favorite stores: lido marina village

A quick stop over at Serena & Lily,

and I wanted to share a few things that

caught my attention…

Their outdoor patio is so sweet!

First of all, they have the Crosby teak dining table with a simple but stunning succulent arrangement dominating the space.

A cozy seating arrangement is nestled next to the

trickling outdoor fountain and pretty climbing vines.  

I came home with a couple of these Montecito pillows

that you see above.

They're actually indoor outdoor pillows and they have

a perfectly nubby texture and pattern that 

reminds me of a white kilim rug.

They'll add just the right amount of interest 

to my new Mattituck armchairs. 

Yes, I ended up getting a couple of new chairs for the living room... you see they were offering 

20% off in store yesterday!

I can't wait for the UPS man to 

deliver these next week. J

Here’s a little peek inside the store.

It’s a tiny store, but packed with punch!!

The selection of rugs is fabulous too!

Lido Marina Village is the

most beautiful shopping spot!

Just outside, you have this amazing view, and there

 are several super yummy places to eat, like Zinqué.  

You know how Gwyneth Paltrow has her Goop website?

Well, guess what?!

Goop opened up a pop-up shop this week, 

just for the holidays.

It’s just a simple little gift shop filled

with interesting stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, 

pet accessories, kids’ toys and a few pretty kitchen goodies. 

And of course, all of Gwyneth's books!

Everything’s arranged just perfectly too…

something that I really enjoy seeing!!

Elegant and useful little gifts…

And all the girls who work here

wear these white denim coveralls,

so devo-ish!

I did see quite a few things I love!

Like those tall brass candlesticks!

You know how I love brass candlesticks…

I pick them up whenever I see them in

thrift stores or yard sales.

These are especially pretty and so polished,

which saves me some work, lol.

It’s always fun to take a walk along the water too…

and even the rainy days are pretty

here in Newport!

ciao! fabiana

And now the official cookbook 
is available from Malibu Farms!

beautiful christmas kitchens

It’s Fri-yay!!  It’s been a bit of a busy week,

and I’m grateful to be able to take a breather

to pop in and share a few pretty kitchens today.

Do you feel like the holiday madness

has already started over on your end?

Signs of Christmas are appearing everywhere,

and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet…

Well, that’s nothing new, we can multi-task right?! 

A little turkey here, a little Santa there...

it all works out in the end.

So, the big question is,

do you decorate your kitchen for Christmas?

I like just a subtle touch of holiday magic,

and nothing too cluttered.

A pop of red is perfect!

The light fixtures in this kitchen remind me of snowflakes!

Of course, you can swag to heart’s content…

a touch of greenery on a chandelier is also

one of my favorite ways to add Christmas charm

to a kitchen or dining room

and it's really easy to pull off.   

Pretty wreaths are also a great idea for the kitchen.

Don’t you love how these are displayed on the glass-front cabinets?

So cheery!

Here in Orange County it’s so apropos to

just have simple bowl of fresh oranges sitting in a fabulous bowl.

So many of our citrus trees are starting to fruit right now,

so this look is perfect

buon fine settimana...

ciao!  fabiana

photo credit:  1.Southern Living 2.Traditional Home   3.Traditional Home   4.Architectural Digest  5.House Beautiful  6.Country Living  7.Country Living  8.Country Living  9.Studio McGee

do something amazing today! 

sparkling amber for the table

That morning light just captures

the amber glass perfectly!

…so I can’t help sharing a little preview of how

the Thanksgiving table is finally coming together. 

I know I’ve been seesawing

back and forth with different options,

but I’m finally pleased with this look.

Amber glasses, white plates, glittery votives,

green napkins and rustic wood chargers….

all the details coming up later in the week!

ciao! fabiana

                          


                               

more tablescapes & weekend happenings

I’m so looking forward to spending time with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I always want everything just right. Planning ahead is the best way for me to stay organized and stress-free, but if things don’t go exactly according to plan, that’s ok too. We always can try plan B, or C.

That’s why I really enjoy planning my holiday tablescapes way ahead of time. I like to set up different options, and then taking certain elements that I like and combining them to create the final table setting.

I came up with a few more options this weekend. Just playing around with a different selection of plates, glasses and napkins…

I really love these Baroque Wood Chargers that are from World Market. They really ground each place setting nicely and adds great contrast between the china and the table. These red stripe linen napkins are also a favorite of mine.

My black and white bistro chairs look nice with this setting too!

These darling black and white transferware Christmas plates are so sweet and remind me of the very snowy Christmases I spent growing up in Upstate New York.

Here’s a more glamorous option with fancy gold writing! I love this look too! By the way, all the greens you see on the table were foraged from a couple of my neighbors who don’t mind me taking a clipping or two! Especially from the huge eucalyptus down the street.

Did you happen to see a few of the tablescapes I set up last week? I also posted them on intagram. 
The ugly sweater party idea has been 
quite popular on pinterest too! 

LOL.

My family and I also had a pie tasting day to see what our favorite choices would be for Thanksgiving. Marie Callender's is our favorite go-to pie shop, and we usually get a couple of pies for Thanksgiving. This year’s winners  of the pie tasting contest were Pumpkin (of course) and Dutch Apple.

Marie Callender's has so many choices, and they're all amazing! A few of the other pies we tried were rhubarb (we were all quite curious about this one and were pleasantly surprised at how good the sweet and tart combination was) and blueberry (my youngest son's choice). Sorry  to say Pecan Pie was not one of the contenders this year, but it's always one of my faves.

It’s November, so pie for breakfast is one of our favorite things to look forward to in the morning! 

(btw, you can find the Give Thanks tea towels here.)

On Saturday, a big box arrived at the door from Oriental Trading, full of beautiful (and sparkly) Christmas goodies that I ordered! I can’t wait to integrate them into my holiday décor.

We're talking about copper lanterns and rose gold votives for starters. They'll look great with all the white, cream, green and metallic décor I have in mind for this year. And look! They have really cute sisal bottle brush trees too! In fact, after I saw how pretty these tall ones were, I ordered a few more sets to sprinkle around the house.   

I have about a week and a half until we break out our Christmas tree. It's usually a Black Friday tradition at our house to stay home and decorate the tree and eat yummy turkey leftovers! Here's our tree last year with just the twinkly lights on, pre-trimming. 

When do you put up your Christmas tree?

And if you're looking to start some Christmas shopping,
we're having a Pre-Black Friday sale right now on the Blog Shop.

We've got lots of fun Hostess Gift ideas and more!

20% off everything!

ciao! fabiana