My Favorites ... Entertaining

I have swapped up my entertaining favorites and my beauty favorites today worried about ordering time lines and monogram cut off dates.  Of course I am monogram obsessed and most of our entertaining favorites are monogrammed so these would require a little more lead time.  I noticed that Emily McCarthy (my entertaining go to) has a cut off for personalized gifts this week and I do not want you to miss out on being able to order any of these items for holiday gifts. Trust me when I saw Emily nails it when it comes to monogramming and entertaining items.  Her Shoppe is my first go to time and time again, the customer service and the options are just superior to some.  And, of course, she is one of my closest friends ... so that is a win, win for all. 

Let me begin by saying having a custom couture monogram was the best gift Emily ever gave me. Once you design a custom monogram you can have it added to anything you purchase.  Anything.  It is so fun to be able to monogram your home is something that is special and unique to you.  A couture monogram is a great gift for a wonderful occasion.  A newly engaged couple very close to you, a big birthday, a retirement, I highly recommend them. 

Can you all come over for drinks and a lovely evening on the porch?  I so wish you could.

Up first, cocktails and appetizers ... 

Bar Cart ... these are available everywhere and I have a few of them both new and vintage. They are widely available for a variety of price points. I love a bar cart for so many reasons but the best is to set up as a valet for you when you have others over.  Make something they can help themselves to, or even set it up as a coffee cart with to go cups for the morning or the ride home.  I have a few, as I said, and this one is one of my favorites we own.

Cocktail Napkins ... I have a number of these and have gifted even more.  There is nothing more fun or amazing than handing someone a cocktail napkin (even for coffee) with the best details.  I love gifting these. 

Monogram Swizzle Sticks ... I love these for us and for gifts.  Just as with Emily's other Gift Bar (readily made) items these are two of the same initial interlocking.  I love how fun each letter is ... the M is my favorite, of course. 

Acrylic Sticks ... these are so fun and come in a variety of seasons, designs, and events.  I am in love with the Christmas wreaths.  I own leaves, pink pups, ginger jars, and so many more.  They are also reusable and can be hand washed and used again and again. 

Cheese Board ... you can use literally anything at all to create a great charcuterie board.  Anything.  A platter, cutting board, anything.  I recently purchased this one and love it.  It makes a great way to make any kind of board at all.  I highly recommend it. 

Monogram Decanter ... My husband has one, my brother in law has one, my dad has one ... all gifted by me.  Emily Post says the lady of the house (it me) has all of the monograms with the exception of barware.  I am very traditional and this is how I do it. 

To Go Cups ... you can order these with just a single initial or customize them.  I love them both ways and they are so fun to gift.  Add in some fabulous coffee and your gift is complete!

Shatterproof Cups ... single initial or go all out with your monogram - these are great, last forever, and you clean them in the top rack of your dishwasher.  The custom ones are available in a number of sizes and colors.  So very fun!

Mint Julep Cups ... I use these for the obvious and also to hold flowers on bedside tables for guests and along the table when I entertain.  After using them for flowers just use a little Bar Keepers Friend on the inside to bring them back to their beauty once again. 

Wine Glasses ... I have had and used many wine glasses over the years and none of them compare to Estelle glass.  I was gifted a pair in yellow and they are so amazing and so very beautiful.  I would like to continue to collect Estelle glass and hope to do so in a variety of colors.  Here they are in blue ... but they come in all sorts of colors.  I love the beauty and simplicity of the glass and the colors are honestly, just stunning.  My vision is to collection blue, pink, green (light and dark) and maybe even lavender, which shocks me so much.  The colors are everything. After rocks glasses, wine glasses, and mint julep cups I love a coupe and Estelle coupes are drop dead gorgeous. 

Cocktail Mixer, Spoon, and Strainer ... I just bought all of these and love them

Champagne stopper ... just in case you don't finish that bottle

Ice Cube Tray ... bourbon just tastes butter with a big cube

Rocks Glasses ... ours are a set from Ralph Lauren years ago, but I love these as a go to and very similar look.  We have a set of six but I would suggest a set of 8

Outdoor Ice Bucket ... great for ice, also great for keeping your wine and champagne chilled

Entertaining set I love to gift ... it's a great place to start for all

Next, overnight guests ... 

Tray  ... this one lives on my kitchen table but is pulled when I need it + this is another one I have and love. I also love one with handles for delivering coffee to guests.  We used to have a small coffee maker in our guest room and it died so I decided using my coffee press to deliver was more fun. 

Bedside carafe  ... for those overnight guests, I love using ours for those night vitamins and when I just need a glass of water.  Refill often when people are staying with you to keep it fresh and clean.

Coffee cups ... we have a number of mismatched coffee cups that I have collected over the years.  When we entertain I like to use something from a set.  We had six of the cups you see above and now are down to two after breaking them over the years.  I recently invested in these to have something to use that all matches.  I love the pattern on these, they match a friend's set.

Guest towels ... I shared in my bed and bath favorites that all of our guest towels are Weezie.  They are truly the softest. They were gifted and I really, really love them.

Guest sheets ... I also shared in that same post that our guest sheets are these.  The most comfortable sheets we own. 

For gift ideas I love the following pairings:

Monogram Decanter + their favorite spirit

Monogram Napkins, Acrylic Stir Sticks + 

Pair of to go cups (or coffee cups) + their favorite coffee

Any of the trays (so useful for all things)

Pair of wine glasses (or anything Estelle)

Cheeseboard + cheese knives

Cheeseboard + monogram cocktail napkins (I am using this one)

For the rest of my favorites lists ... here is Bed + Bath and Travel.

Happy Thursday ...