Style Lush

Party on the patio!

By Maggie

I'm in the throes of a rather onerous Rental House Search (wait! Did I tell you my house sold? My house sold! I credit the wealth corner!) and at the tippy top of my Must Have List is a fenced yard with a patio. I am convinced my quality of life (a life with two toddlers) will improve immeasurably when I am living in a house with a fenced yard this summer. "You two go play! Mommy will just be standing here at the kitchen window, sipping her mimosa!"

Several of the houses I've seen are in possession of spectacular decks and they all have me dreaming of parties outdoors, or at least dinner on the patio. We have a couple of outdoor chairs for the teeny tiny patio in our current yard, but we don't have an outdoor dining table and that must be amended. 

Cost Plus World Market is my go to store for outdoor stuff, mainly because they're SO much cheaper than my other favorite stores. (COUGH Crate and Barrel COUGH.) 

I want everything in this entire picture:

 

Catalina outdoor dining collection, $79.99 to $249.99

And I think it'd be fun to string these along the house, or even around the umbrella:

Paper string lights, $12.99

I think these are pretty fabulous too. It's like I think I live where it's sunny or something. 

 
Catalina pool lounger with tray, $199 
  

{Photo credits: WorldMarket.com}

Spring-Summer Corn Salad

By Amy

I don't mean to be bragadocious, but here in California, it feels like spring and I just can't even tell you what a difference it's making in my life because I just want to be in the sun all day long.

Maybe this makes me a weirdo, but I am definitely a person who categorizes foods into categories by season. So, during the winter, I prepare certain foods and then in the summer,I eat completely different things. One of my rules in the summer time is minimal preparation and/or use of an oven or anything that slightly heats my tiny apartment. Thankfully, this salad fits the bill: it requires little prep, and is cold and delicious. The first time I prepared it for my boyfriend, he said he felt like he was "eating summer" which sounds like a compliment to me.

Spring-Summer Corn Salad

• one package frozen corn (I prefer Trader Joe's Roasted Corn) OR three ears of corn, kernels removed
• one zucchini, sliced thin
• one red pepper, diced
• one tablespoon dill (fresh or dried)
• olive oil
• seasoned salt

Thaw corn if necessary, and cut other vegetables.  Combine in bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil until all vegetables are lightly coated. Add dill and mix well. Add seasoned salt to taste. Cover well and refrigerate for at least three hours, until well chilled.

I recommend serving with other summery items, like barbecue and a mojito, and enjoying in the backyard!

How to Feed a Vegetarian: Summer Barbecue Edition

By Beth

I've been a vegetarian for about ten years now.  It isn't really that big a deal, everybody chooses their own diet and mine does not include meat.  It does however, sometimes pose a problem for kind and friendly people who would like to invite me for dinner.  In case you ever find yourself wondering what to feed a vegetarian, I'm going to give you some suggestions.

First off, since I have Spring on the brain this week, we are going to talk about the big summer barbecue. Burgers!  Hot dogs!  Ribs!  Vegetarian nightmare, right?  Well, it can be, but it doesn't have to be.  Start with throwing a couple of veggie burgers on the grill.  Those thing are actually good, I promise.  I'm partial to the Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burgers, myself.  Or, skip the veggie burgers and grill some portobello mushrooms.  All you need to know about portobellos is that, prior to cooking, you need to turn those bad boys over and scrape off the black gills with a spoon.

Next up is side dishes.  These are usually pretty vegetarian friendly, just leave the bacon out of the baked beans or warn your vegetarian guests about it.  Or, if you need some inspiration, try this delicious and easy edamame salad:

1 cup shelled edamame (soybeans)
2 cups corn, cut from kernel or frozen
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
1 tsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, mashed to a paste
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro salt and pepper to taste

Now - get out there and invite a vegetarian to dinner!

Perfect party: No Fuss Fabulous' Very Merry UnBirthday

By Jennie

Featuring fun and inspiring parties makes me insanely happy. Seriously, I wish you could see how much I enjoy writing a post like this. My husband will vouch for me.

When I saw this Very Merry UnBirthday party for a little girl's birthday celebration, I instantly grinned. I think you will, too.

Loralee, the party hostess, said something I just loved about party throwing, "I kept it small, simple, and as whimsical as possible."

More parties should be whimsical.

 

These are fantastic, aren't they? (The how-to here.)

 

These are thrift store mugs, hand decorated. Pretty doesn't have to be pricey.

You can also purchase the party invitation (digitally) or a thank-you note set from her Etsy shop!

{All photos courtesy of No Fuss Fabulous}

I'd be happy to give you my mailing address

By Maggie

Style Lush Readers, I have NINE MILLION THINGS GOING ON. Selling my house! Preparing for a week of single parenting! Potty training! My husband working full time and going to school on the weekends! Plus all the stuff I can't write about because I was STUPID and decided it was okay if people in real life read my blog. WHAT WAS I THINKING? 

It's been a particularly stressful couple of weeks, dear readers, and in a moment of calm I sat down with my laptop and started to "window" shop. Retail therapy makes everything better, right?

1. A red velvet cupcake from Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle, $3
2. Blooming wreath flower kit from Paper-Source, $19.95
3. Mosaic coasters from ringmosaics, $35
4. Strapless embossed dress from J.Crew, $140 
5. Silk tie-neck dress from Banana Republic, $110
6. Splendor, by Anna Godbersen, $17.99  (perhaps I should just go get the copy I have on hold at the library)
7. That Gal brightening face primer, $28
8. Teal lotus flower modern clutch from Upstyle, $70

{photo credits: Trophy Cupcakes, Paper-Source, ringmosaics Etsy shop, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Powells.com, Benefitcosmetics.com, Upstyle Etsy shop}

Perfect party: Lego birthday party

By Jennie

I have a great, new idea to carry out at Style Lush, and I hope you'll enjoy it. Every now and again I'm going to spotlight a great party I've stumbled upon while perusing the great, vast Internet. I've linked to a few of these perfect parties in the sidebar, and I'll share even more in individual posts.

I love a good party, I've said that once or twice before, but I love when you throw a good party, too. Want to know why? Because fun is infectious and celebrating is contagious and no matter how much you've spent or what you've whipped up in the kitchen or who you've invited, celebrating with good people is as good as life gets. I really believe that.

Maybe by seeing a few of these special parties people are hosting all around the world, you'll believe that too.

I found this awesome Lego Birthday Party at Steph Modo. It's an easy, versatile theme, and it's colorful and fun, too.

She made these great boxed invitations with jelly beans. These seemed to be hand-out invites for classmates and local friends, so if you're planning to mail invites, this idea might not be for you.

 

The water bottles and napkin rings were made from store-bought stationary and the legos hanging from the ceiling were handmade (check out her site for more info on those).

 

More good use from the lego stationary. I love the touch of the straws, too.

{All photos courtesy of Steph Modo}

*****

Do you have a great party you want to see spotlighted? Email me at stylelushblog AT gmail DOT com. 

Free Music for Entertaining

By Leah

Whenever we have people over in the evening to play grown-ups (you know, dinner, drinks, sitting in chairs with our legs crossed demurely, like mature people do), I never know what to put on for background music. My iPod simply can't be trusted on shuffle (read: too many showtunes and songs that are hopelessly lame by anyone's standards), and most of the albums I know well enough to trust I also know well enough that to play them would risk my singing along when I should be enjoying the cheese plate and my company. I don't know about you, but I'm a pretty bad conversationalist with "Jessie's Girl" blaring from the stereo, so for these types of get-togethers, I try to put on songs that won't be too distracting. 

Enter Jamendo, a site full of free and legal music downloads. That's right: free, free, free!

Most of the content is uploaded by the musicians themselves, and most of them are European (with France most heavily represented), meaning most of the music will be new to you and your guests, which, in this age of everyone trying to out-indie everyone else, also means you'll get major coolness points--bonus if the lyrics are in a foreign language.   

Be warned, however: Because a lot of the music is by amateurs, the quality (both music-related and production-related) can be a little iffy. Surf around, though, because there are some real gems out there that you'll never find on iTunes or even in your best uber-indie record store.  

The site's a little hard to navigate at first, so for starters, use the "tags" page to select artists by genre/instrumentation, and the Top 100 Tracks page to see the week's most popular clicks. Then download, donate (if you can), and create the ultimate dinner party playlist.    

Stuff I Love: Horta Wine Glasses

by Elizabeth

So, these wine glasses? All the reviews talk about how breakable they are. And I don't need wine glasses. And I'm 25 weeks pregnant, which means I can't even drink wine. And they're REALLY girly, which means my husband will probably hate them. (Not that I would let him use them anyway. AS IF.) Also they're TWELVE DOLLARS each. 

Which is to say, there are a lot of reasons why I don't need these wine glasses, and why I totally shouldn't buy them. But oh, aren't they still just so lovely? 

Someday, somehow, they will be mine. 

{image credit:  anthropologie.com}

Building the Basic Bar

By Sarah

I'm sure there are 1,001 articles out there on everything you need for a perfect cocktail party bar and I'm sure I'm breaking all kinds of bartender rules with this list, but I don't care. I firmly believe you can make all of your party guests happy with only a handful of liquors and mixes and more importantly, I don't think you need to break the bank with the fancy-schmanciest of brands. Here are my basic bar essentials, along with my accompanying alcohol recommendations.

The Liquors:
Gin (My personal favorite is Bombay Sapphire, but honestly, I usually just keep it real with Seagrams, which is surprisingly pretty good.)
Vodka (Doesn't it seem like everyone has really strong feelings about vodka brands? Personally, I think Absolut is perfectly acceptable.)
Tequila (I like Hornitos or El Jimador and I DO NOT think it's necessary to have Patron. However, if one of your guests brings you a bottle of Patron, well, enjoy!)
Whiskey (There's an on-going debate in my family between Bushmill's and Jameson. At the end of the day, they're pretty much the same.)
Rum (Cuba Libre, anyone?)
Vermouth (For the martini-lovers.)
Triple Sec (For the margaritas.)

The Non-Liquors:
Tonic
Soda water
Cola
Lemons & limes

And that's it! Cheers!

Nerd Pie

by Christina

Allow me to state upfront that I may be the only one who thinks this is really awesome. I'm married to a statistician and have a kid that rocks t-shirts that read "Dependant Variable," so there is that. This is an innocent looking piece of bake ware but holds a fun little surprise when you cut into the pie. One of my things to do in 2010 is make a pie from scratch, this little dish needs to come to my house. If only it would make the crust for me.

{photo credit: the wireless catalog dot com}