ooh la frou frou: 10/10/10

Hello Glamorous Girlfriends!
I'm Alex.

I'm the seventh of the eight Ooh La Frou Frou girls
to create their first post and I'm so excited!

All of the other Ooh La Frou Frou girls
weren't surprised to learn that I'd be posting about
entertaining for my first post,
as it's a great love of mine!

And since I happen to be planning a little soiree right now,
I thought it would be fun to share my plans with you
and talk a little about the steps I go through
when I plan a party.

First, let me say a little something about
party central, otherwise known as my kitchen,
as it's the place where all of the behind-the-scenes
deliciousness begins.

If you haven't seen my kitchen yet,

let me tell you that it's lovely.
It has classic white marble counters and a
french pastry table I use as an island.
The jewel of my kitchen, however,
is my oval window that looks out over the city!

While I'm in my glamorous kitchen,
I like to feel glamorous even when I'm cooking,
and that means a collection of glamorous aprons to choose from.
Several of my favorite aprons came from

The Hip Hostess.

Here I am, wearing one of my favorites, the "Espresso Swirl!"
(and yes, I am licking the whipped cream off the beater!)
I love that The Hip Hostess even has beautiful matching magnets!

For as long as I can remember, I have kept a binder
with pictures that I've saved from magazines
to use as inspiration for party ideas.
This little book is always "Step 1" for me in soiree planning,
and I sit with a pad and pen
and make notes as I leaf through the pages.

I also love to leaf through fabulous entertaining books

for tabletop inspiration.
My latest purchase was
New York Parties - Private Views by Jamee Gregory

It has some great insider shots of beautiful parties.

After every party I give,

I make notes in this little pink journal about

who attended and what was served.

That way, I'm sure not too duplicate

the menu for the same guests at another time!

(Plus, it acts as a fun entertaining diary to look back through.)

I have a few of these matching journals filled already!

The party that I'm planning right now
is a birthday party for our Ooh La Frou Frou girl Aimee.
and the eight of us will be together
for an afternoon of shopping in the city
followed by a birthday dinner
at my place.

Not all of my parties are this splashy,
but I wanted this girlfriend party to be splashy galore.
We all have our favorite designers,

so I thought it might be fun
to call Aimee's birthday celebration

a "fashionable birthday soiree."
That was my kick-off point.
For the invitation, I chose pretty cream flat cards
with gold edges (elegant!).

My dining room is a little alcove
off of the living room of my city apartment.
I like to have this room treated like a jewel-box,
so I have the entrance to the alcove draped
to provide privacy and magical drama.

I designed a special tablecloth for our birthday dinner for eight!
The designers names were embroidered on my tablecloth
in a hodge-podge manner and I even had
swarovski crystals sewn on here and there for sparkle!
I'm getting the room set up now ...
take a look!

"A Fashionable Birthday Soiree" illustration by Sandy - artist, Ooh La Frou Frou Collection
was created specifically for the Ooh La Frou Frou Collection blog.
(c) Ooh La Frou Frou 2010, All Rights Reserved.

The picture that you see in the dining room

was placed there just for this event.
It's a photograph of a window from Ralph Lauren's breathtaking
Paris store and restaurant!
By clicking on the Ralph Lauren name above,
you can watch a video that takes you on a tour
of the Parisian store and restaurant.
If anyone is crazy for Paris, it is Aimee,
so this was the perfect "jewel"
to place in the dining room for that evening.

These are photos of a few items that will be ON that table
the night of the party:

The Operanova "Milano" dinnerware and
Multicolor Drinkware are from Horchow.

Sparkling candlelight will be provided by a few frosted jewel-toned votives
scattered on the tabletop.
For fun, I am slipping
beautiful jeweled bangles from Van Luxuria
around each of the napkins as a little hostess gift.

For the centerpiece, I'll choose flowers that are in the jewel tones of the
stemware, such as this gorgeous hand-tied bouquet by Suzanne Cummings Flowers:

When all of the girls walk into my apartment
after our busy afternoon of shopping,
I will hop into my kitchen and pour us a glass of bubbly
in jewel-tone champagne flutes.
I've had each flute etched with each girl's favorite designer's name
and she can take it home with her for
that glass of bubbly she may want later on while she's sitting in bubbles!

I've just begun planning the menu and only have two items chosen so far.
The first course: soup and the last course: dessert!
I found the soup recipe in Park Avenue Celebrations.
I thought it sounded delicious and easy to prepare.
Favorite recipes of a number of New York's top hostesses
have been assembled in this book
!

Here's the recipe for Silken Mushroom Soup I'll be preparing:

Makes 6-8 Servings

3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
1 lb. white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
6 cups well-flavored chicken stock (preferrably homemade)
2 bay leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan over low heat.
Add the onions and cook until softened,
but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes until softened,
then add chicken stock and bay leaves.
Raise heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
Simmer 20 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaves.

Puree soup in food processor or blender in several batches.

Return soup to saucepan and reheat just before serving.

Tip:
A trick to making your own chicken stock
is to simmer your chicken and vegetables
in chicken broth (packaged or homemade),
instead of water, for a double stock that will be doubly flavorful.

The dessert I've chosen is a classic.
Aimee loves chocolate
so what could be better than a tall, delicious chocolate cake?
Click here for the recipe I will be creating:
Martha Stewart Living's Moist Devil's Food Cake with Mrs. Milman's Frosting

I'll end my entertaining post by showing you what my birthday gift to Aimee will be!
What could be more fun and surprising for a "Fashionable Birthday Soiree"
than a Christian Louboutin Barbie?
Christian Louboutin has created a three collector's edition Barbies
that come complete with Christian Louboutin shoes!