Toast with Toast

I have been busy lately. I have also been traveling, meeting up with old friends and making many new, working on a lot of projects which are taking me in many amazing an different directions, and now, taking a moment to celebrate the end of one year the the start of another. 

While I was in San Francisco, I had the great pleasure of meeting Diane and Gil, a Bay-area couple who have just created a start-up called Share Some Style. I have been helping them out with some research, ideas, graphics and a medley of other things, one of which was a small event to celebrate the very beginning - the beta start of the company.

I hope that last photo was a clear hint of the theme of the party. Toast the food and the action! At once!

Diane, Ada (an equally creative, great friend who let me stay with her my whole month and a half in CA! Clearly, she is a saint) and I hashed out the idea for the party just about 5 days before it happened. Ada and I did the food. I have realized that I really love the menu planning part of planning an event. It is such a functional and decorative way to blend multiple elements together. Plus, when you do the food, you really have the reigns of the party in your hands. Food is such an enormously important part of the event!

We also made toast-related items like sandwiches and bruschetta. I think I have perfected my cucumber sandwich. That and the meatball (not made for this one, but many others!) have proven to be my top two, go-to party foods of the year.

I should also point out that craft paper was the other theme of the event. During our planning session, Diane stressed that Share Some Style was really about the fun of personal style - not fashion - and really wanted to make sure everything stayed approachable and casual. Craft paper was really the perfect solution because it was super functional (instant table cloths, signage, name tags...), affordable and also looks great with marker sketches!

I would also like to take a moment to mention that the inspiration for the toast party came from a dorm room socializing event I accidentally slept through on my first night in New Zealand ( I studied abroad for a semester in college.)  Jet lag got the better of me, but I heard such great reviews about the toast party that the idea stuck with me.  (They did it a little differently, more of a toast potluck, which is also a great idea which I plan to use in the future.)

 

Like the tent over the table? Ada made it and it's awesome. I slept in one just like it while visiting CA (I took some nice night shots which will make it up here soon) - it's amazing the magic that  6 or so bamboo rods and some curtains from Ikea can create?!