my favorite spots and vintage shopping

The Ivy in Beverly Hills

I’ve been living slightly “off the grid” this month, but I’m happy to be back on the blog today. November is one of my favorite months, and my hubby and I started it off with a little weekend getaway to Beverly Hills and L.A. 

The Ivy in Beverly Hills

We hit a handful of my most cherished places, including The Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills. This place is just magical. 🌹 We arrived on Saturday morning, bright and early when they first opened and had the whole patio to ourselves! 

Breakfast at The Ivy in Beverly Hills

Another one of my go-to restaurants is The Draycott in nearby Pacific Palisades. I met my best friend Lisa there for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in Palisades Village. It’s just darling there, and we even visited the adorable Serena & Lily shop, more on that later... 

The Draycott in Pacific Palisades

Lisa and I spent most of our time in Tamara Mellon’s shoe store trying on the latest styles in boots. Lisa ended up with a couple of new pairs that are simply gorgeous! Tamara was formerly the designer for Jimmy Choo, so her shoes very chic.

Lisa and I have been best friends since 8th grade, and we don't get a chance to see each other nearly enough since she lives in Calabasas and I live in Newport. I'm so thankful that we had a chance to meet up again the next day at the Malibu Pier and have lunch with our hubbies at Malibu Farm. 

Back home in Orange County, I’ve been treasure hunting galore! I’m always visiting thrift stores, but this month I’ve expanded my horizons with a few fun flea markets as well.  

My friend Karen and I hit the "Flying Miz Daisy Flea Market" in Costa Mesa about a week ago, and had a really fun morning exploring the venue. We each came home with a little something, so that made it really worthwhile.

But our insatiable drive for treasure hunting didn't stop there... we also had to hit a few of my favorite thrift stores near by.  

This past weekend, with my hubby away, I also had the opportunity to hit a few antique shops and consignment stores in the neighborhood. 

I even made it to some really great garage sales where I found a few more pretty baskets, a large vintage brass tray and some gorgeous old wood corbels with pretty chippy paint patina. Pictured above is Tom Stansbury Antiques.

This weekend's thrifting adventure actually started on Friday with my my friend Laura. She came over early, and it was a shop 'til you drip sort of day! We found the most unexpected kind of goodies, didn't we Laura? 😉 

“Behind the Picket Fence” vintage flea market was on Sunday held at the beautiful grounds of the Heritage Museum and historic Kellogg House in Santa Ana. 

It was such a pleasant morning, and I even ran into fellow blogger Lidy Baars of French Garden House blog there. She was as sweet as could be! I’ll show you some of the goodies I got at “Behind the Picket” soon! 

Now to change gears a little bit... I recently received a few absolutely stunning tableware pieces from Vietri, seen above. I can't wait to use them on my tables soon!

Things have been so busy lately that my tables settings have been few and far between. A few changes have been made here around Casa Ciao, for instance...     

We had our home painted last week. All that brick on the house has now been given a few nice coats of creamy white paint. I absolutely love it! ... kinda feels like a whole new house.  

If you saw my home this month in Cottages & Bungalows magazine, you can see the difference a little paint can make! It’s been almost a year since that photo shoot, and a lot has changed around here.  

ciao! fabiana 

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the secondhand table

a tour of thrifted tablescapes      

Today’s the day of our fun Thanksgiving table blog hop! Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m so excited to share my “Secondhand Table” with all of you. Best of all, I have four friends who have also styled beautiful fall tables by using only thrifted, heirloom and foraged items. 

If you're already coming from The Tiny White House, you’ve already begun our Secondhand Blog Hop, so “Welcome”!  

The inspiration for my table, besides being budget-friendly was that I wanted to go with a light and bright table this year. 

The foundation of this tablescape is this embossed throw that I've used as a tablecloth. I found it last week at one of my favorite thrift stores, and it’s got just the right kind of fun fringe on it too. 

To keep things neutral, I’m using these large white ceramic chargers as dishes. I find that they hold just the right amount of food for a large meal like Thanksgiving. 

Layered on top is a variety of brown transferware salad plates that I collect all year long. Some of my favorites have a lovely Tom turkey on them.  

I think it's fun to mix and match certain elements, and at this table, I do that with the salad plates, napkin rings and the vintage glassware.

The reality is you may not find the number of setting you need while thrifting, but keep in mind that grouping similar elements is perfectly acceptable. 

As you can see, each plate has a personality of its own. Having everyone’s place settings exactly the same is a little boring to me, so let's mix it up!  

Case in point with the brass leaf napkin rings and the soft yellow glasses. I fell in love with both of these guys, but there were only four available of each. 

I just used similar colored yellow goblets and similar scaled metal napkin rings for the head of the table, to make up for the extra two place settings. 

Since this is an intimate table for six, that strategy works well. For a larger group of guests, alternating different elements around the table is a fun idea. 

To unify the look of the table, I used vintage bamboo handled flatware at every setting which adds a nice natural texture that’s perfect for fall. 

At the center of the table, the focal point is a white pedestal topped with leftover Halloween Baby Boo pumpkins. I've softened the look with a few smaller-scaled fall leaves from the garden. I love Nandina for in between these little white pumpkins.

An informal table runner is created by using foraged leaves from my Sycamore tree and my neighbor's Maple tree. Here in California, these Maple type trees are actually called Liquidambers. Isn't that a cool name?

Some of my fondest memories of fall in upstate New York is walking to and from school as a little girl and wading through the crunchy fall leaves. There's nothing quite like the smell of fall in New England!

I wanted to bring a little bit of those memories to this table, so that's why the leaves are an important part of this tablescape. They do add just the right amount of color too.

Brass candlesticks are some of my favorite flea market finds. I’ve been collecting them for several years now, and oftentimes I can find them for a dollar or two. 

They add just the right amount of autumn glitz to the table, and of course when they're lit, the candlelight brings the table to life.

Don’t hesitate to ask a friend to borrow something, whether it’s a few extra plates or some branches from their yard. Using everyday tableware is also a great idea, and then you can “fall-ify” your table with smaller elements. 

Once the candles are blown out after a big meal, comes my favorite part of the day, playing games and having some pie! What’s your favorite kind of pie? 

I do love pumpkin, but apple is a close second! 

The next stop on our blog hop is Annie from Most Lovely Things. I just know that she’s set a gorgeous table! Tell her "Hello" from me...

Look for this graphic tomorrow 

as well as the hashtag #thesecondhandtable on instagram. 😀   

You can check out the other four secondhand tablescapes here: 

Cherry Street Blossoms, Adored House, 

Most Lovely Things, and The Tiny White House. 

ciao! fabiana 

  

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