Shop & Shopping (With a giveaway at the end)

I have been so crazy lately... head focused on 3 months out, and feet trying to remain firmly planted in the present.... so many lists that I can't seem to keep track of them all. Somehow, someway it will all get done.

The transformation of the store has begun and it is finally starting to feel like it is mine. I can't wait until we start building out the kitchen and put the fixtures in place so we can figure out where everything is going to go. This is a picture I took last Friday when they were putting in the floor... I was there this morning and it is finished!! WhoooHoo!

In the meantime, I thought I would share some of the finds we had from National Stationery Show in NYC.

We visited the eeBoo and found some great games and activity gifts for Kids and Toddlers

 

Then we happened upon FASHION DOLLS and thought they were too cute to pass on... These pencil fashionista card and sticker sets would make a perfect favor, stocking stuffer, "I'm thinking of you" gift or fun little something extra 

  

For the older crew, we just loved these laptop and template cases by Miquel-Ruis ltd. We will stock a couple fun patterns and matching notebooks and journals. The perfect graduation gift or back to school purchase!

  

Choosing a line of cards to stock was mind-boggling! We went up and down the aisles and looked and looked, but eventually settled on two that we feel will meet the needs of most of our customers:

Curly Girl Designs, ltd

 

and Compendium, Inc - which not only produces great cards, but also a great line of gift books which make a great friend or hostess gift.

 

So now to the good part... the giveaway!

This is what you need to do:

1. Go to our facebook page and "LIKE" us
2. Respond to the blog and let us know what products you would like to see in SIMPLIFY Marketplace
3. Do the above by 12pm EST on Wednesday May 25th

A random winner will receive 5 assorted greeting cards (as soon as our stock arrives in June... so you will need to be just a little bit patient!) You do not need to be local to enter this contest, but you must live in the United States!

Moon Splash @ the "Dune Preserve"

We will continue our escape from this never ending Winter with a trip back to a Caribbean Style Beach Party we did in September.

To set the tone for the evening we lined the long driveway with torches... There were two possible entrances to the house, but only one we wanted guests to use. We positioned a birdbath in the middle of the path we didn't want people to use and created this fun arrangement of limes, lemons and a pineapple to help set the tone for the evening and block the path!



Torches lined the correct pathway up the stairs into the back yard



Guests were met at the top of the stairs by servers holding trays of Rum Punch (the credit for the rum punch recipe goes to a good friend and many trips to Jamaica... but that will have to wait to be the subject for another post)




The hostess told us that she wasn't a big fan of flowers... so we kept them to a minimum and used fruit, tropical leaves and shells for most of our arrangements. Fuchsia, Lemon Yellow and Bright Orange used in different ways throughout the party space unified the evening.



And some flowers and goldfish as the centerpiece for the food table....




Food for the evening was Caribbean style finger foods. We didn't want guest to have to try to coordinate holding a plate and fork while - so we filled the buffet with all kinds of fun treats that were easy to grab and go... and made sure everyone got plenty of food by butlering most items through out the night as well.



Later in the evening we switch the buffet from savory to sweet.... and the guests devoured them up before we had a chance to capture how beautiful everything looked!


Pink and yellow uplights in the beautiful tent gave the space a warm glow as the night went on....




Many thanks to Kristen of SnapTwoIt Photography for all the wonderful photos!

Escape from the Winter Blues

With a trip to Miami Beach - Club Style!

For this surprise birthday bash we wanted to evoke the feeling of somewhere warm and tropical... with a night club vibe. We decided to use Miami Beach as our inspiration. The palate of colors was kept simple. White, Black and Hot Pink.

We emptied the ballroom of all furniture and brought in white sofas, daybeds, sleek bar stools, a very cool white leather ottoman and tables with lycra covers.



The furniture was grouped into conversation areas... which added to the club vibe



The real transformation came as night fell and everything (including the flowers) was lit with either fuchsia or hot white light. Guests were met at the entrance by a bouncer with a velvet rope and had to have their name on "the list" to gain entry. A few good humored guests were highlighted in advance and asked to wait to the side for a few moments until the bouncer decided they were "ok" to enter....








A dessert table by Sweet Stuff with a shopping vignette for the cake and some beautiful finger desserts capped the evening



Desserts were propped up on glass plates over vases filled with floral marbles and lights

"Red & White" Birthday Party

What to do for a Surprise Party for a lovely lady with a Valentine's birthday? We didn't want to do all hearts... so we went back to basics and did a red and white theme.

Phase I of the party was cocktails with red & white specialty concoctions developed by Mixologist Warren Bobrow and a lovely selection of butlered hors d'oeuvres by Julie Sheil of Party Connections



After we surprised the birthday girl we moved to Phase II. A sit down dinner in the Great Room. We removed all the furniture and replaced it with long tables covered in beautiful red tablecloths and pristine white ballroom chairs



Our head designer Leslie outdid herself turning 500 roses into 19 beautiful arrangements.



Each place setting had a beautiful place card adorned with paper flowers



We carried the paper flowers and red & white into Phase III - the "band porch." The room was decorated with 2 enormous arrangements of rice paper lanterns and tissue paper flowers that we hung from the beams.



The dessert bar featured scrumptious desserts from Julie Bakes, and a gluten-free cake and cupcake lollis from SweetStuff. Guests were welcome to take a little "thank you" box of red and white candies that they filled from the containers on the table.



"I can not Thank you enough for working with my husband to throw the party of a lifetime for me. I'm still spinning and can not get focused on anything but thinking about how much fun it all was.

You are spectacular. Thank you for making it so special!!

Thanks again!!"