For Alex and me, Valentine's Day has always been more about acknowledging the special people in our lives rather than a meal out at a restaurant. Celebrating Valentine's Day is also a wonderful a way to breathe a little bit of vibrant color into the usually cold and dreary days of February. But best of all, Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to throw a very quick and super simple get together that combines both the special people we love to be around and those vibrant colors we all need so badly in the midst of winter.

In honor of the day, and the ways we can all celebrate, I want to take a moment to share the details on a Valentine's Day shower I helped throw for a dear friend of ours that was expecting her second child. While ours was a baby shower, these tips apply to pretty much any party around the Valentine's holiday, and is a great alternative to dealing with dinner crowds and overpriced prix fixe menus you often see on Feb 14.

Our party planning got rolling after I eagerly volunteered to co-host a co-ed baby shower to celebrate the addition to our friend's family. She and her husband didn't want to find out the sex of the baby until his or her birthday, so therefore the co-hostess and I wanted to be a little bit creative in our approach. We quickly landed on a mid-February date for the party with the theme of love playing off the Valentine's Day holiday as well as the feelings the expectant parents already felt for their coming addition.

As you'll see, it's very easy to throw a love-inspired baby shower, but the concept could be easily adapted to fit a Valentine's date night in, a small party among friends, or even a girls' brunch.

Decor

The decor of the event will obviously set the tone of the day given the colors and items most typically associated with Valentine's Day. The good news, it's exceedingly easy to decorate for a Valentine's party without being overly tacky these days. One of my favorite easy ways to dress up a Valentine's event is with my own flower arrangement. There's no need to drop $30-$60 or more on a florist bouquet, all you need is a little knowhow and the right vase. In this case I picked up a bunch of inexpensive white roses from Trader Joes and a winter bouquet with seeded eucalyptus as well. I cut all of the stems nice and short and placed them in a shallow square red glass vase. 

Beyond roses, it is Valentine's Day, so hearts are clearly where it's at. For our gathering we floated a few bunches of helium-filled mylar heart balloons along with other miscellaneous heart decor like plates and garland. It's clearly not difficult to find hearts all around at this time of year, so go a little crazy! It's the one day of the year where it's completely acceptable to go a little over the top with the heart decor. In this case, the gift station was certainly in on the festivities.

The theme of "Love" continued all of the way through to the plates and napkins we used. I really tried to round out the event with pink, red, or white plates, glasses, napkins, and accessories. One rule of thumb I have when decor shopping is to buy themed cocktail napkins that will work well for parties. I have a drawer full of napkins just waiting for their moment to shine. I picked up these cute "Love" and hearts cocktail napkins from HomeGoods and they worked wonderfully as a great addition to the bar set up. 

Like themed cocktail napkins, I thoroughly enjoy collecting small elements of holiday decor that can be easily packed away when not in use. One of the best ways to do this is via table runners, throw pillows, and dish-ware or stemware. For this party I was able to put many items to use I already had in our house, like this set of heart shaped plates...

...and a set of heart napkin rings. These are the types of items that can easily stay packed away in our buffet most of the year, and I can break them out just when needed. They are also the types of decor you can often find just after Valentine's Day for a great bargain. Keep your eyes open at home decor stores and places like Williams Sonoma. It's the time when often high priced items suddenly become bargains, you just need a little forethought and planning. 

Food and Beverages

There's often no better way to tell someone how much they mean to you than via their stomach. When we're talking about drinks for an event like this, there's one option that's almost always an automatic -- Rosé bubbly! 

The massive amount of holiday themed candy available these days makes it quick and easy to put together a couple beautiful candy dishes to have out for guests who like to graze. Whether we're talking pre-meal snacks or a post-meal sweet treat, from heart shaped candy wrapped in festive foil colors to these chocolate covered almonds covered in pink and adorned with hearts, it's hard to go wrong.

An full meal or several appetizers would work well for a Valentine's party. In this instance, the event was held in the late morning so we went with a buffet brunch menu of deviled eggs, fruit salad, homemade cinnamon sticky buns, store bought muffins, and several types of sausage. All were easy to make and prep in advance, which allowed for all guests (my co-hostess and I included) to relax and enjoy the day.

Gifts

I absolutely love wrapping gifts in a manner that complements the theme of the holiday or party, and with Valentine's day you can have a little bit of fun with brightly colored ribbon or paper. 

No matter how many people you're hosting, what you serve, or even what you're celebrating, as long as you do it with love, your event is sure to be a success. 

And in case you're wondering about the guest of honor and mama-to-be? The party guests didn't know it at the time, but it turned out she was in early labor during the party (several weeks ahead of her due date). The next day we received word that she had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Talk about throwing her shower just in the nick of time! 

What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Do you like to keep it low key and stay in, or do you prefer being out and about? Have you ever attended a Valentine's Day themed party? And if you have, are there any tips or tricks you can share to make the event the best is can be?

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Alex and I recently hosted a scotch tasting and dinner party at our house during Alexandria's Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend. The weekend celebrates Alexandria's Scottish heritage, as the city was named for Scotsman John Alexander, an original founder of the city and owner of much of its land. The weekend features a festive parade, a holiday tour of homes (here's a look back to when our home was on the tour lineup), a heather and greens sale, and many more yule tide and Scottish inspired festivities. Hands down, it's our favorite weekend of the year in Alexandria, and in our household, officially marks the start of the Christmas season.

Getting ready for the party seemed a bit overwhelming, because it not only meant preparing for a dinner event, but it also meant making sure our home was properly decked out for the holidays. We had a tree to buy and decorate...

...exterior window wreaths to hang...

...and miscellaneous touches to ensure our home was properly festive.

So when it came to designing our table for the event, I didn't have a lot of time or energy to spare. That's where less than $10.00 in grocery store flowers came to the rescue. 

Focusing on the tablescape as a whole and keeping in mind the theme of the weekend, I knew I wanted to use tartan to decorate our table, while keeping in mind the somewhat rustic Highlands of Scotland. To balance off the pattern of the tartan and add a rustic texture, I set the table with a base "tablecloth" of burlap and topped it with two tartan runners, all of which we had on hand thanks to when we participated in the home tour. 

While the intent is to keep the feeling somewhat Highlands rustic, we also want it to feel like a sophisticated event. As a result, It's one of the few, if only nights of the year, we break out our wedding china and stemware (largely due to the fact it isn't dishwasher safe). Our china is a simple white pattern with a platinum edge, which I paired with white dinner napkins and silver chargers.

I didn't want the centerpiece to compete with the tartan runners, and also didn't want a floral centerpiece to be so tall it physically interfered with conversation. So I opted to use two matching low glass vases I had on hand, along with a simple yet elegant color palette of green and white. I purchased two bunches of flowers at our local grocery store -- a dozen white roses and a small cluster of green berries. 

In order to bulk up the arrangement, I added in some fresh cut greenery from our yard as well as a few trimmed lower branches from our Christmas tree. (Tip: I've found that if you don't have enough of your own trimmed branches on hand, many times businesses selling Christmas trees are happy to give you any of their extra cuttings at no charge. I then use these branches for mantel decor, arrangements around the house, exterior decorations, etc.)

I set out to create two identical centerpieces, so I began by trimming and then arranging six roses in each vase.

I make sure I trim off some of the leaves to keep them all above the water, but I leave those on above the water line for fullness and color. 

After I had the roses arranged the way I wanted them, I repeated the process with the berries and fresh greenery so that the two centerpieces were the mirror images of each other, and put them on the table with a few tea lights around them.

All in all, I am really happy with how the centerpieces came together both on their own and as part of the table setting. At less than $5.00 each and five minutes of effort to put them together, I'd call it a win.

The evening was a ton of fun, and the entire night served as a lovely kickoff for the holiday season. 

It was a great excuse to don kilts (yes, three of the four men present were wearing them!), enjoy the company of friends and neighbors, sample delicious food and whiskey, and celebrate the season.

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One of my go to appetizers that looks elegant, tastes great, yet is relatively simple and easy to assemble is this recipe for walnut and goat cheese stuffed endives. It's great for gatherings at any time of year, and can be easily doubled to accommodate larger groups.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 2 heads endive leaves (approximately 15-20 leaves)
• 2 mandarin orange snack cups (in their own juice)
• Chives, chopped
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine walnuts and 1 tablespoon of the honey and spread in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes, or until the walnuts turn golden brown.

While the walnuts are baking, combine the remaining tablespoon of honey, vinegar, and 3 tablespoons juice from the mandarin cup in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, and cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 5 minutes).

Wash the endives and carefully peel the leaves, cutting off and discarding the core. Fill each endive leaf with 1 mandarin orange section. (Note: I've also made these with fresh cut orange sections and freshly squeezed juice. It's a great alternative and tastes better, but it's a lot more time consuming.) Top each section with 1 teaspoon goat cheese and 1 teaspoon walnuts; arrange on a plate. 

Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over leaves, and sprinkle evenly with chives and pepper.

Sprinkle with chopped chives and freshly cracked black pepper, and serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

No matter your plans tomorrow night, we wish you a happy, healthy, and safe new year! 

Interested in low key entertaining ideas for New Year's Eve? Check out my No Fuss NYE Menu tutorial. Looking for other easy appetizers? Take a look at these recipes for Bite Sized Brie Bites, Gorgonzola Stuffed Dates, or our Recipes, Cockails, and Entertaining page for more ideas.

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Turning back the clock over a year, last June I co-hosted a major baby shower event at our home. The event was designed to honor two of our best friends as well as their impending arrival. Part of the celebration was the creation of a raspberry filled vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting. If this doesn't make your mouth water, you might want to stop reading now.

The shower, cupcakes, and eventual birth were all a wonderful success, and then time continued to fly.

Here's the bundle of Joy at just a couple days old, modeling an outfit we gave him, when he visited our home for the first time. And as hard as it is to believe, little Liam turned one back on August 1st.

Itching to dust off my Wilton tips, I quickly volunteered to take on the cake duties for his first birthday celebration, and sprung to action dreaming about cupcakes for the party guests as well as a smash cake for the little guy. His mom and I traded ideas on cake flavors until I had a lightbulb moment. Why not recreate the cake we had all enjoyed at the baby shower a year earlier? The incredients were all natural, no artificial coloring or other chemicals, so it would be great for he adults and birthday boy alike.

The day of the party I got to work, baking up homemade vanilla cupcakes as well as whipping up a gorgeous vanilla buttercream frosting. I cheated a bit on the filling, and ended up using an all natural jam as the fruit filling so I could reserve my time for the smash cake.

In addition to baking up cupcakes for the invitees, I made two small mini-cakes sans filling to serve as the smash cake for the little guy. You can see them in the background of the photo above and below. 

My first thought was to treat them as a big cupcake (with a spare in case of disaster), but after I stared at them for a while I thought they might work perfectly as individual rounds. While there are miniature pans you can buy, living in a small house makes me more apt to use what I have in different ways. So after trimming the tops of the "big cupcakes" a bit, I simply stacked the two mini-cakes with a layer of buttercream in the middle in order to create his smash cake, and applied a thin layer of buttercream to act as the crumb coat before popping it in the refrigerator to cool off.

Applying a crumb coat is like priming a wall before you paint it. It's an important step to ensure your base doesn't peek through. With cakes, it's a layer that in essence glues down any cake crumbs. Refrigerating the cake after applying this layer of buttercream gives you a sturdier surface onto which you apply your final coat of frosting.  

I'm by no means a true "cake decorator" and in fact, haven't ever taken a cake decorating class -- that's on my list of to dos before the end of the year -- so most of the tips in my Wilton master set are anyone's guess as far as I'm concerned. But I really like experimenting, and with a "client" that's at just one year old, I figure it's more about how the cake tastes than looks. And isn't the point of a smash cake to...well...smash it to bits with little baby fingers?

Inspired by my own wedding cake, I decided to start playing around with different shaped and sized tips to get an effect I was happy with. I placed the cake on a small pedestal and got to work. I created a small dotted border where the cake met the pedestal in order to mask the unevenness of the cake's bottom, and repeated the design for symmetry along the top. I then added a few swirls to help hide some of the imperfections.

After arriving at the party, I added these adorable cake toppers made by the birthday boy's mom, who downloaded the designs from The Tom Kat Studio's website.

They really topped off both the cake as well as the cupcakes.

His parents, and honorary aunts and uncle, had just about as much fun as the guest of honor. 

But if the face to frosting ratio is any indication, I'd say Liam's first birthday celebration was a smashing success.

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While we may be very busy this time of year that's no excuse for getting lax on your contributions to these wonderfully festive events. Whether you're throwing a party of your own, or you're bringing a dish to a friend's or relative's shindig, we've got an awesome recipe for an adult and children's dessert beverage (or sweet aperitif) that's sure to win over the masses. The best part, it only takes minutes to assemble.

I'm talking about the delectable and delightful spiced milkshake shooters with an optional shot of chocolate liqueur.

We served them at a party just last weekend and one of the guests remarked, "This is what you expect the pumpkin spiced latte to taste like but it never does!"

Ingredients

• Light vanilla bean ice cream
• Skim milk
• Spices to Taste (i.e. Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ground Cloves, Ground Ginger, and/or Pumpkin Pie Spice)

Directions

Let ice cream soften slightly, and spoon desired amount into a small pitcher. Add milk to thin ice cream, and stir until smooth. Add spices to taste, and stir until combined. 

For an adult version, add a small amount of liqueur to the bottom of a decorative shot glass. In this case, I used Godiva liqueur. Fill the remainder of the glass with the milkshake, and serve immediately.

While we lean towards the pumpkin spice, cinnamon and nutmeg version, the cinnamon and gingerbread version is equally as festive. Regardless of your decision and preference, we're sure your concoction will be the hit of the party. This goes doubly true if your party happens to be just you and one or two loved ones. Nobody said you need a house full of people to call it a party.

If you give this a shot (pun intended) be sure to let us know how it goes. And if you make any modifications that work particularly well, we'd love to hear your twist so we can give it a try. Happy holidays!

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