Inspiration

Happy Friday!

Even though I love pretty much everything about snow, I know not everyone does. Some people are wishing for those warmer days of spring and summer. I thought it would be nice to share a picture of wonderful Santa Monica as inspiration to those who may feel like this winter may never end...or maybe I'm just inadvertently making people more frustrated.

Wishing for a Snow Day

This picture is from my mom's blog, Flip-Flops After 50 (you should definitely head over and check it out). She was lucky enough to have a Snow Day the other day in Connecticut. I woke up today to see the snow falling in Brooklyn and immediately thought of her relaxing and cozy day! I hope some of you are able to be at home right now enjoying the beautiful snow falling!

Oh Cheese...

Even though I have always wanted to go to Murray's Cheese, a place I've imagined as both completely magical and dangerous, I only went for the first time two weeks ago.  Nora and I went to fill out our menu for our event.  A very helpful fellow there walked us through some of the cheeses we should get...which ones were good for an adventurous crowd and which ones to get if people aren't as adventurous (me).  Now mind you, as a lactose intolerant individual it is only mildly embarrassing to be popping dairy pills in the middle of a cheese emporium...but totally worth it!  

Here's what we ended up with:  English Tickler (a cheddar and a huge hit!), Gorwydd Caerphilly (raw cow's milk), Zimbro (a creamy sheep's milk), Le Chevrot (goat cheese), and St. Nectaire (a raw cow's milk). 

Since we were purchasing with multiple people and pairings in mind we wanted it to a be a wonderful, well-rounded selection.  However, I'm so looking forward to going back and just tasting and stocking up on all of my favorites (mmm....more Tickler)!

New Logo!!

I know you have all been wondering what the logo for our new biz was going to look like and I'm so happy to unveil it today! Didn't Krista do such an awesome job with the design!?

A Note on Being Green...

To all my wonderful readers you may have noticed what looked like disposable forks in our pictures as well as plates (the lighter ones on the left).  I did want to let you all know that as we are Green Plan-It, with the emphasis on "Green", these forks are compostable and re-usable, as are the bamboo plates!  And although we found that you may not be able to really re-use the bamboo plates for the same purpose after they get wet they do make for very interesting art pieces!

Prep Work

Here are a few images of our prep work done before Saturday night's festivities. But I can't even tell you all about it without first giving full credit to my two amazing partners who I got to plan with: Krista and Nora. From the start, when we all sat together and decided to have a party, up to the day before creating cheese labels (Thank you, Krista)! I'm so lucky to get to work with these two ladies as we each bring something important to the table, Nora and her beautiful interior design, Krista and her fantastic graphic design (the logo she created for us will be revealed soon!!), and then me with my crazy love of organization and planning...we make a good team!

The top picture is our fridge prior to people showing up. I also need to thank my amazingly helpful sister-in-law who sacrificed her Saturday afternoon to come over and make all of these delicious and adorable red velvet cupcakes, thanks Christina! Who knew that a fridge full of beer and cupcakes could look so lovely.

Second is the table prior to cheeses and pairings. The lighting was so great that evening. Nora and I strung lights around the apartment a few days prior and it worked out perfectly!

The last image is a close-up of the table, also prior to being fully set. Doesn't the cheese look so beautiful (and that label)!

A few other thank you's before I sign off for the day...to Mom and Angelo for coming to join us and for bringing extra mason jars, candles, and wooden discs...and to my amazing husband, Tony, who is not only totally supportive of this new venture in my life but also for being my go-to fella for anything that I needed leading up to the event.

Preview

This past Saturday was our un-official pre-launch event!  A small gathering of some of the people we love, cheese, and wine...yum!  I'll be posting some more images tomorrow.  And this was just the first of events to come.  Thank you all who were there for sharing this with us!!