Anthro on Thursday

As I was both drinking my morning tea and browsing on Anthropolgie. Of course, there are so many adorable lovelies on Anthro, but here are few that really popped out at me.

Tea & Crumpets Apron
I love the white ruffle, the pale aqua and of course, the Carrie Bradshawesque flower.


And while wearing my Tea & Crumpets apron, I would enjoy a biscuit from this very cute jar.


My love for Anthro and Elephants comes together in the adorable Elephant Salt & Pepper Shaker. I like that they are white and would really pop against a pretty table runner or table cloth.


Many months ago, I came across this picture and have been hiding it away, waiting to post it. Anthro's signature cups and put to a very unique use. I think this would be lovely for a bridal shower or spelling B-A-B-Y for a baby shower.

Preppy Entertaining

I love to entertain. During the summer, I like to entertain in an informal, casual environment. During the winter, I tend to be more formal with dinners that involve courses. Here in Chicago, we can get hit with lots of snow, below zero temps and 90 mile an hour winds. So inviting everyone inside, it the best choice. Since I am more relaxed in the summer, I like to find items that are fun and cute. One great site is Merry Martini. She has some amazing things. I will post several here, but be sure to check out her website. There are so many must haves for the preppy entertainer.
Perfect to the Lilly Entertainer:


Lovely Madras:

One of my favorites. I love the navy.

A Lilly 4th

For the 4th of July, the boys were on a trip to Michigan. This left the girls to celebrate at home. I decided to do a little twist for the 4th of July. We had a pink and green 4th of July. An Independence Day tribute to Lilly Pulitzer herself. Because I have always loved pink and green together, a lot of what you will see it part of my collection. I only picked up fabric and little buckets.


I started by taking fabric and creating some color on the table. I didn't want to use a full tablecloth because I really love the dark wood of the table.

I made a cross shape and layered the pieces over each other.

Then I created the centerpiece using three different floral arrangements. I definitely believe in groupings of three or odd numbers. I used three different types of flowers and three different vases. I think the trick here is to very the heights and also how full the arrangement looks.



The napkins are a gift from my mother. I used my white corelle dishes and silver Crate & Barrel silverware. For glasses, I used a stemless wine glass for sangria and a champagne flute for champagne. To kick up the glassware a little, I tied different color grosgrain ribbon on the stem of each glass.


Here is a view of the entire table.



Beside the knife and spoon, I also placed a green corn on the cob holder at everyone's place setting. I used little metal buckets from Target's The One Spot to hold condiments and buns. I used scraps of fabric as liners of the buckets.
Our Menu:
Caprese Salad
Gourmet Hamburgers with all the toppings
BBQ Grilled Chicken
Homemade Mac & Cheese
Corn on the Cob
White Sangria
Champagne
For dessert I did a make your own Ice Cream Sundae bar. It was a huge hit. I pretty much bought everything you put on top on a sundae. We ended up making tons of little sundaes to try all the toppings.
Hope you enjoyed my Lilly 4th.