point I think it still would've qualified as my favorite activity of our trip, but luckily the day wasn't close to over yet.  Giovanni brought us to Ristorante Fattoria Pulcino for lunch, where we ate some of the tastiest food of our trip and enjoyed- hands down- the most beautiful view of any restaurant we came across.    

Since- as previously discussed- my favorite Design Muse post of all time was our Table for Twelve Tuscan Night, you can imagine how thrilled I was to actually sit down for a meal in the heart of Tuscany.  I know it sounds silly, but when I realized our party was somewhat reminiscent of the real deal it felt like a mini life victory.  

After eating way too much, we jumped back in the car and headed to our second vineyard, Le Bèrne.  Giovanni explained that Le Bèrne was more traditionally Tuscan than Boscarelli, offering wines like the region's famous Vin Santo.   

We so enjoyed the Le Bèrne selections during our wine tasting...my brother and Dad especially were all but doing cartwheels (from excitement not volume consumed for the record, ha).  Before we left we got another fun treat- a taste of homemade extra virgin olive oil, made from olives grown on the property we just toured.  As someone who uses olive oil in essentially every dish, it was incredible to taste one this fresh!  

We headed back to Florence with so many special memories....what a delightful, perfect day in paradise.  As wonderful as the rest of the trip was, I have to say I was ready to leave Rome and I was ready to leave Venice...they were lovely and fun but we scheduled the exact right amount of time in each.  I was sad, on the other hand, to leave Florence.  There's a magic there and in the surrounding areas I won't soon forget.  Oh, and one last thing!  Best pizza of the trip: La Bussola.  There are no words.