First of all, let's just address the damn elephant in the room. Yes, I know I've been MIA lately and I really don't have an excuse for my absence other than I just got caught up enjoying the mundane things in my everyday life. But I have NOT forgotten about you or what I'm passionate about which is creating beautiful spaces. Speaking of beautiful spaces, something magical happened last Saturday on the day of my Mother's 60th birthday that gave me a very good excuse to start sharing with you here on the blog again. That magic came in the form of a beautiful table setting specially created with the birthday lady in mind. My sis and I usually take Mom out to dinner for her birthday but this year we wanted something more memorable so we decided to host a dinner for my mom at my sister's house. Dining out is always fun, but there's nothing better than a home cooked meal -especially when it's enjoyed within a beautiful atmosphere. It was pretty easy to come up with the menu since everyone in our family knows that my Mom's favorite food is Italian! Fortunately my wife makes an AMAZING Fettuccine Alfredo so she pretty much took care of all the food and let me tell you...she definitely delivered! My wife's Alfredo sauce is what dreams are made of... Now that I think about it Alfredo sauce isn't even real Italian food, is it? But I mean it goes on pasta so let's just call it Italian, shall we?? So our menu for the night went like this: The Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for the main course. For starters, a yummy Caesar Salad (again, not Italian) accompanied by warm garlic bread (probs not Italian either) and for the appetizer I made a yummy Bruschetta (actually Italian). Now that the food choices were settled it was on to the decor! I was envisioning an elegant, but simple table setting using an abundance of my Mom's favorite color...white. Since our dinner party was a small gathering for 9, we were able to splurge on a few things like renting fancy linens and chairs. Usually for dinner parties I just mix whatever seating I have available in my home but for my mom's 60th we wanted to be a bit more "extra". Actually we didn't spend a lot on renting these items as we didn't need that much. We found a local party supply shop in Brea called "Create A Party" to fill our needs which were 5 ghost chairs (my sis already owned 4), a tablecloth and a sparkly runner. Plus we saved on the food by cooking it ourselves so it evened out at the end. Baby's Breath flowers are usually looked down upon and are considered to be "cheap filler flowers" but big bunches of them look absolutely dreamy. A simple grocery store cake and a store bought orchid stem is all it took for this pretty cake If you are in Orange County and need party supplies, I highly recommend that you check out Create A Party in Brea. Create A Party has some of the most unique and beautiful pieces that would really elevate any get together. SHOP THIS STYLE JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content. As far as our goal of making a memorable experience for my lovely mom, I consider it a mission accomplished. Amazing food, amazing atmosphere and loving company in the comfort of my sister's home. Who could ask for anything more? Me, Mom & Sis 'Till next time! Oscar