I’ve not been as great as posting over here as I’d like… work at Minted and little FX have kept me beyond busy. But I did want to let you know that I’ve been doing a little posting over on Minted’s new blog Julep so maybe that will hold you over until the dust settles over here.
I did an interview with Jenny from Jenny’s cookies on how to put together a fabulous dessert table.
I also did a recap on a dinner I put together for Minted at the ALTitude Design Summit.
More to come… I promise! xxx
I can never get enough of sweet / salty and if you share my obsession, then you’ll love these chocolate chip cupcakes!
Ruffles chips drizzled with homemade caramel are the highlight!
But the lovelies are also filled with homemade caramel, painted with coffee syrup and then dipped in a chocolate ganache. Yum!!
I found the recipe on Sweetapolita, but it’s actually from a new cookbook: The Sugar Cube: 50 Deliciously Twisted Treats from the Sweetest Little Food Cart on the Planet.
They were pretty tasty. I think they even give my traditional St. Paddy’s cupcakes a run for their money.
The cupcakes were made for my good friend K.C.’s 30th birthday!
So gave them a cute little name. A little branding never hurt anyone… or did it?!
I picked up boxes for transport at Complete Deelite down in Central and I’m glad I did after all the work that went into these babies I wouldn’t have wanted them to get wrecked in transit.
And here the birthday gals is blowing them out. A tray of cupcakes each with a candle is pretty festive.
And I can’t help but Hong Kong-ify this post a bit… the party was in the basement of the Jardine House… who knew there was anything even there… but I thought this was a cool picture of a very iconic Hong Kong building.
My friend Tarlan threw the most ridiculous Madeline-themed eighth birthday for her daughter Zahra. Isn’t that one of the best book series of all time?
The capes and hats were to die for! (Sidenote: How perfect are the colors with my HKH logo!)
It was fun to hear about all the preparations and the pictures are just too cute.
Tarlan’s mother was in town and she sewed all the capes and hot-glued all the ribbons onto the hats.
Every girl got her own suitcase to decorate.
And their own easel to paint on!
Oh and there was even a nun to keep the girls in two straight lines and lead them through their exercises.
A cute fondant cake topper… don’t you think that’s the way to do it? Tasty buttercream frosting and then a fondant topper for decoration.
Here Zahra is making a wish!
Tarlan canvassed the internet and every dollar store in Hong Kong for all the perfect Madeline details.
Clearly, a lot of hard work and thought went into the day, but I don’t think it could have been more perfect!
Oh and of course I have to show you the invites… ready to be handed out. Love the idea of having your daughter write all the names in.
That’s one lucky girl!
Some girls buy handbags; I buy tablecloths. I truly believe you can never have too many table linens. They are the perfect way to commemorate the passing of the seasons… pumpkins and squirrels are perfect choices for Fall.
You can also use table linens to commemorate past trips or occasions. In fact they are my souvenir of choice, like for example I have a beautiful turquoise, silk, elephant-covered tablecloth from Cambodia and natural plaid linen placemats from the South of France.
This lemon tree tablecloth reminds me of my wedding — lemons were a major motif. And of my honeymoon in lemon-covered Capri. 
The olive trees on this one are also reminiscent of Italy. Anyways, I came across, Couleur Nature (where all these images are from) recently and thought they had some beautiful designs. Check out their site for more pretty tabletops.
