"Talking With My Mouth Full" Book Party

This past Tuesday was rather exciting as my amazing boss, Gail Simmons, published her very first book, “Talking With My Mouth Full”! Only a year ago, she was in the very beginning stages of writing; since then there were many more hours of writing, tons of editing, recipe testing, shooting the book cover, selecting the jacket design, and planning a book tour. It was an incredible process to observe and I feel fortunate to have played a very small part in it all.

Tuesday night, FOOD & WINE and Essie threw Gail a book party at Beauty & Essex. It was the party every girl dreams of hosting just once in her life and nothing short of fabulous. The cozy space at Beauty & Essex featured accents inspired by the Essie Spring 2012 colors. Even the cocktails were mixed, muddled, shaken, and stirred with these colors in mind!

The evening would not have been complete without a fantastic guest list, including Andy Cohen, Padma Laksmi, Dannielle Kyrillos, Nigel Parry, Melanie Dunea, Dorie Greenspan, Marcy Blum, Mindy Fox, and Amy Atlas (I was SO excited to meet her!), among many others. We all spent the evening toasting to Gail’s success – present and future – and she could not have been a more gracious hostess. Be sure to order your copy of Gail’s book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

Check out more photos from the party here.

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Project Life 2012 | Week Seven

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Saturday Snapshot | Roberta's Pizza

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Grapefruit & Brown Sugar Soda

So, have you tried making Brown Sugar Broiled Grapefruit yet? If so, you might have faced the same dilemma as me, looking down at the remaining juices of the simple dessert, wondering what to do next. If it was only grapefruit, the answer would be simple: Squeeze the remaining juices into a glass, lift to your lips, and enjoy. But since the grapefruit juices are now combined with the lush flavors of brown sugar, drinking the residual syrup somehow just seems so potentially overpoweringly sweet. Not to fear - a splash of fizzy seltzer water easily transforms this grapefruit-brown sugar syrup into a refreshing soda! Cute straw optional, but recommended.

Pretty Paper | Valentine's Day 2012

Listening to a co-worker describe her five year-old's Valentine's Day morning reminded me exactly why I still love celebrating this sweet holiday. The preparation of Valentines to distribute at school, a special breakfast and little gift from mom and dad, a dressy outfit, wondering who will ask you to be their Valentine. The innocence and excitement of love – long before Valentine's Day meant showy bouquets of balloons and roses – is still why I so enjoy the day.

When I was old enough to handle glue and scissors on my own, without too much worry from my parents, I started the tradition of hand-making my Valentines. This year, seeking that same satisfaction of creating and distributing Valentines, I decided to forgo the usual store-bought, albeit beautiful, cards and design my own. Each note was enclosed in a beautiful, peony-pink envelope and then hand-addressed in a scripty lettering.

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