Do you remember your first prom or formal? When I was a sophomore in high school, I was invited by the kicker on the football team to attend his Junior Prom.  My mother made my gown out of satin fabric with lilac flowers.  My date was just that, a date, not a boyfriend, but I remember it vividly. That tuxedo!  My flowers! Those curtains! Too funny.

We recently hosted a prom event at our home for our youngest daughter, who is a junior in high school.  Naturally it was on a Saturday evening, so Elisabeth and I got started early that morning to try and beat the heat.

We are so fortunate to have a rental company only a few miles away.  Party People delivered the tables, chairs, linens and dishes.

The flowers were purchased at Trader Joes. With relatively narrow tables, we made simple arrangements in glass jars.

The itinerary for the day included appointments for Elisabeth and her best friend, Ella to get their hair and makeup professionally done at Salon Estique.

Festivities began around 5:30 p.m. We also invited parents to come for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and picture-taking.  Even though we had a professional photographer, so many of these candid shots came from other parents.

It was so delightful to see all the prom attendees dressed up in gowns, suits and tuxedos.  Here is Elisabeth walking in her very, very high heels (which stayed on her feet for about 15 minutes!).

Good, solid friendships are invaluable in high school. This group of 8 girls and 12 boys were happy to be going together~~some were couples, and some not.

Once again, Julie Greder and her team did an amazing job catering the cocktail hour and the sit-down dinner.  She makes entertaining SO easy.  The minute she walks in the door, I breathe a sigh of relief. With my husband out of town and my dear friend, Connie lending her capable helping hands, the event went without a hitch.

Even the weather cooperated and by the time dinner was ready to be served, the temperature in the orchard was perfect.

After dinner, a bus transported them to the prom event which was held at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts…. a relief to me that no one was driving that night. Later that evening, everyone returned for a post-prom party.

Many of the parents brought snacks for the after party and breakfast items for the next day. It was definitely a magical evening for me, so I can only hope that all the children and their parents enjoyed it as well.

We are a few days away from getting the professional photos but I couldn’t wait to share this with you.

Hopefully this post will make you reminisce about the proms or formals you attended!!

P.S. Did you know that the word prom is a shortened version of promenade?

My husband and I have been doing the Whole30 eating plan (no sugar, bread, alcohol, dairy, beans, peanuts, soy for 30 days) since the end of February.  We both said, “how hard can it be?” Surprisingly, we have felt great on the Whole30.  For a quick summary of this reset plan, click here.

As we slowly re-introduce food groups back into our routine, this is one of our favorite recipes.

I am a big fan of Monique from Ambitious Kitchen.  This is her recipe and it is gluten free, grain free, paleo, dairy free and it’s not too far off from the principals of the Whole30.  It takes only 15 minutes to prep and 45 minutes to bake and gives the kitchen that great “what-is-in-the-oven” smell.

It is the end of our citrus season so I am using the last of the lemons.  Who doesn’t like the pairing of lemons and blueberries?????

Lately, I am using coconut and almond flour for many of my recipes.  Though these flours don’t allow your baked goods to rise like all-purpose flour, they are still tasty and do the trick. You can order these flours online or many stores have them in stock. For almond flour, click here; and coconut flour here.

First step is to mix together all the dry ingredients.  In a separate large bowl,  you mix the wet ingredients, enjoying the fresh scents of lemon zest and juice. For the best zester ever, click here.

The only sweet ingredient in this recipe is maple syrup.  The first time I made this, I used a combination of maple syrup and raw coconut nectar and it worked equally as well.

Whisk the ingredients together.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  The consistency thickens quickly in reaction to the baking soda.

Fold in the fresh blueberries and put the batter into a parchment paper lined loaf pan.  I coated the parchment paper with an extra virgin olive oil non-stick cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes (however, I have a convection oven and mine was done at 35-36 minutes).

There is a glaze you can add.  On this loaf, I completely forgot and just served the bread as is.  The glaze is made with a berry jam (I used sour cherry jam), which adds a bit of pink.

The children love this loaf and have no idea it is a healthier version. For me, this bread provides just the right nibble with a cup of coffee or tea.  It also satisfies my need to bake occasionally!

Lemon Blueberry Bread from Ambitious Kitchen

A few weeks ago, we hosted a charitable tea with New York Times Bestselling author, Rhys Bowen.  The monies raised from that afternoon go the Family to Family Foundation. This foundation provides scholarships to students in rural El Salvador who, due to lack of funds, would otherwise be unable to receive an education.

When my son was in high school, he was selected to go on a Family to Family trip out of the country and we were very impressed with the good work this organization does.

My friend, Susan Charlton and I created the centerpieces out of old books, fresh flowers, potted plants, and antique linens.

Some of the tables had small paintings that were available to purchase.  Note the fun stand my husband made from an old silver-plated fork. Paintings done by Susan Charlton and moi!

Rhys provided books for all the guests as a thank you for attending.

The food, tea and service was spectacular.  Julie Greder once again provided beautifully displayed tea sandwiches and scones with Devonshire cream.

And GORGEOUS desserts.

While the tea was flowing, we were entertained by Rhys and her delightful stories of England and how she develops the characters in her book.

What is an afternoon tea without a great hat? With a wide variety of fascinators to wide brim……

Even a vintage 1920s dress, hat and shoes!

And the winner of our hat contest is……

The weather was perfect and the cause was worthy.  Such a civilized way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Many thanks to Ashley Rekittke from Ashley Rose Media for graciously photographing and capturing the day!

This post shared with Tablescape Thursdays 618th by Between Naps on the Porch

I cannot believe Easter is this weekend.

Though I haven’t thought at all about Easter dinner, I did spend some time playing around with the centerpiece and decorating Easter eggs.

The plastic tub in the garage entitled EASTER, produced a few themed items to add to the dinner table.

Trader Joe’s has a good selection of spring-like plants in Easter-colored containers.

When something is tried and true, why not do it again?  The successful look of the Valentine centerpiece (see it here) encouraged me to again use various smaller containers for fresh-cut flowers.

In the center of the table will be the slightly raised plank my husband made for our Valentine party (click HERE for the DIY).  With the weather being so glorious, eating outside is a must!

Mixing and matching is half the fun.

Adding candlesticks (from West Elm) gives the centerpiece some height and dimension.  The bunnies, birds and eggs are scattered among the plants and containers.

Now I just have to figure out the place setting.  These dishes were given to me a very long time ago by a friend.  I have been searching for this pattern for decades as I only have 6 dinner plates.  It’s Fondeville Ambassador Ware 6762 from England.  I don’t know the name of the pattern but it’s one of my favorites for Spring. Though I have a search for this china on Replacements and eBay, I’ve never been able to find more.

Every year, we have been coloring eggs with hot water, vinegar and food coloring. This year I thought I’d try to paint them with my acrylic paints. After boiling a dozen white eggs, I experimented with some spring colors.

It’s a bit challenging to hold the egg while painting and not smear the paint!

I still have a few to go, but I like the results.

Wishing you and yours a blessed Easter.  If you don’t celebrate this holiday, then my wishes extend to you to have a glorious spring weekend!

Over the last few months I had an obsession with anything that was blush, pink or rose gold. My friend and blogger, Gabie from Tea End blog commented that the color pink was related to nuturing and mothering.  It was during a time I had our children home for the holidays.  My motherly happiness resulted in purchasing rose gold earrings, a watch, a pink pullover….I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.

Now, I’m doing the same thing but with lavenders, purples and violets.  Really?  I’ve never been a fan of purple.  The only thing I can remember loving that was purple was my stuffed poodle FiFi back in 6th grade.

Since I don’t understand this new founded color sensitivity, I did some research on why we are drawn to certain colors.

According to energyandvibration.com  VIOLET is the channel for true balance, facilitating keeping one’s “feet on the ground (Earth)” – while the “head remains in Heaven”. Like with most things, there are positive and negative aspects to color.

Being attracted to VIOLET means having consistent difficulties with remaining grounded. When one is blocked or stuck in VIOLET they are too contemplative and often times unrealistic and impractical. 

Just prior to my purple craving, I was stressing about getting our taxes assembled, doing financial paperwork, on top of all the other responsibilities in life. I did feel overwhelmed and not very grounded.

When I am out of balance I worry needlessly.  Worrying is truly a worthless behavior because it doesn’t generate results.  Even though I try and talk myself out of worrying, I still do….back in the deep recesses of my mind. I find myself fretting over things I can’t control. 

However, not one to wallow for long periods of time, I decided to embrace the positive aspects of VIOLET. 

And purple and lavender and all shades in between.

Openness to VIOLET is knowing and being in that Truth, and total Trust in the intuition and guidance it provides. It is also the Willingness to ACT ON that Trust with complete Faith. In reading the words trust and faith, my worrying minimized.

VIOLET can help also promote inner calmness and mental peace.

My color craving also seems timely as Violet and its opposite,  Gold are Easter colors, representing the Ascension and Christ.

Color therapy and healing have been used for centuries.  I’m far from an expert, but I’ve enjoyed researching and trying to understand my purple obsession. Have you experienced a color craving and don’t understand why?

The flower photos are from my garden and Whitfill Nursery.

The front door to our home is original to the 1910s.  At four feet, it is wider than most entry doors. With the side lights, the entire entrance is almost 8′ wide.

Getting a properly scaled wreath is a challenge.  Most wreaths are 24″ to 28″ inches as measured by the outside tips of leaves or flowers.  This size just look puny on my front door.

This weekend, I went to the French Bee, known for their arrangements and wreaths, but their prices were a bit shocking ($749 for a wreath…..whaaaaatttt???). Even with their 50% off sale, I couldn’t justify spending that amount of money (with 2 children in college and preparing for a third tuition).

I’ve been pondering what to do for Spring so I dug out an old (really old) wreath I found in the well tower.  It was dusty, covered in spider webs (I obviously failed to store it properly) and was a bit less than round.  The framework is made from grapevines and felt solid.  The artificial flowers and leaves on it were rather skanky and faded.

Some of the raspberries were missing or chewed up and it was clear to me that this wreath needed a facelift.

Because it was so dirty, I washed it with a garden hose and left it in the sun to dry.

As always, the dogs want to help with any DIY project I tackle.  So as I was standing back, enjoying the sun and looking at my clean wreath, my beagle, Sox, attempted to lift his leg on it.  After scolding him, he did move on to do his business.

I removed all the yellowed plastic magnolia flowers, the broken raspberries and faded leaves.

Some of the underlying vines were in good shape, so I left those in place.

Using new artificial hydrangeas and lilac blooms, I added these to the wreath base.

I did not use a glue gun, but managed to tuck the stems into the grapevine~~which seemed to hold.

I debated whether to add a ribbon, but decided against it.  With a red door, the contrast in color is simple and understated.

Recycling and repurposing materials you already have~~is so economical and efficient!

Will your front door have a wreath for Spring? If you are looking for a spring wreath, Balsam Hill has a beautiful selection  (unfortunately they are too small for my front door). Some of their new spring designs were created by Courtney, one of my favorite bloggers, at French Country Cottage.

Whether you repurpose an old wreath or buy something new, happy Spring decorating!