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Welcome! I'm Victoria. This blog is filled with my love for the art of merrymaking, pretty things to craft and one festive magazine. Here's more about me...
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party in | San Francisco

04.18.12 Posted in party in, Styled. feature by Victoria

Throwing a party in San Francisco is unlike throwing a party anywhere. There are shops upon shops to explore when planning an event in San Francisco, with flagships looming above and gorgeously styled independent boutiques lining many of the city’s streets.

There is one place though, that beats them all for planning the perfect party in this city. Take a leisurely stroll down to the Ferry Building Marketplace to find anything you could need from flowers, to cheeses, gorgeous dessert stands, balloons, even a shop solely dedicated to the selling of pig parts. It is a party stylist’s dream and a wonderful adventure to happen upon no matter your reason to visit.

Photography by Athena Plichta.

party in | San Diego

03.06.12 Posted in party in, Styled. feature by Victoria

During my short time living in San Diego there were many celebrations to be had. The city in all its sunny glory just prompts a party to happen!


Here are a few of my favorite local party suppliers:

Lisko Fish Market – Once a small farmer’s market booth, these guys have landed the market on huge scrumptious Italian desserts! I’ve featured their macaroons before and now that they have a brick and mortar restaurant they definitely deserve a visit for any needed party planning sweets.

Queen Bee Market- For party or wedding decor, a trip down to the Queen Bee Market will leave your arms filled with gorgeous handcrafted creations and specialty items. Many of my favorite Etsy sellers make it out to this market and every trip I leave inspired and ready to celebrate!

For invitations the girls who run Posh Papperie are some of my favorites. Their designs are both fresh and classic and they will work with you personally to design a lovely addition to you event.

If you are looking for flowers, look no further than the many San Diego farmer’s markets. Open all year long the Little Italy farmer’s market is a favorite for my family. Bundles of fresh flowers and gorgeous produce make decorating a table quite simple.

A few of my favorite places to throw celebrations in San Diego are:

Coronado Beach, the bonfire pits and gorgeous scenery at this beach cannot be beaten for any celebratory reasons. Bring a warm blanket and the makings for s’mores when you come

Presidio Park, filled with large trees, secluded enclaves and an outdoor ceremony area it is a must visit if you’d like a party in the green.

For the more adult affair our favorite Brewery in the world is located just outside of San Diego. Stone Brewery boasts amazing food and perfectly crafted beer. They also have a huge garden area and event stage outdoors complete with a gentle stream running through for large casual gatherings.

Photography by Betsy Tomasello.
Illustrated city name by Amanda Waggoner.

party in Salt Lake City

02.01.12 Posted in design, party in, Styled. feature by Victoria

Salt Lake City is a town brimming with history and engaged in a thriving creative community. Host to the Altitude Design Summit, many bloggers and design enthusiasts recently traveled to this mountain west mecca and experienced a touch of the city’s classic charm. It’s a great town to throw a party in! I love the insight Melissa Esplin gives below in sharing her favorite spots to party in the city (plus, she’s gorgeous, right!).

Vosen’s Bread Paradise – I feel like I’m visiting another country when I step into Vosen. I can never leave without picking up a Berliner.

MisC and The Green Ant – Salt Lake has some of the best thrift/vintage shopping this side of the Missis-sippi. MisC is very well-curated with the best-of in vintage styles (often times never-worn items!) at fantastic prices. You can ÿnd many items for women with a small selection of menswear and childrens. The Green Ant is akin to the vintage version of Design Within Reach. Another well-curated vintage shop featuring home goods, many from the mid-twentieth century.

Ruby Snap – These cookies rock my socks o°. Tammi, owner of Ruby Snap, only uses the freshest ingredients & has a real talent for blending flavors to create a one-of-a-kind party in your mouth (who would have thought coconut, curry and carrot could make the best cookie in the world?). Cookies are available served à la mode in the summertime.

Family Chocolates – There’s nothing like a cup of Hatch’s dark hot chocolate in the middle of a freezing winter day and their salted caramel chocolates are killer!

Twilight Concert Series – No, it’s not some Stephanie Meyer fan club meeting. Salt Lake puts on a free concert series each summer and they are amazing. The Decemberists, Beirut, The Black Keys, Chromeo, Girl Talk & Modest Mouse have all performed in years past.

Text by Melissa Esplin Photography by Cassidy Tuttle done for Styled. magazine issue four.

party in | Washington, D.C.

01.16.12 Posted in design, party in, Styled. feature by Victoria

Ah, our nation’s capitol. What better place to throw a party than the historic city that still has cobble stone streets, colorful buildings and blossoms beautifully in the spring? And don’t think you only have to do a patriotic theme. There are lots of shops that will help you create the fun bash you’re hoping for.

Local party shops to visit:

Fifteen/Eleven in Old Town, Alexandria (all photos taken at this very pretty shop!) Curated paper goods from the lovely Suann Song + party supplies. Think stripey bags, big balloons, twine and beautiful paper.

Baked & Wired, Handcrafted, delicious cupcakes baked in small batches in a variety of fun + tasty flavors.

Michel Patisserie, The place to hit up for delectable and colorful macarons.

Red Hook Lobster Pound, Who doesn’t love lobster rolls? This is a food truck that’s on the streets daily but available for catering/events. The also serve up gourmet whoopee pies from Whoopsies.

Old Lucketts Store, Vintage and antique décor finds that will give your party that one of a kind look.

Eastern Market, Hit up this huge indoor market on the morning of your party to get your pick at the freshest produce and flowers in the area.

Washington, DC has some amazing parks perfect for celebrating at. Two of our favorites are:

The Georgetown Waterfront, Overlooking a great view of the city and nestled right on the water, it’s the perfect place for a summer picnic.

Gravelly Point, Watching planes take off + land at Reagan National Airport directly overhead—a great backdrop for a fun gathering on the Potomac.

Article text by contributor Melanie Blodgett photos by Chris Zacaroni of the shop Fifteen Eleven. Sketch by Amanda Waggoner. Special thank you to Lauren O’Neil, a designer and DC resident who shared her favorite picks with us.

blessings.

party in | Los Angeles

08.25.11 Posted in design, party in by Victoria

As a special treat for the party in series, Amanda is sketching celebratory drawings of each city name. Download the 5×7 Los Angeles print here and use for postcards, gift tags, invitations or stash away a set of your favorite city prints to frame together at home.

There’s no doubt that Los Angeles has one of the liveliest party scenes evidenced by the plethora of vendors, event planners and fun parties that seem to be happening every weekend.

Here are the best resources we could find for throwing a fabulous L.A. party:

I think it’s essential to eat ice cream daily when you live in the hot Southern California climate. Two great places to get your fix are Cool Haus which customizes in gourmet ice cream sandwiches and Sweet Lucies that has the cutest turquoise ice cream cart and branding you’ve ever seen. For baked items, the place to go is the Sweet and Saucy Shop in Long Beach. A table of their mini desserts would be all you need to satisfy your guests.

All you need for amazing invitations is a stack of white paper and Cathie’s calligraphy. Seriously gorgeous.

Instead of conducting your own thrift store search for the best vintage decorations, visit the well-edited Found Vintage Rentals where Jeni does all the work for you. For smaller items, Bountiful in Venice has stacks that reach the ceiling of gorgeous milk glass cake stands. I wish it was my private collection

If you’re going for a hip, fun vibe (and have the money) both Marvimon and The Smog Shoppe are venues that will please. With the pleasant weather the area offers, an outdoor location would also be easy to manage. The George Key Ranch is just one of the many parks that would make a cool (and free!) setting.

If you’re looking to save some money on flowers, frolic through the blooms in the wholesale LA Flower District and make your own arrangements.

I didn’t think it was possible to make balloons any happier but Geronimo has done just that. To finish off your location with decor, use their 36” round balloons combined with metallic fringe, silk ribbon and honeycomb tissue balls. They are truly balloons made happier.

Thanks to Danni for helping me with this guide.

Images of Smog Shoppe by Nancy Neil.

This post was written by contributor Melanie Blodgett; a party planner who writes daily at the lifestyle blog, You Are My Fave. She currently resides in Denver with her husband Ryan.

blessings.

party in | Charleston, South Carolina

08.04.11 Posted in design, party in by Victoria

As a special treat for the party in series, Amanda is sketching celebratory drawings of each city name. Download the 5×7 Charelston print here and use for postcards, gift tags, invitations or stash away a set of your favorite city prints to frame together at home.

I’ve never dreamt of living in South Carolina until I was introduced to Olivia’s blog and then dreams of taking trips to the shore and throwing parties in the garden of my grand southern estate set in. Olivia helped me compile this list of places to help make a Charleston fete fab.

Here are the best resources for planning a party in Charleston, SC:

Sugar Bakeshop makes cakes and tasty sweets that are almost too pretty to eat. The caramel cake is Olivia’s personal favorite! It is also hard to resist the French pastries and the colorful macaroons at the Macaroon Boutique.

The award for best tacos in the city goes to Taco Boy, try them if you are ever in town and luckily they have a taco truck that is available to rent for parties.

Daley Ann offers custom calligraphy and fun illustrated maps that make sure your guests find the party with ease.

For the perfect location, of course one of Charleston’s best assets are their beautiful plantations. Middleton Place is home to the sprawling landscaped gardens that are some of America’s oldest. The pretty photos above are of a wedding that was held at River Oaks, situated right on the water it makes for a dreamy, pastoral setting. For a more casual setting, Battery Park is right near historic downtown and is home to one of the cutest gazebos for guaranteed southern charm.

Stems is also an important place to know and is your best bet for flowers that will take your party from mediocre to fantastic.

Images by Virgil Bunao.

This post was written by contributor Melanie Blodgett; a party planner who writes daily at the lifestyle blog, You Are My Fave. She currently resides in Denver with her husband Ryan.

PS. Next week we’ll be partying in San Diego!

blessings.

party in | Portland, OR

07.14.11 Posted in design, party in by Victoria

As a special treat for the party in series, Amanda is sketching celebratory drawings of each city name. Download the 5×7 Portland print here and use for postcards, gift tags, invitations or stash away a set of your favorite city prints to frame together at home.

My friend Danni’s description of her recent trip to Portland confirmed that it’s truly a mecca of cool kids and creative business ventures. “We ate grilled cheese in a double-decker bus. I mean, where else do you find stuff like that?!” It sounds to me like that’s the type of place I would want to throw a party.

Here are the people and places to know when planning a party in Portland:

Oblation is a Portland stationary shop that specializes in fine letterpress goods and the making of their own paper. If you’re interested in the 19th century process of printing, they even allow guests to sit and enjoy the view of them working in their letterpress print shop.

Since Portland is abundant with parks, that seems like a natural venue for a party. Two top choices are the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden and Sellwood Park.  Both are absolutely beautiful spots, but offer different atmospheres. Crystal Springs is a classic English garden impeccably manicured. Sellwood has a more relaxed vibe with huge trees and a bluff that overlooks the Willamette River and downtown.

For an indoor venue The Ace Hotel would be pretty killer.

Eastmoreland Kitchen is the place for mouth-watering sandwiches (maybe for your afternoon tea party at the garden?). Everything is freshly made with local ingredients so you know you’re getting only the best.

I received a box of cupcakes from Saint Cupcake in the mail and even when I ate them a few days later, they were super moist and delicious. Plus, in store they have jars of color coded sprinkles so it would be worth a stop just to admire those.

The Lippman Co is a classic party store stocked with big round balloons and honeycomb decorations that can make every party a little happier.

Abby describes Cargo as “a fun imports store choc full of interesting wares from around the world. Imagine Cost Plus-but waaay cooler.” I’m now dreaming of the shelves of lanterns and paper garlands.

Ink and Peat is a favorite Portlander choice for fresh cut blooms.

Thank you to Treva for helping me compile this list! Photos of Saint Cupcake by Abby Powell.

This post was written by contributor Melanie Blodgett; a party planner who writes daily at the lifestyle blog, You Are My Fave. She currently resides in Denver with her husband Ryan.

blessings.

party in | Denver, Colorado

06.28.11 Posted in design, party in by Victoria

For the third of our summer contribution series, party lover Melanie will be sharing her favorite finds from different cities around the country.

I have been dreaming of this series for awhile and am so pleased to finally begin building a localized, independent vendor list for party planning across the USA. Through this series we will be highlighting our most loved local vendors for food, favors, paper goods, flowers, etc to help with your celebrations.

As a special treat for this series, Amanda is sketching party drawings of each city name. Download the 5×7 print here and use for postcards, gift tags, invitations or stash away a set of your favorite city prints to frame together at home.

Denver is a beautiful city to celebrate in, did you know they get an average of 320 days of sun every year? What a perfect place to plan an outdoor party. Here are the people and places to know when planning there:

City Park Pavilion If you ever google Denver skyline you’re bound to see a view of a pond and a building with downtown  behind it. The building is actually a pavilion in the well known City Park and it’s available for rental at a reasonable price. It would be a prefect venue for a summer party with strings of lights.

Wordshop The owner’s love for the art of paper goods is apparent right when you step through the door of this charming shop. Flip through the book of custom invitations and you’ll have a hard time deciding which one to choose with lots of letterpress and hip options.

The Perfect Petal is the place to go for modern floral arrangements but if you’re just grabbing a few bunches to arrange yourself, head to The Little Flower Market where the pretty display of blooms in metal pails will make you want to come back daily.

Although not dedicated entirely to party decor, both Talulah Jones and Five Green Boxes have several decoration items available that are so cute, you’ll be using them for home decor after the party is over. I stock up on imported ribbon and intricate lanterns at Talulah and Mexican flags at Five Boxes.

For party food, two top chefs offer an array of tasty bites with their Gastro Cart. Not only will your guests love the fun feel of having a food cart, they’ll flip for the bite sized sliders and tacos.

Don’t forget dessert. The Oh Joy Ice Cream Truck is brand new and already a hit. I think it might be the fact that the logo and turquoise paint job or so cute or because it doesn’t play an annoying jingle, serving top notch ice cream doesn’t hurt either.

Contributor Melanie Blodgett is a party planner and writes daily at the lifestyle blog, You Are My Fave. She currently resides in Denver with her husband Ryan.

blessings.



a subtle revelry | the art of merrymaking | D.I.Y. party- Copyright 2011 Victoria Hudgins, all rights reserved. Powered by WordPress.