Wednesday, May 26, 2010

LOST Finale

As "LOST"ies, we were super excited for the "LOST" finale that we hosted a "LOST" Finale party, with a showing on the lawn. For a show that was set on an island, it was difficult to decorate with island-themed decorations for a show where the island was more hell than paradise. So I had to improvise with some different options.

For invitations, I found some photos of the show's "OCEANIC AIRLINES" tickets online. I found some "OCEANIC" logos online to download, as well as created a bar code from the numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42 to use on the ticket. I made these in Publisher with each guest's name on them, as well as ticket and seat numbers with the famous numbers, and sent them out in "Oceanic" envelopes. I thought they came out pretty well:


I have a set of silver letters with wood bases that I use to decorate for a themed party. I broke these out to see what I could make with the letters that I had. I was able to spell "L-O-S-T" and decorate the food table with a simple green table cloth and some netting that I found at the Dollar Store.



It was late in the day when I realized that my husband picked up this giant vintage screen print airplane for $5 at a church sale, to be used someday in his retro man-cave in our next house. It was perfect as a backdrop to our food buffet. If you look closely, you will see I used my lettering kit to spell "Oceanic Flight 815", and set our antique clock to 8:15PM. You may also catch a polar bear or two around the house, another significant event in the world of "LOST".



Weeks before we finalized the party, I found an amazing website that had every food label you would need from the Dharma Initiative. If you did not watch the show, a quick recap: there were experiments being conducted on the island by the research group, the Dharma Initiative. All of their food was generically labeled. I printed out labels for all the food and drinks we served, and I have to admit, our fridge was a bit intimidating:



I served chips and salsa, mini chocolates, island fruit, and friend chicken from "Mr. Clucks Chicken Shack". Since the finale was not on until 9pm, we went light on the food.

My sister-in-law was equally as intimidating as the fridge, in her awesome, homemade "Others" jumpsuit. You also may notice I had the infamous numbers on the mantel:



To set the scene at the front of our house, I realized that our rustic wood wreath could be converted to a Dharma symbol with a little black ribbon. I then used some sticky numbers, purchased at Michael's for $2, to add to the ribbon to add the LOST numbers again. With a little brown paper covering our wood and glass door, I cu out the paper from just behind the wreath to make the "Hatch". I think it looks pretty amazing with our tiki torches and the glow from the inside of the house.



And all of the "LOST"ies got to take home air sickness bags, courtesy of "Oceanic Airlines", for which I created labels as well. Again, I filled the bags with mini airplanes, bags of peanuts, and Goldfish (remember the fish shaped cookies in the bear cages where Sawyer and Kate were kept?). And some more polar bears lurking around the house:


The finale was not the most popular event, as most people who left at 11:45PM were scratching their heads trying to figure out what just happened, in true "LOST" fashion. As much as they didn't remember from the entire show, I'm sure they won't forget the party!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Our trip to Charleston was wonderful! We got to eat AMAZING food, visit lots of antique shops, and even check out a Charleston Riverdogs Minor League Baseball Game! Here were our favorites from the trip:

Hominy Grill - for any meal. Truly incredible, homemade food that warms your soul. I even bought their cookbook during this visit, I love the place so much.

Tristan - a wonderful upscale restaurant with a diverse food selection, great wines, and modern atmosphere. We went here to celebrate a special event, but would also be a great date-night spot.

Pavillion Bar- rooftop bar at the Market Pavilion Hotel on Bay Street with amazing atmosphere. Grab a drink overlooking all of Charleston, this is the best view in town!

Charleston Riverdogs- We actually had the most fun at the Charleston Riverdogs game. As featured on the Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel, the stadium offers many unique hot dogs that are all delicious! The stadium also offers fun activities for kids, and the baseball is pretty good too!

For more places to go, a fantastic quick guide to Charleston, visit the Design*Sponge blog here: Design*Sponge

Monday, April 19, 2010

Time Off

Sorry I have been away from the blog for a little while.... After Easter, we decided to take a long weekend to go visit one of my favorite places - Charleston, South Carolina. I have been playing catchup ever since we got back.

Stay tuned for some Lowcountry Recipes from beautiful Charleston, perfect for those spring and summer cookouts and gatherings with friends! See 'yall soon!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Winner for Giveaway #3

Congratulations to Janet - she won our giveaway for the book How to Break An Egg - 1,453 Kitchen Tips, Food Fixes, Emergency Substitutions, and Handy Techniques. And since Janet is a dear friend, I'm warning her now that I will be reading through her book before I give it to her!

As our Birthday month comes to a close, I would like to thank each one of you, not only for your participation in our giveaways and your birthday wishes, but for reading this blog on a weekly basis. While "life" has happened lately to make postings a little more sparse, I promise more recipes and entertaining ideas to come this spring and summer!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Winners for Giveaway #2

We have our winners for Giveaway #2! Random.org picked comment numbers 10 and 11. Congratulations to Ashley of Ashley's Modern Ideas and Susie of Hillcrest Acres! I will be in contact with you soon for your mailing addresses!

To those of you who didn't win this week, be sure to check out Giveaway #3 for a fantastic book every Hostess needs!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

What Kind of Hostess Are You and FTH Giveaway #3

All Hostesses are different.

I am the kind to prepare a menu far in advance, have candles lit around the house, music playing to complement the party theme, and wine flowing before guests arrive. The bathroom is cleaner than it has been all month, and anything that I didn't have time to properly put away has been stashed into the few closets even nosy guests won't peek. And if it isn't ready by the time guests arrive, I take a sip of wine, put on my best face, and say "forget it!", and continue on with the party as planned. The guests will never know I didn't have time to make that last amazing dessert.

Apparently, according to this fun quiz from the guru herself, Martha Stewart,

What Kind of Hostess Are You?

the correct terminology for what I am is a "Hostess Inspired By Martha". I should have guessed... I am always striving for her party perfection. What kind of Hostess are you? Take the quiz to find out!

And for our FTH Giveaway #3, click here to see what EVERY kind of Hostess needs on hand for any event!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Technical Problems

Hi Friends!

I'm embarrassed!!! There were some technical problems with our comments section for Giveaway #2. I received e-mails from people who couldn't enter properly, so we will be extending the deadline until Friday night to make it fair for all. And we have TWO prizes to give away, so the more entries, the better!

I will still post Giveaway #3 tomorrow, so if you couldn't enter for Giveaway #2, check back tomorrow and be sure to enter both!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Two Of My Favorite Words...

DISCOUNT WINE.

As most of you have seen, there have been online retailers popping up weekly selling designer goods at deeply discounted prices. It was only a matter of time until the wine world caught on.

The Winery Insider features new wines every 24-72 hours, and what I like most about them is that they offer 3 reasonable price points. This week they offer a 2006 Rubicon Estate Captain's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon for $29 (usually $48), a 2004 Chateau Bolaire Bordeaux for $12.99 (usually $25), and a 2008 Schug Sauvignon Blanc for $9.99 (usually $19). For each wine they also give you a review, tasting notes, and information about the winery itself. While the shipping is a little high for a single bottle or two, buy a case (12 wines- they can be mixed!) and get the entire case shipped to your door for just $10! A great deal for your next party or event.

Click here to sign up for e-mails and offerings from the Winery Insider.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Hostess Gifts & Our Second Giveaway

There is always a dinner party that you feel obligated to bring something to, but the Hostess insists she has everything. These are a few cute ideas for some inexpensive gifts (about the same price as a bottle of wine) to bring for your gracious hostess:

Food Snob Place Cards $14.00
Having some foodies over for dinner? Call them out on their food fetishes with these place cards. Pack of 8 includes library-like definitions of some basic and exotic foods, which ultimately will get the dinner conversation going!

Hot Mama Dishtowel $10.95
Let the cook know that she is Hot Stuff! This fun dishtowel will have her laughing, and provide her with a much needed tool to clean up those kitchen messes!




Kitchen Sticky Notes $12.95
An awesome book that includes note pads for a Menu, To Do List, and Shopping List, as well as tons of beautiful flags to mark your favorite recipes in cook books.


Micro S'mores 2 sets for $19.95
Perfect for the cook with a sweet tooth! No fire needed here... just pop the ingredients into this microwave safe contraption, cook for 10 seconds, and you have a perfect S'more. What's even better, you get two sets for $19.95... one for her, and one for you!


Giveaway #2
These PERFECT Hostess Gifts are the prizes this week for TWO lucky readers during our month-long Birthday celebration. Click here to find out what they are, and how you can win!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We have a winner!

Congrats to Beatriz as our first giveaway winner!!! The winner was chosen using Random.org. I tried to copy and paste the entire results box here, but the luck of the Irish was not with me tonight.... this is the best I could do:

True Random Number Generator
8 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

To all those, like me, who were unlucky this week, we have 3 more fabulous giveaways coming up. A new one will be posted tomorrow, so come back to enter again!

SHOP