Conversation Cushion

"If you haven't got anything good to say, come and sit next to me."

The conversation cushion is filled with 100 questions, sneakily pick one of the question ribbons from the small rips in the front of the cushion and give a tiring conversation a fresh boost. Place them in your office, your living room, or bring one on your next trip. Who knows what you may learn about someone?

Better yet? Think about making your own for interesting shower gifts or bridesmaid gift.

DIY Good Taste™ is just the place to assist you with this unique idea, and ensure you have fun in the process.

TGIF! Our GOOD TASTE tip for the weekend

On Fridays the team at Good Taste has decided to share with you the latest fun thing on our weekend agendas.... It may be the amazing famous salad recipe that one of our clients just shared with us (thanks, Coleen!), hot tickets to a VIP event, sharing secret celeb sightings that we hear may be in the works, or just good old movie & popcorn selections that fit well on a cozy Friday night. Let us know what you love to plan on Friday nights, too!

In the event business, our Friday's are often quite busy planning, rehearsing, etc. So sometimes, our "Fridays" actually occur on Mondays or Tuesdays. No mind. When you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.... Lucky us!

Tonight's thought is a wonderful reminder of something my husband is famous for. As my friends can testify, he is probably the most romantic, amazing man on the earth, but just for those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting him:

* A Romantic Visit: Simple flowers (store brought tulips are great!), a nice bottle of wine, a weekend newspaper, a great new CD (or one you've compiled of favorites from iTunes), and the best Chinese food in town - including chop sticks and fortune cookies - put a fun spin on the beginning of the weekend...

With the average professional person working 60-80 hours per week, free time is precious. Time in general is precious. Family is precious. Life is precious. Enjoy those minutes and hours with loved ones and appreciate the joy that the little things can bring.

Trust me. I promise you that you'll never regret it.

Host, toast, and boast. Easy cocktail party tips.

photo by Martha Stewart

This time of year brings about ample opportunities to get together with friends and neighbors, and we are often asked about some tips for planning a simple but elegant cocktail party. So, as we enter into a New Year, here are just a sampling of some of our entertaining ideas.

The most important thing about entertaining is that it should be enjoyable for all - including the host and hostess! A little planning ahead of time will ease those last minute jitters and allow you to enjoy your guests and your party. Here we go:

• Estimate the amount of liquor you will need. We use these numbers for a basic 2.5 hour cocktail party. Adjust up or down depending on the amount of food, the age of your guests, the time of day and the weather (cold drinks may goes down faster on hot days!).

COCKTAILS: 2.5 per person
CHAMPAGNE: 1 bottle for every 2 - 3 guests
WINE: 1 bottle for every 2 - 3 guests
LIQUOR: 1 liter for every 10 - 12 guests
BOTTLED WATER: 1 liter for every 2 guests

• Packaged snacked are absolutely fine to serve! Bags of pistachios, chips, and snack mix are economical and are always a hit. Frozen quiches and other frozen finger foods come in handy if the crowd is larger than expected or unusually hungry!
  
• Organize early: write lists, shop, and make your plan a week or two ahead of time.
• Polish any silver trays and clean all crystal days before the party. This is not a fun thing to be doing just before the doorbell rings!
  
• Clean your oven to ensure that there is nothing in the bottom of it that may cause an unwelcome odor or smoke while you have guests.
  
• Set bread sticks or flat breads out in tall glasses or vases on the buffet. They add height and an interesting addition to your display.
• Use cloth cocktail napkins rather than paper for a more refined look. (We purchase these year round when we spot them on sale.)
• Set your iPod or CD player with appropriate music for the group. Test it out before the first guest arrives and have the music playing 15 minutes early (to put a festive mood in the air!)
  
• Create a sparkling evening by clustering one color of pillar candles of various heights throughout the room or on the mantel. Stick to either one candle aroma or odorless candles.
  
• Twinkle lights are always a hit. Wrap them in ficus trees or indoor plants for some extra glow.
  
• Be sure you have a candle lighter that is in working order. Light candles 20 - 30 minutes before guests arrive.
  
• Set out any cheeses on a marble slab or cutting board covered with a dome or kitchen towel, a few hours before the party so they may be served at room temperature.
• Small clusters of grapes make easy and pretty decor on cheese displays and serving platters. Be sure they are cleaned well and cut into small enough clusters so that a guest may take one to enjoy.
• Cut flowers can be placed in carafes, fancy glasses, Thomas Jefferson cups, mason jars and a variety of vases for an interesting addition to your decor. Place them throughout the house for a nice touch.
  
• Dim the lights to create a cozy atmosphere - especially if you have lots of candle to add ambiance.
• Don't forget the bathrooms. A nice candle, hand soap, a flower, and pressed guest towels show guests that you've left nothing untouched.
  
• Light a fire in the fireplace (in the winter) and assign a friend to ensure it keeps glowing all night. During warmer months, consider placing colorful daisies or mums in the fireplace... you can replant them when the party is over.
• Place appetizers on small plates throughout the room so that guests never have to go far for a bite.
  
• If you have special photographs of fun times with your guests, put them in frames and display them throughout your party. They bring back fond memories and are great conversation starters for any 'newbies' in the group.
  
• Separate the bar area from the main food area to avoid bottlenecks and to encourage mingling.
  
• Pre-pour trays of a colorful drink or champagne with a lavender sprig to offer guests upon arrival.
• If the weather outside is frightful, be sure to set aside an area for coats and purses.
  
• Consider hiring someone to help be your behind the scenes hostess - picking up empty plates, dishes, and keeping the bar area clean throughout the evening.
• Don't forget to offer non-alcoholic beverages for guests.
• Consider a small 'thank you' happy for your guests when they leave. An inexpensive small silver frame, a candle in a organza bag, or Polaroid photos taken through the night and laid on the table by the door will help show your appreciation - and help your guests remember the lovely evening.
  

Most of all, enjoy yourself. Like most things in life, entertaining just takes practice. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Once Upon a Family...

In the ever ending search for unique and meaningful gifts, these certainly top the list. Especially at this time of year when I'm treasuring the memories I have of the Holidays with my late daughter, I encourage anyone to take the time to snap a few photos, keep the homemade cards, don't worry about the flour all over the kitchen after baking cookies - in other words, savor the memories. Someday we realize that they will become our true treasures.

A home-based organization called 'Once Upon a Family' sells some high quality, heirloom type gifts. They stress spending time with your families, and encourage creating and upholding traditions all year round. The Letters to Santa Pillow gives a gorgeous little spot for your child to put their letter to Santa. After the man in red picks up the letter, you can save it for years to come...and present all of them to your child when they turn 21.

The Christmas Book is a lovely silk album - the perfect place to preserve your special photos. Consider placing one photo each year in the 25 page fold-out books, of your family engaged in your favorite Christmas tradition. Bring the book out a couple of weeks before Christmas to remember the previous years and to show the children how they've grown! This is also available in a Hanukkah book as well.

Both the Letters to Santa pillow and the Christmas Book run approximately $25. For more information or to purchase these (and dozens more quality items), visit Jennifer Schmidts website here.

Heart Art

I found these gorgeous, renowned Salvatore Principe hearts as limited edition glicees. The prints are pigmented ink prints printed on archival canvas. The Glicees are wrapped in a gallery wrap style - resulting in a sculptural type presence. No framing is necessary and each piece is signed and numbered by the artist, with a custom inscription of your choice.

Not only an amazing one-of-a-kind Valentine's Day gift, but what a fabulous find for a special wedding couple, birthday boy (or girl), or great friend.

Gifts from the heart. Mmmmmm. There's nothing better.

A very moving tip

Guess what our office has been up to? Yes, we are officially moved into our new office (a cute little renovated house, actually) in beautiful and quaint downtown Edmonds, Washington. Between the Holidays, the move, some exciting new ideas and goals for 2008 and just the day to day fun, somehow I looked up and found that it is already January! Even more shocking was realizing that our blog site hadn't been updated since November. Wow. If the old saying that 'time flies when you're having fun' is true, then at Good Taste Weddings & Events, we've been having a laugh riot.

We've also added 'keeping up with the blog' to the list of our exciting plans and resolutions for 2008. So hang with us, it's going to be a great year!

I like you, too - Amy Sedaris

You've got to love a book with a sub-title that reads: Hospitality under the Influence. This book is Amy Sedaris' hilarious look at entertaining. I would recommend signing onto amazon.com immediately and ordering two copies - one for yourself and a second for your favorite hostess. Shucks, I think this may be a Christmas staple for those friends of mine who love to throw - and attend - parties! Here are some of her ideas:

• Party Strategy The second you decide to throw a party start making ice. Sedaris calls buying a bag of it "cheating."
• The Guest List If everyone is the same, the party is a boring convention. Still you should avoid toxic combinations, like an astrologer and an astronomer, the newly divorced couple, and a serial killer and a drunken teenager.
• Invitations Be specific about time, location and themes so guests can dress appropriately. If you don't RSVP immediately, hosts will worry you are waiting for a better offer.
• Etiquette Don't arrive early unless specifically asked to. But do arrive on time, especially for a dinner party. Depending upon the host, consider practical gifts like toilet paper and stamps. If you want to bring wine, ask the hostess what she is planning to serve and bring a bottle of that. If you want to be graceful in an old world sort of way, send a bouquet of flowers the following day.
• Adult Proof Your House Assume guests will snoop. Plan ahead and fill your medicine cabinet with marbles.
• Try to Turn a Profit Capitalize on the chance to sell things to a house full of liquored up, generous guests. Set up a table of things you are selling for 25 cents. A strict hostess Sedaris has three rules for party sales: 1) it has to be a quarter, not two dimes and a nickel; 2) you break it, you buy it; and 3) you buy it, you take it away.
  

Who said entertaining couldn't be entertaining?

Glassybaby Love

One of my dearest and most talented friends, Maude May of SparkArt presented me and my husband with a beautiful glassybaby for a wedding gift. It was such a thoughtful gesture and as it provides a perfect warm glow at my desk each day. Every time I see it, I think of Maude and her generosity and the light she brings into my world. I also am always touched and inspired by the story behind these lovely candle holders. In the spirit of 'paying it forward' (which I love), many of the proceeds go to various charity foundations. Maude's thoughtful gift came with a note stating that ten percent of all proceeds directly benefit cancer patients at the UW Medical Center. How wonderful to consider such a gift as hostess gifts, holiday gifts or wedding favors. Paying it forward is one of the best feelings I know of.

Straight from their website, here is the skinny:

"Glassybaby came to life at a time when founder Lee Rhodes' life had taken a fragile turn. The year was 1996 and Lee was fighting what would become a 7-year battle with a rare form of lung cancer, and raising her three small children. She had endured surgery, countless rounds of chemotherapy and was searching for a few moments of serenity to escape the fear that had encompassed her life. As a special Christmas gift to her husband at the time, she presented him glass blowing lessons. One of the first pieces he brought home from class was a small, brightly colored cup - almost like a baby cup. As he made more, Lee placed tea lights in them and spread them around her home, feeling the chaos become calm...and was born.

Over the next five years, Lee encouraged her husband to make more so she could give them away as gifts to her friends. Eventually she learned to blow glass and create , and then searched out local glass blowers to assist her with the production. She became driven to spread the light of . To her, they became "that deep breath that we often forget to take". In 2003, opened its first retail store and now resides in its permanent home in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle, where she now employs 25 people, including a team of dedicated glassblowers.
To honor those who have walked down her same path, Lee established goodwill. Every year, goodwill designates a select group of colors to benefit local and national organizations contributing to cancer patient care and cancer research.

Glassybaby remains an emotionally charged endeavor for Lee. Each day she is moved by the stories of those shopping in her studio, sometimes bringing tears, sometimes laughter - many cancer stories, and many stories of hope and healing. Each is created to be individual and each one is personal to her. As they leave the door, she is reminded of her journey and she hopes that the serenity and calm will remain with its new owner."

Visit them today. www.glassybaby.com

Positively Precious Pumpkins!

Wow. Isn't amazing how absolutely beautiful a simple pumpkin can become when you apply a little 'Martha Magic' to the project? Actually, I first saw this on Meredith Tomasulo's fantastic blog Elegant Engagements. I couldn't resist sharing it as well. It's not at all surprising that she has this lovely post - her work is awesome. Be sure to check it out, you'll be hooked!

Wouldn't these be stunning at a fall wedding? I'm not even going to wait for my wedding couples to get these going... Our company is moving into a darling new office space and these will be amazing at our entry.

To make these for yourself, here are Martha's suggestion:

By paring away the skin and only part of the flesh rather than carving all the way through, the lantern becomes translucent when lit from within.

1. Cut a hole in the pumpkin's base, and hollow the pumpkin out. If you're using a candle, cut a lid out of the top using a keyhole saw; for low-wattage lightbulbs, cutting a hole in the top is optional, but you must also cut a hole in the back of the pumpkin for the cord. Apply petroleum jelly to any exposed flesh to keep it from drying out.

2. If you're carving a monogram, find an example of typeface to use and enlarge it on a photocopier to the desired size. Tape the monogram to the pumpkin with masking tape. Using a needle tool or pushpins, poke holes through the monogram and into the pumpkin around the outline of the letters at close intervals. Remove photocopy, and connect the "dots" by pen. Pare the flesh down with a gouge in open spaces and a linoleum cutter in tight spaces, leaving about half the thickness of the translucent flesh intact to allow sufficient light to show through. (You don't need a template to create spirals or a harlequin pattern, spirals can be carved freehand, and the harlequin diamonds can be drawn, prior to carving, using a felt-tipped pen.)

3. Wrap Christmas lights around a glass for a radiant light source. To even out the light, affix a piece of wax paper with tacks to the inside of the monogram.

Best of All, He Loved the Fall...

It is that wonderful time of year when the leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and the pumpkins, wreaths and gorgeous colors paint the neighborhoods. I usually go into the Autumn season kicking and screaming... I hate to give up the warmth and long days of summer, but once I'm there, I always love it. I start thinking about the Holidays and my one of my favorite day is Thanksgiving. I have so much to be grateful for in my life and love sharing a Thanksgiving Day meal with close family and friends.

I like to put a little 'happy' on each guests plate - in the past, I've done something as simple as writing small notes to each guest about why I'm thankful for them in my life. Mount the notes on a gorgeous leaf that you collect and you've got an instant place card and keepsake! This year, I think my guests will receive these cute little paperweights, tied with a gorgeous orange bow with a little greenery tucked in. I love the saying. "Gratitude can turn a feast into a meal, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Also, how fun to put one of these Thanksgiving Day 'conversation' cards under each plate. During the meal, ask each guests to read their question and share their answer with the group. I believe even talking about gratitude is a good thing.

Sugar Hearts...mmmmmm

I just LOVE these little sugar hearts to perch on the edge of a glass or cup. Serving (or enjoying) coffee or iced tea was never this fun!

Bottled Water and a Smile to boot!

When planning weddings, I love adding just a bit of whimsy that reflects the personality of a couple. These beautiful personalized bottled waters are lovely but when you look closely, you'll see some fun reflected in the quotations on the back of the labels. It's fun to include these in your welcome baskets for your guests and perhaps in your hospitality suite. In addition to sharing the beautiful memories of your celebration, your guests will be smiling long after your big day has gone. Cheers!

Precious

I absolutely LOVE children's art, so I was thrilled when I found this artist who turns your favorite budding Degas pieces into sterling silver pins. A great gift or happy for Moms and Grandmoms, don't you think?