Blog – Little Miss Party

May 17th

The Super Adventures of Sophie and the City…in the Piccolini store with LMP!

Yesterday I had the great honor of setting up a very special party for a book reading in the Piccolini store on Mulberry. I’ve told you about this store that my hubby discovered in an old blog post that you can read here. Turns out it’s been one of the best business relationships that we’ve made to date…not to mention we’ve made a new friend…Alex. Alex is so passionate about her adorable store and when Kelly Florio Kasouf walked in to do some shopping they got talking and made a couple of great connections. First – Kelly is the author of the most adorable new book called the Super Adventures of Sophie in the City. An updated, personal and fresh take on the Eloise story. Second – is that it turned out Kelly had been ordering from Alex’s mom’s bakery Made in Heaven cakes for years. After hitting it off on many levels, Alex & Kelly got talking and thought the Sophie book would be a great fit in the Piccolini store and decided to throw a little party to hold a couple of book readings to get the word out. This is where LMP came in…as we were thrilled to contribute by adding to the decor and festivities with some creativity.
After reading the book ourselves and marveling over the insanely gorgeous images designed by the talented illustrator that Kelly found: Judit García-Talavera we thought it would be best to work with a color palette of fuchsia pink, teal and white. We used these colors in tissue poms and tulle to design the Piccolini store window for this special event. We hung the tissue poms to look like clouds and we draped the tulle around one large image from the Sophie book as well as some colorful frames filled with the Sophie logo. We even used some feathers to cover the back of the image board so when inside the store, the window still looked pretty from the behind. For the day of the event we put a three foot balloon tied with fringe outside the store to draw in the attention of those walking by. Alex so beautifully models this for us here…

Since the book and party was geared toward young ladies we had some fun dressing up glass milk bottles with colorful pearls and then filled them with our favorite peonies and ranunculus. We placed these vases all over the store adding pops of color and flare all around.

We also had some fun with pink tissue creating flowers and garland to dress up the shelving unit behind the cash register where Kelly signed books to the girls after she did her reading. We threw in some white bud vases with bright pink peonies throughout the store as well adding to the already colorful merchandise that Alex has set out.

Speaking of merchandise, we can’t help ourselves every time we walk into this store. Alex has the most incredible eye for children’s wear and toys. From rocker tees, CD’s, books to sunglasses and the brilliant and stylish Chewbeads we find it hard to resist buying for my lil man and gifts for others every time we walk in.

As far as some sweets to offer the big and little guests in attendance Alex had her incredibly talented mom and sister whip up some mini cupcakes. These cupcakes were so adorable, delicious and a huge hit amongst the crowd! They also made regular sized cupcakes with the Sophie logo on top, wrapped in white boxes and tied with pink ribbon to give away as favors at the end of the party.

To add to the goodies LMP supplied some personalized water bottles and bubbles for the kids to enjoy!

For the reading itself we decorated the back corner of Alex’s store by hanging boas in our color palette over the change table that she has set up for her moms who shop with young ones. Kelly sat in a perfect chair for reading her book while the moms and daughters sat on the floor on cushy Ikea rugs that LMP brought in for a comfy little nook created for listening to the magical story.

All kinds of wonderful moms, bloggers and friends came into Piccolini store for the event and we couldn’t have been happier with the turnout.

We look forward to many more successful parties with our new friend on Mulberry Street!

xx, Seri

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categories: desserts, Little Miss Mommy, little miss party

May 14th

Thanks, Mom.

For me, ever since I had a child, mother’s day has gone to a whole new level. My mom always used to tell me “just wait till you’re a mother”. I never understood this saying and actually used to find it quite annoying, till, I gave birth to my son. There is absolutely nothing in the world like having a child. Creating a human being who you are responsible for raising and bringing up in this big, crazy world. Pretty unreal.

I also realize that mother’s day is similar to Thanksgiving. There are so many woman I’m thankful for having in my life and this is the day to recognize each and everyone of them. Of course it goes without saying that my mom takes the cake here. Mom, I love you and thank you for all that you do for me. I must also shout out to my 90 year old Boobie, Aunts, sister and sister in law, hubby’s mom, hubby’s grandma and all of my adoring girlfriends. Not to mention a special shout out to Ali our babysitter who has become a part of the family and who I could not live without.
To honor all the mom’s in my life I put together a little spread out at the house today and we just had the in laws out so it was pretty low key. Most important element in my brunch today was to take some great shots to write about in this blog post…but unfortunately I don’ thave good news for you here. For some very stupid reason I put my hubby in charge of this and boy was that a mistake! The only (albeit HUGE one) that he made today because he otherwise treated me like a real princess by giving me a gift card to my favorite spa, cleaning up and being in charge of the lil man for the day. At any rate…let me at least tell you what I made and show you the terrible pictures just so you can try to get the idea…
First, as part of the tablescape I made flower pot cupcakes + strawberries. The inspiration was from a version where they used cookies which I actually tried and failed miserably at. The cookies looked and tasted terrible. So I had to come up with a last minute game plan and I figured it would be easiest and cute to just use strawberries. So I dipped them into some semi-sweet chocolate and voila! How cute are these? I used real terra cotta pots from Michaels ($0.69 each!) and then filled with cupcakes that I topped with chocolate ganache and dipped in crushed oreo cookies. Delish, fun to make with young kiddies and looked really cute on the table.

For the rest of the menu we had…
Martha’s mango parfaits – I used shot glasses for mine.

Martha’s bacon and egg toast cups – sensational. I thought I’d take the healthy road and use turkey bacon, tasted good but totally burnt. Wish I used regular bacon just it would have looked better!

Fruit salad – never fails
Strawberry greens – romain, red onions, strawberries and a balsamic + olive oil dressing
We topped our Missoni for Target melamine cups with orange juice and enjoyed the gorgeous day outside. It was all lovely…except for my sad, sad pictures.
Happy Mother’s day to All and to all a good night.

xx, Seri

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categories: For Mom..., Kids eats, Little Miss Mommy, Toddler activities

May 7th

Showering a sister…

I have a son and I happen to be pregnant again and will be surprised with the sex for the 2nd time round. You wonder why I’m telling you this? Well it’s because if I have another boy, which I’d be over joyed with (yes my biggest fear in life is having a teenage daughter – we can talk about this in another blog post…), I realize I will never get the pleasure of throwing a shower like this again. This Saturday I had the honor of working with some of the sweetest, most fabulous bridesmaids to put on the shower of my sister’s dreams. It was the first time, sadly, I know, that I realized just how lucky I am to have a sister. I’ve always taken her for granted and unfortunately we were not super close growing up. But that’s all changed and in the past few years as we have become incredibly tight and speak every day even when we have nothing to say to each other.
So when first sitting down to plan this special event for my sister I just had to consult with her on the theme, color palette and some of the main concepts because I wanted it to be as perfect as can be. Her love of tea, vintage and shabby chic details pulled together into a “tea for two” theme for the party and with this we designed a soft, feminine and really pretty inspiration board to work with…

This was the end of my sister Mandy’s involvement in her shower as from this point on LMP and the bridesmaids took the vision for her fantasy shower and ran with it.
Now before I go any further here I need to give a shout out to Robyn Harrison who took the photos that you will see below (aside for the odd one that was taken by my Aunt Debi). Her photography is simply amazing – thank you for all of your hard work and sending these shots to me so quickly!
On to the venue. Many of the girls so generously offered up their homes to have Mandy’s shower in. I thought it would be best to have it in one of the girls’ homes to save some money and to make it more personal. So we had the shower at her friend Elyse’s house who happens to be a chef…not too shabby and we’ll talk more about this shortly. Elyse’s house is beautiful. She has a lovely dining room/living room but the creme de la creme is her backyard. A really nice size, lush grass and large patio set with plenty of room to set up all the tables we wanted to really let our creative juices flow. One key factor here…the weather. We needed sun, warmth and sun. HA! Well guess what? We got it! And actually – it was the nicest day we’ve seen to date this 2012. The sun was beaming, the air was warm with a beautiful breeze and the clouds kept their distance. I couldn’t have asked for it to be any better if I tried.
So we put up a sign on the front lawn to direct the guests to the backyard and we were ready to roll…AND…that’s when…

We set out three main tables for the party: drinks, brunch and dessert. We also set a table for gifts and favors for everyone to take home. And we had the joy of setting out tables for guests to sit at which made for a really laid back and comfortable celebration.
The color palette was made up of soft pink, mint green, gold and ivory lace. We combined all of these colors in the table where we set up drinks for the guests to help themselves: coffee & tea, pink sparkling lemonade, a pink Moscato, sparkling and still water and of course plenty of lemons & limes. I purchased a pink lacy parasol umbrella from Luna Bazaar from which I hung black and white pictures of my sister as a baby on doilies from. I give 100% credit to my mother Vici for this fabulous idea which turned out to look gorgeous at the beverage station.

In addition I found the most beautiful little pendants from M&J Trimming to hot glue onto ribbon and put around the corrugated sleeves that we set out for the coffee cups. A great DIY way to spice up a boring plain white cup. We also set out ivory roses in a silver tea set that we borrowed from my Boobie Frieda (aka my grandmother). As you may or may not know, my Boobie turned 90 this past November and couldn’t be more precious to my sister and I. We are so thankful that she is with us and as strong as she is being able to attend all of the special occasions that have been going on in our lives. Boobie played a pretty large role in this shower as she loaned us much more then just her silver tea set…

We took several of her vintage tea cups, tea pots, platters, vases and table linens to use throughout the party. This made the party not only more stunning then it already was but also very meaningful and special to our family who was in attendance. We were also very lucky to borrow some of the vintage tea cups that my Auntie Marissa has been storing from our late Bubbie Nelly (aka my other grandmother). We used the teacups to fill with flowers, make mini cake stands and as part of the centerpieces on the tables where the guests were able to enjoy their delicious bites. We even filled some of these beautiful tea cups on the tables with cookies that Elyse replicated right off of Pinterest which were delicious and adorable! Surrounding each we put up more childhood pictures of Mandy for the guests to enjoy looking at.

You will also see we had some beautiful flowers all over this shower. I had the pleasure of working with Suzanne from Wildflowers for these fabulous arrangements. She was super sweet and so helpful and I cannot wait to work with her again!

We couldn’t resist the beautiful tissue fans from Shop Sweet Lulu either. So we strung these along the exposed brick wall back drop to our food and dessert tables. Though they were blowing in the light wind and not staying straight and even (which to a person like me who has a wild case of OCD is pure torture) they added a girly and cute element to our overall decor.

Moving along to the food…here’s where Elyse really comes into play. A chef, cooking school teacher and along with the rest of the bridal party a dear friend to my sister – Elyse spent countless hours the day prior to and morning of preparing the most insanely delicious food I’ve ever eaten at a brunch. Not to mention…simply gorgeous. The menu consisted of the following:
* Green Bean Bundles with Herb Dip
* Wild Mushroom Phyllo Purses
* Goat Cheese and Caramelized Shallot Tarts topped with a Roasted Tomato
* Bacon and Aged Cheddar Scones with Chive Butter
* Crab Cakes with Dijon Aioli
* Trio of Crostini: Gorgonzola Cream with Fresh Figs & Red Wine Reduction, Goat Cheese with Truffle Honey & Toasted Walnuts and White Bean Puree with Garlic Confit
* Tea Sandwiches: Curried Chicken Salad, Smoked Salmon with Dill Creme Fraiche & Caviar and Asparagus with Lemon Cream Cheese – could these be any more stunning?

I’m not sure how to express to you how good this food was…maybe you can try to get the idea from these pictures…haha. And if you want to see more of Elyse’s work including her write up of Mandy’s shower check out her blog here.

Onto desserts…um, wow. Thanks to my long time friend and wedding planner Mona Ng, I was referred to a bakery called Bobbette & Belle. Talk about talent – these girls are amazing. Their desserts are not desserts…they are pieces of art. Using our inspiration board as pasted above we came up with the following menu for the dessert table:
* Piped royal icing flower sugar cookies
* Assortment of macarons
* Assortment of melt in your mouth meringues
* Mini cupcakes piped with soft pink roses, soft green leaves and gold centers
* Two tiered pink ruffle cake

These desserts were simply off the hook and couldn’t have looked prettier or tasted any better.

As for the little details that LMP prides ourselves on – we set up a table for the gifts where by we encouraged the guests to shower Mandy with items that could be enjoyed by her and Jason.
The bridesmaids, myself and my mom went in on a gift that we thought was special for Mandy & Jason because of their love for entertaining. Michelle found this awesome, hand made set of platters on Etsy that we personalized with their initials M+J and gave to Mandy as her gift. The gift most certainly got the reaction we were all hoping for from both Mandy and the crowd. “oh my gosh..these are so cool”! Was Mandy’s reaction…while we got a huge “OOOOHHHH and AHHHH” from the girls watching as she opened all of her goodies.

We also set out a table of favors for the guests to take home and enjoy. Mandy’s friend Natalie put these together for us and did a beautiful job. Inspired by Martha Stewarts version she made these her own for our Mandy.

Of course there are some traditions no bridal shower is complete without. So we played a couple of games to keep the guests entertained. However, I don’t like playing games at these things…so we made them activities where the guests didn’t have to do very much. One of which involved faux diamond rings – we thought very fitting and appropriate for our shower here. Each guest was given a toy ring and if they said the name Mandy or Jason could lose their ring to the person who caught them. In the end the gal with the most rings won and in this case that was my cousin Stevie Jane. The second game, inspired from my friend Traci’s baby shower at which I won and was super excited because I did NOTHING for it was we ran an egg timer during the gift opening. If it went off while Mandy was opening your gift you got a prize. We had some fun with the bag of prizes as we put in a teapot shaped tea bag rest, a jar of honey and a honey comb stir all from Crate and Barrel.

It’s also really nice and customary for the groom to be, to make an appearance towards the end of the shower. Jason did just that with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in hand. What a sweetie pie!

A special thanks goes out to my family who shared this special day with us and all of Mandy’s friends who are so good to her and she is so lucky to have. Not to mention the bridesmaids – Mandy is blessed to have you all in her life. This shower would not have happened without the help, support and love from each and every one of you. Lastly, to my sister…for being so wonderful giving me the great privilege to be your matron on honor. From the bottom of my heart – I love you.

xx, Seri

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categories: Brunch, Dessert, desserts, DIY, Food, Little Miss Foodie, little miss party, Photography, Shower, Sweets, Toronto, Wedding

May 2nd

I’m on a boat and turning 30

We had the incredible pleasure of setting up a party on a private yacht this past weekend.
Our client wanted to surprise her husband Henry with a party that was different from the typical 30th bash you go to at an apartment, restaurant or bar. This was the first time we coordinated a party on the rivers surrounding Manhattan and it turned out to be a huge success. After several weeks of research we hit the nail on the head with World Yacht. We worked with the most fabulous rep Heather, for their Rendezvous boat which can hold up to 125 guests and she accommodated us in so many ways. The boat left from Pier 81 located at 41st Street and the Hudson River and cruised all the way over to 41st on the east side and then back.

The package for the party included a premium open bar, food and a hard working, friendly and all around nice staff. Our client chose to serve items that were fun and festive for a 30th birthday party such as a slider station including hamburgers and pulled chicken, clams casino, tuna tartar on endive and an ice cream sundae bar just to name a few.
After getting to know more about the birthday boy and vision of our client for this milestone event, we decided it would be best to bring in some furniture that would spice up the space we were using on the boat. This consisted of the upper deck allowing the guests to have full views of the city as they cruised around the island and the indoor deck where the bar was stationed. So we turned to our friends at Classic Party Rentals and rented some white leather ottomans, a glass coffee table and some chic stools for the high boys that we set up with white linens and tied with nautical rope.

In addition to the bright white in the furniture we went with a lime green, true navy and galvanized metal color story. We used stripes, lots of nautical white rope and lanterns in our set up which was appropriate for the boat while masculine and cool at the same time. We brightened up the high boy tables with flower arrangements that we made using limes for the base and mostly green flowers that we found in the market. We also thought it would be fitting to put out some sea shells and star fish which added in beautifully.

Since the boat was cruising for four hours we thought it would be fun to add a little table where guests could sign a note to the birthday boy if they wanted to. So we continued to play off the laid back, on the water theme and set out a tray filled with sand so guests could drop a message in a bottle with their birthday wishes to Henry…

In addition we gave the guests lots to look at by putting together the fabulous pictures we got of Henry our birthday boy and displaying them around the boat on a “30″ picture board and bunting that we strung under the bar…

We also set up one of our signature LMP dessert tables for the party. This is where we got to have a lot of fun with the decor and of course get crafty with our girl Kristan from Kreated by K. She’s so fab at working with us on whatever menu we give to her! For this party we thought it would be nice to serve key lime bites, “30″ Oreo chocolate covered cookies which we displayed in wheat grass and cheesecake pops covered in white chocolate. We also picked up some two bite brownies from Whole Foods which we dusted with powdered sugar and stuck with blueberry picks on top.

Lastly, the cake. We got wind of Henry’s love for kite surfing. So we asked Kristan if she could design a cake that would represent. She did a great job and the cake couldn’t have looked cuter!
With our DJ Kim Jefferson who worked our Pure Ice party a couple months back on board, a killer staff and perfect weather for end of April, the party turned out great and a good time was had by all. We couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.

xx, Seri

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categories: Cocktail party, Dessert, desserts, Little Miss Foodie, little miss party, New York City to do, Sweets

April 12th

50 and Fabulous

Milestone birthdays are special and deserve to be celebrated. That is just what we did last weekend on the Upper East Side, for our wonderful client’s husband, Larry. This party is a perfect example of why LMP specializes in throwing parties in people’s homes; we love the idea of being invited to an amazingly detailed and well executed event, all in the convenience and comfort of your own home. It’s the best of both worlds. Here is how we pulled it all together…
When first chatting with Amy about her husband and what he might like at his party, she mentioned a few key things that we took and played up in the decor of the party. Larry loves Pelligrino and James Bond…immediately we knew Pellegrino bottles would serve as chic, colorful and easy vases for flowers…genius. We stuck with white and green flowers, to keep thing simple and the result was subtle yet stunning at the same time. Now, the James Bond element we had to think more about how we could incorporate…stay tuned.
First things first, the food. Everyone knows food is one of the key ingredients to a successful party. Because it was a cocktail party, we knew it needed to be easy to eat, casual, delicious and plentiful. With the help of Cobblestone Catering, we pulled together a fantastic menu of Larry’s favorites…with a twist. Swiss burger sliders on a brioche bun, Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary, Smoked Paprika and Catalan Romesco Sauce, potato latkes with smoked salmon and dill, Roasted shrimp cocktail with a homemade cocktail sauce, Spicy Duck Meatballs, Eggplant Parmesan roll-ups, and my personal fave Truffled macaroni and cheese croquettes (they were UNREAL!!). Are you drooling yet?? Not only was the food mouthwatering delicious, but the presentation was equally as impressive! With David the chef in the kitchen, the food service did not stop till the party was over.

In addition to the passed items, we also love to have a few stationed food items; We set up a Market Table in the foyer of their apartment, which also helped with the flow of the party throughout the evening. Every New Yorker loves a good Murray’s cheese and charcuterie tray! It was also another opportunity for Seri and I to carry the decor throughout the different rooms in the apartment. We hung gorgeous metallic fringe from the edge of the market table, displayed white and green wild flowers in mercury glass, and put up a hilarious photo of the “Dr No” movie cover, where we super-imposed Larry’s face as James Bond, and Amy as the Bond Girl…it was a hit for sure.

Also set up in the foyer were a few “LMP extras” we brought along for guests to enjoy. A scrapbook & polaroid camera is an easy way for guests to write a quick note to the Birthday Boy. Amy and Larry’s youngest daughter was in love with the polaroid camera so she was the “LMP” photographer for the night, taking some great shots of the guests. Along with the scrapbook, we set up a trivia game for everyone to play throughout the party. We modeled the game cards after Trivial Pursuit and all of the questions were pertaining to the year Larry was born; 1962. Apparently our questions were tricky!

The living room was a great space with stunning views of the East River. After removing the couches and rug, we decided the bar was best set up there. Our signature drink of the evening was the Greyhound Martini, one of the couple’s favorites. In addition to a full bar set up, we also created a self serve “Pelligrino” bar, complete with cut up fruit for guests to enjoy in their sparkling water. Here we also displayed Pellegrino bottles as flower vases, to tie it all together. We had a few more tricks up our sleeve for the bar; What 50th birthday celebration is complete without an embarrassing prom picture on display. Printed on stir sticks, these were the first thing guests saw as they approached the bar. Along with these, we found out Bon Jovi was also turning 50 this year, so again we used photoshop to put Larry’s face on Bon Jovi’s body, in our version of Who Wore It Best! It was an absolute riot.

We were having so much fun designing Larry’s party, we had to keep the fun going right into dessert. Ruthy’s Bakery in Chelsea market makes GORGEOUS and delicious photo cakes, which we knew would be perfect. Larry loves the Giants, so what better way to honor his commitment as a fan than to put his face on Eli Manning’s Body. Amazing. Super Bowl Champs! In addition to the yummy cake, we had a few small bites for the guests to just grab and enjoy; mini brownies and mini cinnamon roll pops on sticks. Beautiful ranunculas and wine bottles with melted candles completed the dessert table and rounded out the decor beautifully.

This party was all about the details and we have more to share with you. Pictures are an easy and inexpensive way to celebrate and share the milestones in someone’s life. We were brainstorming the ideas of a collage, or someway to display a multitude of pictures for guests to enjoy…and we came up with displaying black & white photos in the shape of a “50.” It turned out awesome! Set on a window in the side of the kitchen, it was such a fun way for guests to check out photos from Larry’s life.

We also had apple TV running in the living room with more pictures of Larry with his kids. Amy had asked each guest to write a quote or thought about Larry, which she typed up and we also added into the Apple TV playlist – GREAT idea Amy! It was such a thoughtful display.

Vermont is a special place for Larry and his family, as they are avid skiiers and love to take trips with their family and friends. It sounds like Vermont is a place where they share great laughs with great friends. They love Vermont so much, they even have “Vermont8″ vanity license plates on their car, for which they are known for in their circle of friends. Working to incorporate this into the party decor, we had personalized napkins and coasters created using a photo of their license plate. Such a fabulous way to further personalize this event. It’s these kinds of details that make us love our job…

Thank you for letting LMP be a part of your special birthday celebration. We hope you and your guests had as much fun as we did. Happy 50th Larry!

*All photos taken by our amazing Raquel Bianca.