The CB2 Secret...

There's a little secret that we want to share with y'all.  

CB2, Crate & Barrel's "little brother" company that caters to realistic-sized budgets for home furnishings and apartment-sized living, is actually an entertainer's dream.  Check out the website and you'll see a bevy of beauties just waiting for you to apply a critical and creative eye for your next shindig.  Check some of these things out below:

The hanging vases/votive holders are great.  Having people over for a spring/fall/summer dinner under the stars?  Or an outdoor shower?  Fill up your trees with the hanging votives for romantic sparkle.  Or, how about a grouping of the hanging vases over a cake table at a wedding, each one with a single bright posie in it?

These interesting odds and ends (above) are for tablescapes and filling vases and vessels.  The glass bubbles and glass beads are our favorite.  A grouping of the glass orbs/bubbles down the center of a table, with flowers interspersed, would be very luxe for a dinner party.  The two of us (Jill & Kari) have even discussed at length the kind of chandeliers we could fashion out of those clear glass orbs.  

CB2 also offers a variety of vases (and fillers---not shown here) for the home and your next party.  They are affordable, so doing fun groupings is possible.

Lastly, candlelight is essential to almost all party-throwing.  CB2 offers a range of candleholders (and candles) so you can light up your space in flattering candlelight.

In case you weren't already hungry...

One of our very favorite things about entertaining is the opportunity to be creative with the food.  Whether you are doing a comfy, homey, small-type party that calls for new spins on old favorites or a fancy shmancey part-ay for 400 of your closest friends, the food is one of the things that people will get excited about.  (You know how it is...when you go to a wedding and the cake is just dreadful tasting or a holiday party and the food is just so-so, even though it's been catered...Conversely, when you've been to a party and the food is so yummy and the presentation is fun---both are scenarios that people remember).  SO...

We were super-excited to run across this fabulous foodie blog called Canelle et Vanille.  This blog is just...what is the word...wonderful.  Yummy.  Fun.  A feast for the eyes...

Really, if you are into baking OR if you are coming up short for "pretty" and yummy food to serve at your next shower, dinner party, wedding, whatever, then you should check out Canelle et Vanille.  Not only is this blog generous about sharing recipes, but the photography is simply beautiful, so you get a real sense of what kinds of edible art you are capable of producing.  We recommend bookmarking Canelle et Vanille and referring back to it often.  We know we will!

Check out these beautiful photos/yummy temptations from Canelle et Vanille below:

{pure joy}

Rebecca Thuss = genius.  These pictures are beautiful and inspire us...we wish we had a shower to throw for somebody!  (Seriously...anyone want a shower thrown?  We need someone to get married or have a baby or something.  We need a party!)  We could plan a cozy, intimate party with 7 people or a shin-dig with 400 folks just based on these photos alone.  What a great starting point for inspiration.  It's her color combinations (we love these colors) and her obsession with paper (did we mention we, too,  are very much obsessed with paper?) that get our minds working...

A few of you have emailed us to tell us that our little ole' blog here is inspiring you to be creative and a couple of you have asked us to give more wedding tips.  We aren't a wedding blog persay, but since weddings happen to fall under Babs' repertoire (the real Babs has quite the wedding planning/helping/rescuing resume!), we will oblige you.  Look for some fun wedding ideas, tips, and overall inspiration to come in the next few months (sprinkled in, of course, with other entertaining goodies and overall smile-worthy subjects).  Maybe, maybe, maybe...we'll even share some details from the three special "Veneman family" weddings that took place in Babs' yard...)

Until then, please check out Rebecca Thuss' website for some inspirational gems.  :)  Her site is truly a feast for the eyes!

A Little Super Bowl Party Help, from the Midwest...

Kari married a midwestern boy and, in doing so, has become privy to all sorts of yummy midwestern recipes.  They know how to cook in the heartland!  We just stumbled across the website of Midwestern Living, and they have some really easy, hearty, crowd-pleasing recipes for those of you who are scrounging for some new Super Bowl party favorites.  Mini Italian Beef sandwiches with pepperoncini slaw, easy sliders...or how about that yummy bottom picture?  That's the praline-crowned baked brie.  Oh, yum...

We wish you happy game-watching (or, if you're like us, happy Super Bowl commercial-watching!)

Becoming a Carnation Convert...

Carnations have never been a favorite flower of ours.  Even as a little girl, Kari had great disdain for carnations and baby's breath---two flowers she identified as "cheap filler" even at the grade school level.  (This only gives you a slight inkling as the the serious issues Kari has when it comes to design elements...whew!  Just ask Jill---she could tell you stories about her neurotic sister!  :)  Kari has had a strong opinion about carnations for a long time.  As a matter of fact, when Kari sent birthday flowers in honor of a friend's birthday at the beginning of this December, her friend called to tease her:  "Thank you for the flowers---they were gorgeous.  But you know what?  There were carnations in the bouquet..."  Even this college pal of Kari's knows of the deep-rooted carnation issues!

Lately, though, carnations and even baby's breath are making somewhat of a comeback---and Kari doesn't mind.  :)  It's all in the way the flowers are grouped and arranged.  The photos below are from the blog of the very talented Eddie Ross.  He features a tutorial on making these gorgeous carnation arrangements.  Since carnations are very inexpensive, buying them in bulk won't break the bank and they can be used to create beautiful, frothy, confection-like arrangements.  Check out Eddie Ross' tutorial and perhaps you, too, will begin to give carnations a second chance.  :)

In Need of Inspiration Today...

These photos are oldies but goodies from Martha Stewart Weddings.  Not that we are planning a wedding around here at the Babs Blog (oh, but we'd love to have another wedding to plan!  The flowers!  The dress!  The par-tay!), but we think perusing the photo archives of weddings and parties in general can be a great way to kick-start inspiration.  And, boy, do we need some of that.  Both of us have our plates full with school/work/housework/being charming wives/folding the hubbies' underoos---and all other laundry/and basic day-to-day shtuff.  These old Martha Stewart Weddings photos make us smile...and we hope they make you smile, too.  Oh, and wouldn't picture #1 and #2 be great starting off points for a Valentine's soiree?

Valentine's Day

Check out these great Valentine's cards from LittleBrownPen at Etsy! You pay $5 to receive a PDF containing Valentine's cards that you can print and reprint to your heart's delight. Send one to everyone you love!

A Hostess with the Mostess party...

These beautiful pictures/party ideas can be found on another entertaining blog, Hostess With the Mostess.  May we recommend that you bookmark Hostess With the Mostess and check in regularly for party ideas?  You will be so glad you did!

Zinnias from Liberia...

Many of you know that this blog is named after our mother, Babs.  She is such an inspiration to us in so many ways---we have not met anyone who can take her place.  :)  She and our dad, Dave, are on the adventure of a lifetime, serving in Liberia, West Africa by showing love to children who desperately need it.  Mom and Dad were/are amazing parents to us and we know they are bringing love, hugs, and smiles to the children that they have contact with in Liberia, through the Rafiki organization.  You can follow their adventures through their delightful blog at http://daveandbabs.blogspot.com. 

We miss Dad and Mom terribly, and we love to hear from them and see what day-to-day life brings them in Liberia.  Mom has always been an avid gardener and, back home in California, she had an amazing yard full of beautiful, interesting things.  (All three of us kids used that backyard for our wedding receptions---it's perfect for a party!)  Now, in Liberia, Mom is facing new challenges as she tries to enjoy gardening in a very different climate!  Still, she is coaxing some flowers out of the ground and she sent us this "very Babs-ish" update on her zinnias.  We hope you enjoy this.  Below are pictures of her garden cuttings and a little note---so you can get to know the real Babs!  :)

"Here are the first flowers from my zinnia flower garden.  They may be the only flowers from my zinnia garden, as there are big, monster beetles whom apparently have nothing better to do than chomp off the plants at dirt level!  They do not eat the stalk or nibble on the buds;  no, they just snip through the main stalk and walk away from the crime scene.  Brutal, they are!  Every morning, there are at least two or three more plants cut.  The garden gets smaller each day.  (Sigh...Africa wins again!)

But at least I can share this bouquet with you all.  Note the nice vase;  almost as nice as those lovely vases on the BabsBlog!  The zinnias are such a cheery flower, even an olive oil bottle looks sweet.

Love, Mom"

Chandler, AZ Home - 1361 N. Longmore St.

Our Chandler, AZ remodel project is now complete and will be listed on the MLS today.



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Property Qwest Project Details
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Address:
1361 N Longmore St.
Chandler, AZ 85224

For Sale!



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A few posts ago, we told you about David Toney and his commitment to the Blood:Water Mission Project through the sales of 10 hymns...
Well, Kari received her CD today, and she can't stop listening to it. What a wonderful way to spend $10! The hymns are done simply and beautifully---with acoustic guitar as opposed to the big organ Jill and Kari grew up with in church. :) If you haven't spent your $10 for your 10 hymns yet, click the picture above. All $10 will go to the Blood:Water Mission Project to help build wells in Africa for people who are desperate for clean drinking water. This is so worthwhile. Thank you, David Toney.

Let it Rain, Let it Pour...

Yesterday, we boasted about the sunshine and today we have rain! No matter, though...rain is just really an excuse to break out a chic umbrella! These beauties below will make you wish for raindrops! :)
Pagoda-style umbrella by Signature Bella

Marimekko Black/White Kivet umbrella from Finn Style



Three charming beauties from Umbrellas.net



Three super-affordable umbrellas from Old Navy