I hope you will join us at one of my book signings and trunk shows this week!
Our Dining Room designed by Jan Showers.
I'm very excited about spending some time in the Jan Showers Show Room at 1308 Slocum Street on Tuesday from 1-3. Elizabeth Showers will be there with her jewelry as well! We will have champagne and macaroons and I'd love to see you!
Then it is off to Austin! I can't wait to share my Halo Home Collection at The Menagerie. Huge thanks to my friend Sarah Zeigler for organizing!
Wednesday night we have an event at Austin's hottest new design resource - Supply Showroom. I'm so excited to celebrate the launch of the book there! Big thanks to my friend Camille Styles for organizing this and to all of the hostesses for the support!
I'll be back in Dallas on Friday for The Gift Event at Saint Bernard's! Lee Cordon of Do Say Give Blog will be helping you build your own gift baskets and I'll be signing Monogram for the Home and hosting a trunk show of Halo Home Linens! Please join us!
Looking for the perfect way to feed your guests at the next baby or bridal shower? The darling Mary Love Koons has the answer! At the media preview lunch that John Cain Sargent hosted for Monograms for the Home last week, Mary Love created the most delicious salads you can imagine! Of course, we served them with a selection of my new Halo Home by KSW linen foldover napkins.
In small bowl whisk together the lime juice, orange juice, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Slowly add the oil in a stream, whisking to emulsify. Season with seasoned salt & pepper to taste.
Italian Vinaigrette with fresh herbs
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 shallot, minced
1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic mashed to a paste or minced
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarsley chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 fresh basil leaves, coarsly chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, shallot, lemon juice, and garlic. Slowly add the olive oil in a stream, whisking to emulsify. Stir in the oregano & basil. Season with sald & pepper to taste.
For the berry and fruit lovers
Baby Kale and Spinach
Blueberries, Raspberries & Strawberries
Feta cheese
Quinoa
Craisins
Slice almonds
Raspberry vinaigrette dressing
Raspberry Vinaigrette
3 tbs raspberry balsamic vinegar
1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 tbs canola oil
4 fresh raspberries, mashed
Salt & Pepper to taste
Whisk together the vinegar & lemon juice. Add in the oil in a steady stream until emulsified. Stir the mashed raspberries into the dressing. Salt & pepper to taste.
For the traditional salad lovers
Romaine and Spinach blend
Carrots
Quinoa
Avocado
Broccoli
Tomatoes
3 cheese blend
Balsamic vinaigrette
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
Season with salt & pepper to taste
Place vinegar in small bowl whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Slowly add the oil in a steady stream, whisking to emulsify. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Assembly:
With any version of the mason jar salad, the order of assembly is extremely important! You begin with the wet ingredients and dressing. This includes fruit, tomatoes, and anything that has excess moisture. After the wet ingredients you add the quinoa. This will create a nice barrier between the wet ingredients and the lettuce. Following the quinoa, you then put in your moistrure resistent ingredients. This includes broccoli, carrots, etc. Next, you will add your protein, croutons, nuts, etc. Lastly you will put the lettuce on top! Leave a little room between the top of the salad and the top of the jar so when you shake it all the ingredients will mix evenly.
Well, I can't tell you how full my heart is at the response to my new book, Monograms for the Home.
I wish that it wasn't sold out on Amazon but Gibbs Smith Publishers promises that the third printing is on its way very soon! Stay tuned here and I promise to let you know when they are back in stock and when my book signings are! In the meantime, you can email us at kathy.short@schlegelcap.com or stop in to Madison in Highland Park Village or Nest on Knox street to pick up a copy!
Here is a shot of me with my friend and the photographer of most of the book, John Cain Sargent. He is a gem! Obviously we had to hand the camera over to a non-professional to take this photo and I left the cropping like this because it cracks me up!
John has a beautiful studio and I jumped for joy when he offered to host a little media get together there to celebrate the launch of the book. I turned to my friends at Droese PR to put together a great guest list and, as usual, they didn't disappoint! More about our guests later in the post. I can't wait to get to the set up!
Guests were greeted by a big copper bucket full of bubbly, rose and white wine, a pretty floral arrangement in a blue and white vase (of course - John shares my passion for anything and everything blue and white!) and a tray of macaroons. Of course, we also had my new linens from Halo Home by KSW!
All of the treats came from World Market - I love this Rose because it tastes amazing when served ice cold but also because the bottle is so beautiful. I keep them afterwards and use them as vases. The bottom is carved like a garden rose. So pretty!
Mary Love Koons of Koons Kitchen made amazing mason jar salads for our guests. I'll be sharing the recipes for the fabulous shake-and-enjoy lunches tomorrow on the blog. They were delicious and are perfect for a shower, buffet lunch or casual get together. A few of us didn't take the time to eat at the party so we grabbed one and ate at our desks afterwards!
They were so good and make such a great presentation on top of our Halo Home fold-over napkins.
But as darling as the salads were, nothing made as big of a splash as these adorable little piggies. These glass salt and pepper shakers had more bloggers and social media lovers pulling out their phones to snap a pic than an appearance by Anna Wintour would have!
Koons Kitchen provided some sweet treats too! You could stack anything on these marble and wood pedestals and they would look yummy but these were truly delish!
My sister, Krystal, came a little early so that she could be the first to have a book signed. Cutie Pie! If you like fashion, I hope you will follow her blog!
Each of the guests left with a copy of the book and a monogrammed hand towel by Halo Home! I can't wait to get our e-commerce website set up for the linen line but in the meantime, if you are interested in them, you can reach out to The Loveliest. They are stocking the linens and offer monogramming services as well.
John took photos of the guests while we all mingled and we had a great time snapping away with our devices too! This is Tanya Foster snapping Alicia Wood and I! You might know them better as Film Fashion Fun and The Lush List!
This is my friend and partner in Halo Home, Jen O'Neal and the chic blogger Albertina of Mimosa Lane. At the party, she told me a fabulous story about selecting her daughters name so that it would match all of her monogrammed linens from her childhood!
An extra special thanks to Branching Out Events for providing all of the stunning flowers for John's studio too!
“This post is in partnership with World Market, a brand I love. All opinions here are my own. Thank you for supporting the affiliate posts who make this blog possible.”
The first official book signings happened this week and it was a wonderful whirlwind! Have you ordered your copy? Next up is the launch party for Halo Home by KSW at The Loveliest next week! I'll be posting all of my events here so please check back in or sign up to receive the info in your in-box.
One of my favorite perks of being an Author is the wonderful people I get to meet at my book signings and celebrations. The talented Shay Geyer of IBB Designs hosted a lovely pink party for me to celebrate The Party Planner. She is a doll and dove in to the party planning process with gusto and great style. She even painted the wall in the luncheon room of her design studio pink just for me!
The flowers were in mirrored containers and the combination of soft pink hydrangea, bold and bright roses and fresh and cheery tulips was modern and sweet at the same time. The favor bags added a further pop of color on the tables and no one could wait to dig in to them!
Our host, Shay Geyer, and Good Morning Texas Host, Amy Vanderoef.
Oh So Cynthia Blogger, Cynthia Smoot with our Hostess. Check out those pink shoes!
Red velvet cakes by RUSH Patisserie were the icing on the cake! Deeeeeeelish!
Come out to meet my friend and fellow Southern Living Contributor, James Farmer, at his book signing tomorrow. He is wonderful and his book is so beautiful!
