Love Notes

My new favourite stationery design company is Blue Pool Road in Los Angeles.  Peggy Wong, owner  has a CV of experience to kill in art direction and she has a great eye for design which shows so well in her stationery.

I love her love notes.  I have never sent a love note before on such beautiful stationary but Peggy has motivated me to start.

Her website does more justice to her products than the pictures  I have- I can only provide a sneak peak!

Setting the Table Emily Post Style

Ever find yourself scratching your head when setting up for a dinner party which side the fork and the spoon go on?Well if you know as much that forks and spoons never go together on the same side of the plate- you are doing alright.   

However, from time to time it is nice to have a visual refresher to reference for those important entertaining moments we have in our lives.  So, for all your entertaining needs, I have found three diagrams that will take you from a casual dinner with friends, to dinner with the in-laws and royalty from the Emily Post Institute, aka the ultimate reference for anything to do with etiquette.

Pre-dating Kate Spade’s books on Manners came Emily Post’s 1922 book titled Etiquette in Society, Business, Politics and Home  which can be found on Amazon.com here.  Emily Post, originally from Baltimore, married and moved to New York in the early 1900s where she developed her voice and career writing about architecture, interior design, and etiquette.  Wildly popular, her book Etiquette became and authority on how to behave in society like a lady.  Ms. Post’s work continues today post mortem via the Emily Post Institute by her great grandson’s wife, Peggy Post.

Back to table setting-keep these handy and you’ll never go wrong:

(via emily post institute)

Informal Table Setting (via Emily Post Institute)

Formal Table Setting (for Royalty/In-laws) via Emily Post

Mildred’s Temple Kitchen- Cool Venue TO

Looking for a non-traditional venue in Toronto to host a party?

I have good vibes about the newly opened restaurant in the King and Dufferin (Liberty Village) area, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen. 

(via yelp.com)

The industrial meets minimalist decor would be a cool venue to host a lunch or dinner party with friends.

The long orientation of the room lends itself to dining on long, elegant tables and the lovely lights hanging from the ceiling is perfect for creating a romantic glow.

Mildred's Temple Kitchen (via Eyeweekly)

(via martiniboys.com)

myhkwedding.com

I lived in Hong Kong for a year and there is no shortage of parties and event resources in the city.

Should you ever have the opportunity to plan a wedding or party in the city that never sleeps, I would recommend checking out www.myhkwedding.com 

The site has tones of resources on flowers, venues, dresses, gifts and anything else you should need to pull off a successful party.

I would recommend looking at the florals from Kim Chan Flowers and Gary Kwok Flowers.

Dizzying Pink Venue

I saw this picture about a year or two ago in Business Week Magazine  and something prompted me today to think about the interior design by Philip Treacy of the G Hotel in Ireland. 

I was thinking about venues that don’t require a lot of decor and that speak for themselves.   I was involved in organizing two wine tasting tours this week in Montreal and Toronto.  Both venues had enough of a backdrop to reduce the need to buy flowers and gussy up the room. 

Somehow my train of thought led me back to the image below from the boutique hotel in Ireland.  Wouldn’t it be fun to hold an event in this room?  All you would have to do is to rent a long  black table for 12, find some white or black table top accessories, maybe a pink flower or two if you can bare to add more pink and you’ve got yourself a memorable backdrop to an event.

The G Hotel in Ireland (via Business Week)

Doorway leading into pink room (via institute of designers Ireland)