brunch at The Ivy

Last weekend, my mother and I went to one of our most cherished places, The Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills.

 

The Ivy is just magical.

We arrived on Saturday morning, bright and early and got a cozy table on the world-famous patio with lovely views of the surroundings.

 

In celebration of my mother’s birthday, we each ordered our favorite brunch item, the Crabcakes Benedict, yum! In addition to this amazing little feast, they also serve their complimentary homemade scones with butter.  

 

As an extra added bonus, today’s post is all about The Ivy’s decor and amazing ambiance that immediately enraptures you within seconds of stepping inside.

 

Here are the cozy elements that we need to take note of…  

  

ü pitchers of beautiful roses everywhere

ü blue and white transfeware plates on the walls

ü bowls fresh lemons, oranges and limes

ü lots of cozy chintz pillows

ü terracotta pots filled with geraniums

ü shabby chic old shutters and wooden elements

ü vintage floral artwork

ü antique French signage

ü gracefully aged white picket fences

ü colorful twinkle lights for alfresco evening dining

ü white tablecloths

ü a backdrop of old brickwork

ü a fabulous patio

I'll say it again...

Every inch of The Ivy is magical.

Here’s the view from our cozy corner table, and you can take a peek at the Crabcakes Benedict. 

I actually found this image on The Ivy’s Instagram page, because with all the excitement, I forgot to take a photo of our own food plates.

 

Every time I visit, I’m just amazed by the quaint decor, accessories and attention to detail.

The Ivy began its life during the 1980’s in a cozy little vintage cottage. Since then it’s been attracting celebrities, locals and visitors from all around the world.

Love these blue transferware plates on the yellow walls.

There are several rooms inside The Ivy, as this was once a little home in the cutest vintage cottage style. 

This room has a glorious display of  majolica plates, baskets, mercury glass and flower pots made from shards of dishes. 

 

Can you believe how many pitchers and vases of roses there are at The Ivy? 

The secret in recreating this look is to buy roses in light pink, dark pink and yellow, with a few coral colored roses thrown in as an accent.

This is the back room, which is filled with dozens and dozens of still life paintings on every wall, as well as some antique French Republic memorabilia.

 

Ooooh, that plate rack and those green cabbage dishes… 

so cute!

 

So French!

 

I recently found three floral still life paintings like this one at a yard sale and have listed them on my eBay shop.

 

This is the view from our table at the iconic front window of The Ivy cottage. And here it is at night time all lit up with colorful lights. 

 

Wouldn’t this be fun to recreate at home for a small patio or outdoor dining area? The colorful lights are here all year long, not just at Christmas time.

 

Another one of my favorite corner tables, that features an open window, filled with colorful geraniums and more art, and a fluttering-breezy-curtain moment.

 

I hope you enjoyed this fun little tour of The Ivy. It’s really inspired my to actually go to more estate sales and yard sales, always looking for those special treasures.

 

Some of my fun vintage finds have just been listed on my eBay Blog Shop, if you’d like to take a look here.

 

Two of the three little floral paintings I just acquired have already sold over the weekend, but I’m always on the hunt for more!

 

ciao! fabiana

 

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on instagram!

 

 

 

the ivy restaurant, beverly hills

I just returned from a fabulous overnight stay with my mother in Beverly Hills. You may have seen my snapshots on Instagram and facebook of one of my all-time favorite spots, The Ivy restaurant on Robertson.

Today’s post is all about The Ivy’s decor and amazing ambiance that immediately enraptures you within seconds of stepping inside.

Here are the cozy elements that we need to take note of…  

ü pitchers of beautiful roses everywhere

ü blue and white transfeware plates on the walls

ü bowls fresh lemons, oranges and limes

ü lots of cozy chintz pillows

ü terracotta pots filled with geraniums

ü shabby chic old shutters and wooden elements

ü vintage floral artwork

ü antique French signage

ü gracefully aged white picket fences

ü colorful twinkle lights for alfresco evening dining

ü white tablecloths

ü a backdrop of old brickwork

ü a fabulous patio

Every inch of The Ivy is magical.

The Ivy began its life during the 1980’s in a cozy little vintage cottage. Since then it’s been attracting celebrities, locals and visitors from all around the world.

When we arrived on Wednesday morning, we had the whole patio practically to ourselves!

Every time I visit, I’m just amazed by the quaint decor, accessories and attention to detail.

This is one of my favorite tables, which is in the main little dining area that features that cute bar with all the bowls of citrus.

Can you believe how many pitchers of roses there are? The secret in recreating this look is to buy roses in light pink dark pink and yellow, with a few coral colored roses thrown in as an accent.

ciao! fabiana

For lots of fun extras, follow me on instagram!

a very dreamy christmas

I’m really an old soul at heart,

and especially love all the special traditions of Christmas.

One of my favorite things to do is to turn out all the lights 
and let the twinkle lights on the tree illuminate the whole room.

It feels so cozy, doesn’t it? 

A Christmas movie night is a must!

Of course, Christmas movies are so sentimental and there are so many great ones.

One of my favorites is “Christmas in Connecticut”.* I just discovered this classic movie a few years ago, and it’s so fun! In the movie, Barbara Stanwyck writes a newspaper column called “Diary of a Housewife” and she plays sort of a 1940’s perfect-homemaker, Martha Stewart-type character. 

Well, her whole lifestyle turns out to be a sham, and she has to somehow pretend to be this persona she’s created throughout the holidays. It’s sweet, and of course has a nice feel-good ending.  

*If you want to DVR it, it’s on TCM on December 17.  

And, “Elf” is definitely a family fave around here!

Son of a nutcracker!

You really can’t beat Will Farrell’s sense of humor. 

I just love the silhouette of a beautiful Christmas tree!

And these quaint little villages remind me of my snowy childhood in upstate New York.

I also love the smell of fresh gingerbread cookies and this year 

I may even tackle making a gingerbread house from scratch.  

Today was the day for making spritz cookies. 

It just wouldn’t seem like Christmas around here 

without these cute little treats.

(Recipe on the blog tomorrow)

This is the sweetest little ornament that I’ve seen all year!

Available from Lauren Conrad for Kohl's.

And I love Lauren’s simple ideas for wrapping, too.

I miss those days gone by of sharing the wonder of Christmas with my sweet little babies.

This vignette from Downton Abbey captures the preciousness of those faraway days.

Panettone is essential for our family every year

and my absolute favorite is the chocolate chip variety,

especially when enjoyed along with a yummy cappuccino.

The name literally means large cake. 

It’s always fun to make bread pudding with these Italian cakes too!

These days you see Panettone everywhere, so 

how do you feel about this Christmas treat?

ciao! fabiana

photo credit:  1. & 2. Christmas-Winter Tumblr  3.  Dreamy Whites  

4. Ciao Newport Beach  5. Pop & Soda  6. & 7. Lauren Conrad

8. Downton Abbey  9. Laura Adani