A Very Happy Birthday

I celebrated a milestone birthday over the weekend and it was simply amazing. A group of friends banded together to host the event, which was held in a recently re-built barn. The evening’s theme was Tweeds & Tartans, Tophats & Tiaras! The evening started with a ride down to the barn in a bunting-festooned Gator, with two bag-pipers leading the way.

The guests were great sports and many dressed as specified for the party!

And I was awarded numerous titles, including Lady Baltimore, Viscountess of the Discountess, Baroness of the Blog, Archduchess of Architecture, Princess of Pigtown and most wonderful of all, Queen of Hearts!

My friend Andrea made the medals, which were truly spectacular! I am planning on framing all of them in shadow boxes.

We were so pleased that HRH Queen Elizabeth II could join us for the party, and she was such a good sport about interacting with the guests.

Andrea was also responsible for the flowers at the party, which were just incredible.

Each one of the planning group was responsible for an aspect of the party. Stiles & Jonathan provided the venue and the menu, David & Chad provided the libations, Andrea did the flowers and decorations, Tracey found the entertainment, which included the pipers and the [Drag!] Queen, and Cat made the desserts, the most amazing pear-spice cakes for everyone!

It was such an amazing evening, filled with hilarious toasts from the hosts, loads of great friends, all of my siblings and their spouses, lots of fun and interesting conversations, and love all around. To my besties who planned the party… It’s a night I will never forget! Love you all to the moon and back! xoxoxoxo

Popped the Pop-Up!

Well, the Pigtown Anglo-American Pop-Up was a huge success! Actually, so successful that I kept it open for an extra two weeks at the request of the shopping village where I had opened.

We had planned to open with a little sip & shop party, but I ended up not getting into the space until the day before I had planned to open, so that plan was scrapped. And working all day to set up the shop didn’t really put me in the mood to party. Plus, we had a huge storm that evening and got 2.5” of rain! Just what we needed (haha!).

My friend, Stiles, helped me finesse the shop’s final look and made it really look spectacular. He knew exactly how to arrange the display shelves and tables perfectly, and brought along risers and stands, as well as ladders from his shop, Halcyon House Antiques.

I was fascinated to see that almost all the really HUGE pieces sold first. Platters, trays, tureens, candlesticks, bowls and pitchers, all went in the first two weekends. In fact, I had sold so much, that I had to plunder my house to get more items to fill the shelves.

The shop was located in a 50-year old mixed-use development, and one of the things I loved about it was that it was full of light, no matter how dreary the day was.

As always, my favourite pieces are the glass domes! Most of them sold, but in the meantime, I had fun filling them with both items from the shop and seasonal Baby Boo pumpkins.

And who doesn’t love transferware! I had it in a range of colours, including the rare mulberry!

All in all, it was a fun experience. At times, I felt like it was a revolving cocktail party with all of the friends coming and going. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to buy or just to say hello!

Festival of Fabrics

Earlier this week, John Rosselli at the D&D Building in NYC hosted a Festival of Fabrics.I really wanted to go, but my work and pop-up schedule didn’t allow me enough time to go to NYC for the day. I am such a fabric addict, and there were so many clever ideas at the Festival, that I wanted to share them with you.

The staff at Rosselli created a festival-like atmosphere, complete with tented fabrics, balloons and popcorn.

I love these pinwheels from Right Meets Left Design

How can you not love these little sailboats by Le Gracieux Creative

And the bow of a sailboat peeking out from behind some flowers.

And another view!

How about this Venetian tabletop by Jenny Wolf Interiors!

And another view.

Here is the detail on the Sister Parrish cloth.

John Robshaw umbrellas hanging from the ceiling.

Detail of an umbrella

All in all, it looked like such a fun event, that I am already making plans to go next year!