valentine's day Teen Birthday Dinner, In the Pink!

valentine's day

Last week, we celebrated the birthday of my younger daughter, who is growing up way too fast for my taste! She started High School this year and all I can say is: treasure EVERY MOMENT! My older daughter will be leaving for college next year, and I think I am missing her already.

So, at the invitation of Patricia at the most excellent Mrs. Blandings blog, and in honor of women everywhere, young and old(er), I am posting pictures of my daughter's PINK Birthday Dinner Party to help raise awareness about breast cancer. For information about this and how you can help, please click HERE and HERE.

ANYWAY! I had so much fun putting together a more "grown-up" table for my daughter this year. No more "Hello Kitty" or Disney Princess themes. I wanted to surprise her after school with a table that was pretty with a little glamour. I chose pink, black and white for the palette. This was a family dinner party, so I used mostly used things that we already had at home.

valentine's day

I bought these fuchsia pink Cyclamen at Target on sale and put them in a white ironstone tureen for the centerpiece. A simple Hotel Linen tablecloth covers the table.

valentine's day

I have a set of these rectangular plates that I also use as platters. They are perfect for so many things...I wish I had more of them!

valentine's day

For a bit of glamour, I added some mercury glass votive holders. I received these sweet votive holders with silver flowers on them for my own birthday last summer.

valentine's day

I added more mercury glass from my collection of different shapes and sizes. Some new and some old. I always have boxes of extra tall white and ivory tapers on hand. They are my favorite candle....along with votives.

valentine's day

You may remember the white shells I brought back from a trip to Morrow Bay recently. I gathered them up and used them to accent the black napkins on the plates. I added a little fuchsia pink Salvia flower from the garden.

valentine's day

Each plate has a different white shell. If you were hosting a larger party for guests, they would make such a pretty little gift for your guests.

valentine's day

And of course there were presents, all wrapped in black, white and pink!

valentine's day

We had a wonderful time eating my daughter's requested meal of barbecued spare ribs, creamy polenta and spinach salad. And of course, CAKE:

valentine's day

Cheers to all of the wonderful memories with the young women in your life. And to keep them all healthy and safe, I hope you have a chance to check out the websites for the National Cancer Institute and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

valentine's day
Put a little PINK in your day!

valentine's day Acorns and White Porcelain

valentine's day

The Oak tree out front is trying to tell me something: "Fall is fast approaching".

valentine's day

I was just playing around with some of my white "objets". I have things that are not quite perfect.: broken coral, a weathered concrete balustrade piece I made into a lamp (it still has green and brown paint on it that has worn through), a chipped vintage porcelain lunch pail with a metal lid. But I find them all beautiful and intriguing. Maybe more so than if they were perfect.

valentine's day

I found the lunch pail at the latest Sacramento Antique Faire and don't know a lot about it's origins. Has anyone seen one before? As I mentioned, it is white porcelain and has what appears to be a zinc lid that has clasps that wrap underneath the front and back. With all of it's imperfection, it is the perfect size for letters and postcards, photos and other small remembrances.

Perfectly imperfect.