Infusing grandeur into otherwise drab Monday mornings with five things/ideas/events for the week:

I. With spring in full swing, I’m itching to entertain. Realizing that I haven’t hosted a party chez moi in over a year, I’m calendering multiple dinners in the coming weeks. There are literally hundreds of recipes that I’m dying to test on friends before rolling them out on my catering menus (mint pea canapes with burrata and meyer lemon oil, caramelized pork pho, duck confit with tart cherry cabernet reduction, and lobster salad with candied grapefruit and grilled peaches are among them). I’m equally excited about table decor. Finding florals a bit basic, I plan to swap them out for fresh limes in vintage milk glass bowls and minneola tangelos in copperplated revere bowls.

II.  Speaking of mint pea canapes, finding chic serving trays is always a challenge. Often heavy and prone to chipping, ceramic platters are difficult to store and visually boring. While shopping for my go-to lucite table trays at CB2 this morning, it dawned on me that they are completely perfect for featuring hor d’oeuvres. The best part is that the see-through aesthetic pairs perfectly with every food type and event theme you can imagine.

III.  Accommodating twelve guests in my dining room is no problem, but during cocktail hour friends often end up sitting awkwardly on my bed (a downside to living in a slightly impractical studio with a formal dining room). To add extra seating, I’m purchasing two of these adorable tufted foot stools. The stools are ideal for casual seating and fit comfortably underneath my coffee table when I don’t need them. I’m still smitten with ikat, but it will be easy to recover them with the print du jour in the future with a screwdriver and staple gun.

IV.  A girlfriend who lives in Seattle planned a foodie trip for me and another friend from San Francisco over the weekend. Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting much more than a fun getaway - what could Seattle possibly have that you can’t find in the city by the bay? Evidently, a lot. I was blown away by both the restaurants (Paseo’s Tiger Prawn Sandwich with Garlic Tapenade and Caramelized Onions is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life) and the quality of the local produce. My best discovery of the trip was Amish Butter. Somehow, I’ve never heard of this hand-packed creamy goodness that tastes so much better than traditional butter, it’s difficult to classify them as the same thing. Deciding that we couldn’t live without it at home, my friend and I stuffed our suitcases with the two-pound blocks. I’m sure you can imagine the look on the face of the TSA agent who inspected our bags…  Totally worth it.

V.  Did you know that Amy Schumer has a show at Davies Symphony Hall this Thursday?! Easily my favorite female comedian, I have no idea how I missed the memo. In case you did too, there are still tickets available on Ticketfly and StubHub. Given that Amy is popping up absolutely everywhere lately - from Girls to the upcoming Judd Apatow movie Trainwreck (which she also wrote), it’s no surprise that she found her way to San Francisco. And the fact that she’s performing at Davies makes it that much more epic.

Have a wonderful week!  xx tt