the boston wedding magazine had a party at the boston public library last night. our company donated the flowers for this event, which everyone loved. we met lots of cool people, ate delicious food, and enjoyed the lovely decor, and all in a really great venue.

here is a flower arrangement featured in the current issue. it costs $1500, for just this ONE. what do you think? worth it?

i woke up from an hour-long nap yesterday morning, FREAKED out because I HAD DREAMT that i was the girl at the end of of the third episode in true blood’s third season. by the way, i love the song that is played during this scene. it’s by damien rice and it’s called “9 crimes.” this season is definitely leaving an impression on me.

local natives “airplanes.” it is stuck in my head.

flowers that weather the heat best:

orchids
roses
callas
celosias
lisianthas
hydrangeas

tip on top of tip: don’t snip the ends of hydrangeas with scissors. break the ends at one of the knots. they drink lots of water and this will help them hydrate faster.

to find out more about tips on beating the heat for your special summer party, go to martha stewart’s wedding blog

first, a fun fact.

in 1765 america’s first chocolate factory, baker’s, was founded in dorchester, massachusetts.

the ice cream sundae was invented in the late 1800’s at bailey’s ice cream parlor on tremont street in downtown boston. now, i just recently had one of the best sundae’s on tremont street, i don’t think it was bailey’s, but it was across the street from the beehive in the south end.

aroa fine chocolate, also located in the south end, has the most delicious chocolate tart. no more than an 8″ pie crust filled with an airy, crystalized chocolate filling (is that difficult to imagine? trust me, very possible), topped with homemade whipped cream and a candied orange rind good enough to eat. on a scale of yuck to yum, i give this dessert a yum-yum.

burdick’s in harvard square, cambridge, was voted the best hot chocolate in the boston globe, january 2009. they called it “the ultimate cup.” words cannot do this confection justice. go have a cup and you will know exactly what i mean.

a few dollars go a long way.  start by adding flowers in each room.  they add color and character to any room and it’s so simple!

i spent about ten dollars on these hot red spray roses and made small arrangements like this one in our bedroom, bathroom and living room.

“home” by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros.

i first heard this song a couple weeks ago and i couldn’t tell if it was old or new.  it has an old time country feel to it and i found myself wanting to listen to it over and over again.  the lyrics are so sweet, a perfect love song.

my favorite line…”home is where ever i’m with you.”

these are my kind of women.  atlanta, who cares, i’ve never even been there before and to be honest, they are way too ghetto for me.  ghetto-ness really annoys me, like a lot.  orange county is a sexy show but i just can’t relate.  i think plastic.  jersey, meh.  i’m so over the danielle drama.  get over it, and caroline needs to stop acting so scary on the show.  she is the godfather’s daughter and looks like she wants to bite danielle’s head off, every minute.

but new york…the women are busy planning charity events, having yacht-cations, getting pregnant, going to the hamptons, falling in and out of love, running their own businesses, having lunch with their children.  these are real business women who are sassy with the perfect level of bitchy-ness.  love it.  bottom line is they are dynamic.  favorite housewife goes to bethany.   a woman of true color.

i googled cape cod beaches and these photos popped up.  after looking closely at the colors, i noticed that we already have white, brown and cream in our existing color palette.

or some time now, i have been wanting to add some color to our apartment.  we have a contemporary/modern look teemed with hues of brown, beige, black and hard wood floors–all neutral colors.  now, these colors all may sound a bit boring together, but they actually make a great canvas for adding temporary colorful elements to our living room.

personally i love color.  i love walking into a room that is filled with different shades of red with bits of yellow.  it says it’s different, fun, and not afraid to be different.  even though i appreciate rooms that take a risk, i am taking a risk-free approach to adding bits of color to our place.

#1, i live with my boyfriend and there is an element of compromise in there.  #2, our living room and kitchen have an open floor layout, plus our place is somewhat small.  we have a good sized bedroom, but the common areas are relatively small, so safe, cool, colors are our best bet.

after doing a bit of research, i’ve found various sites that have helped me find a good starting point.  here, let me share them with you…

find some inspiration   start with a picture that you like.  this visual will give you the advantage of seeing all of the colors that you like together.  you can ask yourself some simple questions when conducting this search:

Are some of the colors in your picture already in the color palette of your room/project?  Are these warm/cool colors?  What do you want to feel when you enter the room–a more relaxed, calming feeling (cool colors) or a warm, inviting sensation (warm colors)?  Why this picture?  Maybe is has some sort of sentimental value to you.  Did you take a memorable vacation here?

what’s your favorite color    many sites write about incorporating your favorite color into your design.  just because you have a favorite color, mine right now is teal, it does not mean that it has to be the focal point of your room.  it can be, but get creative and explore other options.

concentrate on another focal point, such as a fireplace or mantle.  adding accents to the focal point can be a nice way to tie the whole room together.  since we don’t have a fireplace, i think our focal point is going to be our television.  it is the first thing you see when you walk in, it stands on a beautiful piece of simple, dark wood, furniture, and its great for entertaining!  plus, with our l-shaped couch, you can tell that this place was meant for cozy movie nights.

right now, i am still in the process of picking ‘our photo’ for our inspiration.  this seems like a great idea.  photos coming soon.

not feeling too hot after the summer’s biggest bash? send your guests home with these neat hangover favors in a retro ice-bag.  fill ‘em with tylenol, tiny water bottle, sunglasses…read more about this diy here.

happy easter.  even though i spent the holiday in my hometown, norwalk, ct, i was too busy eating delicious homemade meals to stop into my favorite cafe, chocopologie.  i really wish i stopped in to pick up this very adorable quail egg carton for desert.

knipschildt choclatier’s cafe/retail store provides a “behind the scene peek” into the chocolate making process while you wait for your barista to make your hot chocolate.  fritz knipschildt, founder and maitre chocolatier, uses the finest ingredients, a fun-approach in naming his chocolates while packaging the hand-molded chocolates in a handmade box, perfect for gift giving.

you can stop in for a latte and a chocolate croissant, a crepe and salty fries for lunch, or to pick up sweets for your sweetie.  think classic recipes with a modern twist.

milano delight

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of vanilla yogurt
• 1 scoop of chocolate whey protein
• 1 orange, cubed
• 4 iced cubes
• 3/4 cup of pomegranate juice

METHOD:  add all ingredients into blender, and blend, mix, pulse, or ice crush.  its all the same.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

METHOD

1 make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 while the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

serve with ice, sliced lemons.

serves 6.

recipe taken from simple recipes