how to hostess: by julia lake

the editor of Bodas magazine, annamaria, found me via my pinterest & asked me to help her plan a birthday party for a client in the napa valley. (while she’s the editor of the aforementioned honduran bridal magazine, she also runs an event planning company of her own.)  when i shared some wedding photos with her she jumped at the chance to feature them in her magazine. its a total honor to be included in this prestigious South American publication! feeling very worldly right about now… check out the magazine feature below:

photos by the magnificent lauren ross.

in honor of a great holiday & our noble neighbors, im sharing a julia lake parties! event from last year- a mexican fiesta in the napa valley !

i hired a mariachi band, taco truck & made red & white wine sangria & basically used as much color as possible- including of course mexican papel picado. 

this party was a rehearsal dinner. check out www.julialake.com for more photos & party decor ideas! 

im the kind of person who needs a bite of chocolate after every meal. its a dirty little habit but ive got a pretty nasty sweet tooth, which i blame on my father who is exactly the same way. (he stashes chocolate boxes between the books in the home library!!) on that note…

diy: cake batter milkshakes

Funfetti Milkshakes, makes 3-4 servings

Needed: 1 box of Funfetti cake mix, additional ingredients the box directions call for (except eggs), 4-5 cups milk and 4-5 scoops of vanilla ice-cream. Serve with extra sprinkles if you like! I rub a little bit of corn syrup on the edges of my glasses then dipped them in sprinkles to get this pretty rim look. 

Devils Food Cake Batter Milkshakes, makes 3-4 servings

Needed: 1 box of Devil’s Food (or chocolate) cake mix, additional ingredients the box directions call for (except eggs), 4-5 cups milk and 4-5 scoops of chocolate ice-cream. Serve with extra sprinkles if you like! I rub a little bit of corn syrup on the edges of my glasses then dipped them in sprinkles to get this pretty rim look. 

genius idea discovered here on a beautiful mess!  

red hook, brooklyn

cristina is originally from el paso, texas but is mexican by heritage. mexico is one of my favorite countries to visit & its fearless use of color is, in my opinion, one of the country’s most admirable traits. stepping into cristina’s home is a direct reflection of that heritage. this señorita is the kind of mexican that makes you dream of old world haciendas & makes me want to move to mexico city straight away- a notion ive long debated.

a dinner invitation to cristina’s loft inevitably means a decadent meal, bottomless wine, non-stop intriguing (& brutally honest) conversation topped off with some devious scheming. this time (a monday night) she served oysters & lobsters & the scheming resulted in a girls weekend fly fishing trip. none of us fish, but the possibilities are always endless & no mountain seems too high. I knew when another invitation came (lets be honest I begged for it), it was a great chance to shoot her home. 

describe your style: sentimental mexican magpie, but I am a total sucker for anything french.

best find/inheritance: a velvet painting that hangs above my bed. it was in an abandoned trailer park & my dad brought it home as a joke, telling my mom he got this incredible piece of art.  it sat in the garage for years, my mom constantly in fear that he would bring it in the house one day. as a joke he sent it up to me and I have displayed it proudly ever since. (displayed above bed in 1st foto above)

most prized possession(s): i. a perfectly broken in mickey mouse sweatshirt that after years of begging, my father finally bequeathed to me. ii. my wedding ring (it belonged to my husband’s grandmother & she is incredibly dear to my heart). iii. a watch that my husband gifted me on our wedding day. 

what are you listening to: rhye, soko, solange & erasure & lots of 90’s pandora radio

do you collect anything: brooches/jewelry & virgin mary tchotchkes

favorite place to get stuff for your home: oh my goodness the street! I can’t resist, it gives me such a thrill.  it also helps that my neighborhood puts out the best junk/treasures!  

if you didnt live where you do, where would you live: paris or el paso, texas.

all in all, she’s the kind of girl who you immediately want to befriend. she’s smart, organized & creative. she was a lawyer for a bit & realized it wasn’t her thing which makes sense because she’s endlessly inspired & inventive. somehow she’s constantly streaming creative ideas & projects & its simply contagious. she’s also a true gem. last year at my holiday party she was sick & couldn’t make it. instead, she sent over her dream-of-a-husband just to drop off the rum cake that, a week prior, she had casually offered to bring. (who does that?!) when i asked her what her weekend plans were, she said she was going to test out a tie-dying project (which i immediately invited myself over for!) & again, most recently when i texted her (in the middle of the day on a thursday) to see if she wanted to go to home depot ( i was feeling creative…) she texted back within 5 minutes & said “in! ill pick you up!” the gal is a mean chef, a stellar hostess, a wildly fun party girl but best of all a badass partner in crime.

i’m scheming a bridal shower in june for a new client. parasols, flower crowns & white sangria are at the top of the list. its all so dreamy. 

julia lake parties! www.julialake.com

over the moon to be included in daily candy’s nyc wedding guide! 

for the love of color: i designed these for the outside of some party favor bags I was making. i wanted to add a pop of color & something unique.

just a week after we got back from our month long trip in india, we hooked up a projector & invited a few friends over to watch a slideshow of the shots we captured during our time away. as a last minute idea, using the textiles & fabrics we brought back from india, we made a ceiling high tent in our living room. couple that with indian take-out, a bit of dress-up, & some indian tunes & our apartment was transformed into a ‘bohemian masala’ tent. snapshots below: 

we threw on our indian garb, bindi beads & turbans & got ready to namaste everyone at the door.

we hung a white sheet in the door frame to make a projector screen & hung our tapestries & sarongs from the ceiling to create an indoor tent.

below: cumin indian candies & napkins found at soma (a textile store in udaipur). food: since it was all last minute, we ordered take-out indian from bombay dreams & made punch. this time i made an indian inspired one using this recipe. in short: make a simple syrup with 12 cardamon pods (mashed up) & let sit in a closed container for at least 24 hours. mix syrup with the juice of 6 limes & 6 lemons with tequila (to taste), a bottle of bubbly & garnish with cara cara orange slices. you can top off with club soda if its too sweet. as always for punch, use large chunks of ice to keep cool. 

check out the #vonpickleshoneymoon on instagram for more insta’s from the trip!

park slope, brooklyn

christina marie karr (cmk), often my muse, agreed to be my guinea pig in the first of many featurettes in a new series im launching today called “in her home”- a window into the different lives & homes of real women, their possessions, closets, & art…

cmk is a bohemian version of sjp in “sex in the city”- living in her own brownstone co-op apartment with a closet stuffed to the brim with vintage frills, a living room full of countless instruments, loads of art & an intimidating bookshelf. she’s a mean flautist & a poet in her own right. she’s also the queen b of printed materials at vertical, a boutique print & production firm in soho. 

& now we’re in her home:

describe your style: bohemian, wabi-sabi, constantly changing, affective, palimpsest, refuge.

above: cmk’s living room: a relished fire place, a stray surf board, stained glass windows & a ukelele nook.

what are you listening to right now: arthur russell, sinead o’connor, donovan

below: a showcase of her miscellany: art, music, inspiration  

best find/inheritance: i inherited a blonde mink stole from my great-grandmother on my father’s side. her name was gert & she was a tough cookie.

most prized possession(s): a turquoise serpent zuni fetish from my father (who is an artist & did many of the drawings above) & my “congratulations!” pin by the artist tauba auerbach.

cmk has a way of surrounding herself with like-minded artists: pictured below she rocks the aforementioned ribbon pin from fellow artist & dear friend, frank lyon. down further, she sits with her ryan mcginness prints, for whom she posed for these paintings. 

below: an original will cotton drawing of her, the zuni snake, records, her comic series, cameras & the pin.

in her bedroom:

in her closet:color sorted, stacks of leather & heels for days…

fav vintage stores in nyc: Edith Machinist - Rivington Street, Manhattan, Narnia Vintage - Rivington Street, Manhattan, A Little Wicked - Houston Street, Manhattan, Salvation Army - Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

below: vintage dresses, sweaters & suits

do you collect anything: dresses, leather, records, & magic rocks.

below: her vintage singer sewing machine because if playing 7 instruments, writing poetry & having the most thorough collection of vintage dresses ever isnt enough, she’s also a seamstress to boot! 

the pink beaded dress hangs on the wall is too old & fragile to wear leaving a wake of beads in its path so it hangs proudly on the wall next to her bed. to the right you’ll notice the “hat stack” where at least 12 large sun hats sit year round. an envied collection. 

if you didnt live where you do, where would you live: “near a lake.” 

5 things you can’t live without: music, books, baths, peanut butter, and my bicycle.

thank you christina marie karr for sharing this with us. if you want to explore her more, check out her photography blog here. (i forgot to mention she’s got a great eye & captures the things we might never see.) some pics from her blog:

& just as im leaving, becca mei walks in, cello in tow, & the two begin  rehearsing for a concert cmk is putting on tomorrow night- “a year in review”- songs & poems that have come out of her over the past year. as i descend the stairs listening to the flute & cello, i realize her creative outlets are endless with christina- it never stops & she continues to wow me time & again.

the end.

this is too good not to do a feature on. its so fun & so simple! key word: simple.

just pop microwave corn and cover in melted white chocolate or white candy melts and toss in sprinkles. genius. 

recipe from the brain behind this below:

thanks to “she wears many hats” for the idea! 

when i lived in paris, my office was dangerously close to la durée home of the famous & fabulously posh little scrumptious bites. i used to shamelessly pop in a few times a week for an afternoon treat.

check out their website. its an absolute delight.

after moving from paris to nyc, i’ve found good macaron’s hard to come by… until recently. similar to the cupcake boom, it seems these little bites of joy have migrated across the atlantic to nyc. et merci pour tout ça!

ive seen them spring up everywhere, including the fun new paper at paper source. 

among the rest of our ‘champagne problems’, today’s is (& every day i pass a macaron bakery),

which flavor will i choose?

what’s your favorite?

im going with this color scheme for a custom bachelorette party in a box that im working on. results posted soon!

i stumbled upon this charming custom cookie baker from the sweet south & got swept up in her color inspiration. cant stop. wont stop. 

find past valentines posts here (my fav- embroidered undershirts for your man *pictured below*) & here. 

<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5105105/?claim=95ytuucbq46”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

the great thing about working with a florist you trust is this: they make what you picture in your head look way better than you could have imagined. i’ve been planning a 50th birthday party for a man so i needed tall & masculine (yet festive) floral arrangements to flank the bar & smaller similar arrangements for the tables. i asked for something bohemian & napa/rugged in style i.e. magnolia leaves, yellow fruits, olive branches… here are the perfect results:

here is my vision board: 

thank you to @sincerely_cecelia & paul at tesoro for the gorgeous arrangement for the party at auberge du soleil party ce soir! 

#tesoro #bestnapavalleyflorist #julialakeparties 

www.julialake.com