Hostess with the Mostess®

cb2’s new ivy dinnerware is modern design to the core…a canvas of pure white with a pop of color and a few abstract graphics – these could just as easily be hanging on my wall! {…and for $2.95 – $3.95 per piece, maybe they will be!}

So here we are in the Honolulu airport – waiting for our connector flight to take us back to San Diego…and back to reality… It was a great 9 days in the Aloha state though! It’s hard to believe that barely 24 hours ago I was swimming about 20 inches (literally!) from giant sea turtles, touring volcanic sea caves, and bouncing around the pontoons of our Blue Water Rafting boat (which is why it’s painful to sit down today!)…and now here I am back on dry land, laptop in hand – and now it’s my head that’s swimming with all the things I need to accomplish in the next few days before the site launches…yikes! {Note to self: stock up on energy drinks on the way home from the airport}

Anyways, I’m so, so sorry that I wasn’t able to post as much as usual while we were away. I had planned to keep blogging as usual and even brought a bunch of things to post on, but when we got here I had to jump through so many hoops to get the internet to work on my laptop – literally carrying everything from room to room, trying to get the signal to last for more than 2 seconds – that I finally decided to take it as a sign that on Hawaiian vacations you’re supposed to spend more time staring at the beach and less time staring at the screen So the posts will be back to normal come Monday…hope to see you all then!

Jenn

I can’t think of a much cooler way to store & organize recipes than these super-modern recipe binders from Russell + Hazel…Each set includes 2 slim binders – either Charcoal/White or Blue/Red (my personal favorite!) – and goodies like recipe tabs, menu planning sheets, and more. At $110/set, they’re a little pricier than your average recipe organizers – so I guess we can consider them recipe holder “couture”
{Available at Velocity Art & Design}

The bold & energetic patterns from Orla Kiely always make me so happy…thank goodness she adorns a few homeware products with her designs too…like these fun, modern mugs – sold in sets of 4 or 6 at http://www.orlakiely.com/. Happy sipping!

How great are these ultra-mod “flips” stationery sets {shown above} from Pinkerton Design? Perfect hostess gift idea – or even as a decorative accent to incorporate into your tabletop design or party decór. And Pinkerton helps you say thanks in the cutest way too…click here to check out all of their fabulous designs in hip graphic patterns – definitley a modern design-lover’s dream!

…from Hawaii!!! So here I am in Maui with my husband, parents, aunt & uncle and cousins – and I’m thinking that life really doesn’t get much better than this! There’s just something about “island living” that puts you in a good mood, isn’t there? The Mai Tais maybe?

Anyways, I’m taking this time for a little R&R from my “day job” but also to focus on lots of writing, posting, and getting ready for the launch of hostesswiththemostess.com – just a few days after we get back from our trip! If anyone has any entertaining-related questions you’d like answered or topics you’d like to read about, please do to send them – or any other suggestions – to info@hwtm.com this week. I want the site to be as resourceful as possible for you – so it helps to hear what you’re interested in learning about!

Okay – aloha for tonight – more to come tomorrow – but dinner – and the Mai Tais – are calling about now!

{sunset views from backyard}