Veuve Clicquot Champagne

I adore champagne and of course one of my favorites is Veuve. Seeing the orange-yellow label always brings a smile to my face. One of my all time favorite books is The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.



From Amazon: The Widow Clicquot, a fascinating story of the cunning bravery and good fortune that helped build the Veuve Clicquot brand. Widowed at age twenty-seven by the death of her husband François Clicquot, Barbe-Nicole assumed control of her family’s wine business amid the chaos of The Napoleonic Wars. That she became a prominent female leader in a male-dominated industry was one thing; building an empire amid savage political unrest was quite another. With passionate research and true admiration for her subject, Mazzeo pays homage to the beloved Widow from Reims and the remarkable weight her name still carries today.

I also love all the accessories on their site. Why shouldn't your champagne have a Clicquot Traveller? Or a Cruiser Bag?

Today while doing a little grocery shopping, I stumbled upon a wonderful display of Veuve Clicquot Rose Champagne. It is perfect timing for Valentine's Day.

It is the perfect pink for Valentine's Day, actually all year round.

Let the cork pop and the bubbles flow.

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.

Happy 4th of July

My favorite Star Spangled Banner ever. Ever. Please remember all those who have fought and are fighting for our country.