Today I’m featuring a tabletop that was recently published in Santa Barbara Magazine and Style Me Pretty Living. It was a collaboration with the always amazing Nancy Neil and super chef Ayda Robana of Om Sweet Mama.

We set a simple table; with a god’s eye patter runner from Heather Taylor Home and china and flatware from Botanik.

Simple salads, like the panzanella with Haricort Verts featured farm fresh ingredients (recipe for the salad is here).

Instead of traditional flower centerpiece, I opted to make a flower garlad to keep the vibe relaxed but still very pretty. To make the garland you will need:

2 bunches of bay (depends on length of table)

2 bunches clematis

1 bunch hot pink ranunuculus

1 bunch wax flower

Begin by simple laying the piece of bay leaves end to end. I created a zigzag effect here so you could see the pattern of the linen. Then I simply took the blooms of clematis, ranunuclus, and wax flower and tucked it into the bay. You can wire all these pieces together but its not necessary. And that’s pretty much it! You can see more of this table right here and here.

PS I apologize for my blogging absence. A lot if going in my personal life and I will blog about it once things are more settled. For now, posting will remain on the lighter side. Thanks for hopefully sticking around here and enjoying some pretty .

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I was so happy when Nancy Neil invited to participate in this spring entertaining story with Ayda Robana of Om Sweet Mama. We shot at a private estate in Goleta and setup this table on their private dock (you know to go with their private lake). I used a low wood bowl and placed the centerpiece at the end, so the star of the table, the FOOD would stand out.

A menu of seasonal and local ingredients made up for a delicious feast (post-shoot this was dinner for the crew, it was rough but I got through it). My favorite? The squid ink pasta with eggs over easy…

For the rest of the table, Nancy pulled gorgeous plates & glassware from Botanik in Summerland and used God’s eye linen from Heather Taylor Home.

Wine was generously provided by Cambria Winery. For recipes, and the floral how-to, hop over to Design*Sponge right here. There were two more tables we shot that day, including one that is being featured in the current issue of Santa Barbara Magazine and can be seen here. Thanks ladies for a fun, creative shoot!

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Back in January, Nancy Neil and I put together this table for Ayda Robana at the sickest estate in Goleta (can you say private lake?). Anyway, hop over right here to check out the full feature on Design*Sponge and I’ll have my recap of the table up on Monday.

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Its superbowl weekend, and while I may not know who’s playing, that’s not gonna stop me from (kind of) watching the game and enjoying some champagne waaay before happy hour.

A few possibilities, I’m thinking from the archives:

Champ-sicle

Blood Orange Mimosa

Ginger Sparkler

Bellini-tini

Pear Potion

And some links for your weekend, plus a bit about some projects I’m working on:

I visited Sunstone Villa this week to refresh my memory (I worked there before on this wedding with Elizabeth Messina) for an upcoming shoot with Flutter Mag & Michael Costa. Can you say Italy in Santa Ynez? Also, our “Escape to” editor, Cynthia is their new social media manager and is LIVING in the villa. Can you imagine? Also, we discovered a secret tower.

I joined Vine, twitter’s new video app. I’m not sure if I like it, but you can follow me (@kellyoshiro) if you’re into cute puppies and some behind the scenes sneak peeks. A great explanation of what Vine is, and how to use it, is here and here.

If you’re into watching bad movies and making fun of them, check out Birdemic. Truly the biggest train wreck of a movie I’ve ever seen.

I’m obsessed with two weddings from Snippet & Ink this week, classic black and white perfection with photos by Jose Villa & A Swedish summer wedding, hello dreamy!

Have a good weekend!

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From the archives, this lady-like Mint Julep will no doubt keep you warm and snuggly especially given the unusual cold weather we’ve been having in Santa Barbara (and yes 40 degrees is cold, to me anyway). You can mix up this pretty lady with:

Ingredients:

2 dashes of bitters

1 tsp of maple syrup

1 1/2 shots of bourbon

Fresh mint

*In a martini shaker, muddle a few mint leaves, add bitters, maple syrup, and bourbon, shake well and serve up with a few mint leaves for garnish

And around the web, I’ve spied a number of tasty libations, here are a few of my favorites:

Cider Rum Punch via the Sweetest Occasion

El Calle Real via Mrs. Lilien

Orange Rosemary Spritz via Snippet & Ink

Champagne three ways via Could I Have that

Blood Orange Margarita via Annie’s Eats

And you can browse all the On the Rocks posts right here.

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TGIF Indeed! It seems to me that there are many birthdays during the month of January (my own included) and I’m always trying to think up fun “party drinks”. What better way to drink champagne than to stick an ice-cold Popsicle in it?!

Not only do the popsicles keep the champagne nice and cold, they also melt and infuse the drink with tasty fruity flavor. For this champ-sicle, I used strawberry flavored Popsicles (strawberries + champagne = YUM!) Whether your guest choose to sneak bites of their Popsicle or simply use it as a chilly stirrer, I think I will name this THE birthday cocktail…Enjoy!

*Add your favorite flavored Popsicle into a glass of champagne and voila! Opt for a sugar-free pop and you have a “diet” drink–okay not really, but work with me here!

XOXO-Melissa

And you can browse all the On the Rocks posts right here.

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It’s Friday and you know what that means…..cocktail hour! Today we have a delicious bourbon treat that is sure to get you in the fall mood. Enjoy!

This cocktail was inspired by my blooming plum tree in my backyard…I love how pretty they look smashed with a lemon rind.

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