The Grand Inaugural Meeting of…The Supper Club!

After several rewarding but ultimately unavailing attempts to form a book club, we decided to dispense with the homework, and just eat together once a month. I volunteered to host, because I have been dying to use my new plates and bowls from Finbury and Stanley! Our first theme was Italian, which was interpreted in some cases creatively, and in all cases brilliantly, by the four intrepid gourmands.

I have never been so excited to set the table. If only my mother had known that all she needed to do to convince me to perform this simple chore is to let me choose the china myself, many foot-stomps and huffy arm-crossings might have been avoided. I went all mad scientist combining my glass bowls with my Folkware and this amazing tablecloth from the South of France, and I slipped a pretty napkin from Ukraine between the bowl and plate. Definitely a “more is more” approach for this party! Here is one of the awesome combos I came up with.

Purple Fantasia

Anne was responsible for the cheese course, which was delicious, and sustained me as I labored briefly over the salad course (there’s nothing like some nice healthy arugula and tender potatoes….with a pound of pork sausage, mixed sweet and hot). Here it is in another crazy color combo!

I call it “salad with orange bowl”!

Margo brought a big glorious dish of cheesy baked pasta and popped it in the oven for a few minutes to warm it up. Here is Anne, enjoying it greatly, as she makes a poetic gesture!

Anne contemplates Supper Club’s Bottomless Salad

The salad is in an Art Glass bowl, similar to this one; and Anne’s water is in a glass like these (just look at all those colors!).

Maeve brought some wonderful Italian white wine left over from her wedding in Tuscany last year, and a pie, oh WHAT a pie. I will try to describe this pie, but really there are no words. It was a mind-blowing confection of epic proportions. You are not going to believe this: it was a Fleur de Sel Caramel Pie, with Whipped Cream Topping. Here you see me about to go nuts on the poor pie with my beautiful Match pewter dessert serving set from Finbury and Stanley that we used to cut our wedding cake. I also perched it on a cake plate, purely for effect.

Maeve looks on in horror as Amelia attacks innocent pie.

This pie was by far the most intense and overwhelming dessert ever experienced by anyone anywhere at any time. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Scoot over to Maeve’s gorgeous blog and check out some of her other awesome recipes, as well as a lot of other wonderful things!

Bye for now everyone, and eat beautifully, eat well!

All photos courtesy of the Marvelous Margo Lindauer!

Guest Blog: Tashira of Politics & Fashion

We are so excited to share some gorgeous summer inspiration courtesy of the wonderful Tashira, of Politics & Fashion! She has created a gorgeous summer table-scape and quick-as-a-wink al fresco summer party plan inspired by the Finbury & Stanley store, and Martha Stewart Living, and curated with Tashira’s impeccable taste. Enjoy!

Look at that lighting!

Don’t they look good enough to eat?

Tashira has selected (clockwise from top left) a red and teal art glass bowl, which would be gorgeous filled with Ranier cherries, a large fan vase, to be graced with a loose flowing arrangement, and a large pedestal bowl, which would be perfect for a nice light Pavlova. Scrumptious!

Happy entertaining!

Our Trip to ShackletonThomas

Hello giftors and giftees!

A few days ago I got the chance to escape from the hot-hot city to the cool leafy refuge of Woodstock, Vermont, and visit the amazing workshop of Shackleton Thomas.

We were there courtesy of Finbury & Stanley, who arranged a private tour of the workshop for us, and some face time with master craftsman Charlie Shackleton, who graciously took the time to discuss with us the details of our dining room table. We had registered for a table that is made to order, so we really wanted his input before we decided exactly how long and wide it should be, and all the other vital little details that go into the “perfect” piece of furniture. After looking at the incredible handwork that goes into each and every table, chair, cabinet, dish, cup and tile at ShackletonThomas, I left with the sense that it almost didn’t matter what we decided: no matter which type of table we choose, it will be such a pleasure and a privilege to have in our home a truly unique work of art, marked by the touch of an artisan, and molded by his or her skill and vision.

Here you see Charlie giving serious thought to the great table debate of 2012.

Ann and Gail were there to help us by taking notes on Charlie’s recommendations, and help us stay true to the decorating vision that inspired our registry in the first place! Yan is in the background, brooding over a small folding table.

I was totally awed to see Charlie’s wife, Miranda, free-hand drawing a beautiful rabbit design into the slip of this custom bowl.

We looked at each phase of the wood as it passed from rough-hewn planks to a warm and elegant chair, with each corner, joint and edge thoughtfully angled for strength, comfort and style.

Among this collection of Legos are the set Charlie played with when he was wee. He grew up in Ireland, and yes, he is indeed related to the famous explorer! In the background you can see a series of spoons carved by apprentices of the studio. Each one was like peek into the artist’s mind.

Thank you to Finbury & Stanley and ShackletonThomas for an amazing day!

Setting the Imaginary Table

Hi all! Can you believe it’s {almost} the Fourth of July?! The Fourth always seems kind of like the middle of the summer realize that’s not equinoctically {probably not a real word} correct, but emotionally, doesn’t it seem like the peak of the season? Maybe not…maybe that’s a by-product of growing up in a town where making it onto a Fourth of July parade float, even the lame one for high school student government {not thinking of anyone specific here}, was a strong indication of social success. Plus…there’s jello salad with Cool-Whip! But anyway.
July also means – dun dun DA! Picking out my beautiful new dining room table sourced for me by Finbury & Stanley! When the ladies were first brainstorming on what the theme and inspiration for our registry should be, Yan and I kept talking about our vision of our friends and family sharing a meal, all gathered around…what exactly? All the beautiful plates in the world won’t make a feast if the only place to eat in your apartment is a one-seat breakfast bar {no offense breakfast bar, I love you, too!}. So Ann, Lanie and Gail suggested we make it possible for our guests to buy gift certificates, and contribute to a fund for us to buy a very special hand-crafted table. It would be a true modern heirloom, something we can use and treasure our whole lives, and that will be part of the happy memories that our family will cherish forever.
So of course deciding to get a table was the easy part, the hard part is, what KIND of table? I have never in my life considered buying a piece of furniture that wasn’t destined for the curb eventually, so we were determined to get it right. Rectangle? Oval? How long, how wide? The chairs need to fit, but I don’t want it to seem to crowded. Pedestal? Four legs? Aaaahhhhhhh!

Solution?

I broke out my trusty painters’ tape, and “drew” a table on the floor. And don’t think I didn’t sit at it! This helped me envision it in a “room” {not that one-third of a tiny open plan living-area is a dining room per se, but my city-dwelling peeps know whereof I speak}, see how it interacted with my closet, my windows and window treatments, my rabbit’s cage, you  know, the basics!

On the advice of Ann, Finbury & Stanley’s in-house interior designer, I also set the imaginary table with my beautiful new china to see how many place-settings we could comfortably fit, since we love having large parties. Now I know exactly what size I need…that only leaves a feeeew more decisions to make, so stay tuned for pictures of our amazing tour of the woodworker’s workshop, and the answers to these burning {to no one but me} questions!

Happy BBQ, fireworks, sparkler, jello & Cool-Whip-salad day! And if anyone is having a Fourth of July wedding, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Happy June Everyone!

Happy June everyone! At this wedding-ful time of the year, I thought it would be fun to
introduce Finbury & Stanley with a few posts letting you know some of the creative ways
Anne and Lanie came up with to help me really get the most out of my registry.

I’ll start with my shower. Let’s go back in time shall we?

{imagine wiggly sounding synth music that means we are having a flash-back}

This is a story about a girl who fell in love with a man…and then fell in love with….

This gorgeous gorgeous hand-made purple and blue cake stand. It looked like it was
made out of candy, and she wished she could have it immediately!
“Well!” Said the ingenious ladies of Finbury & Stanley, “don’t you have a shower coming
up? Why don’t you do this:”

{big thank-you to paperless post!}

So Lovely Bridesmaid Nora invited everyone to get in touch with Finbury & Stanley, and chip in on the stand.

The guests loved it! It was a simple way to get the bride a big, beautiful gift. The guests
were so generous and enthusiastic that the lucky bride also got this pewter tart server to go with the
cake stand.

Best of all, Finbury & Stanley brought the gifts to the shower, and the guests got to
see the bride’s face light up when she saw her beloved cake stand laden with beautiful
cupcakes baked by the wonderful Alison Arnett.
There were  also heavenly deviled eggs, a fantastic French pastry that was twisted bread
with a nut filling, and other tasty treats!.

They went well with these amazing cocktails made by bridesmaids Olivia and Yulia with
fresh strawberry and peach juices, and sparkling wine.

There was music, and chatter, and a cute retro party game Alison remembered from
when she got married, where the guests tried to guess cooking herbs by smelling them.

Far-flung friends who couldn’t come face-timed in to join the fun, and all the girls took home a beautiful flower with a sweet hand-lettered name tag.

The bride was so grateful to Alison, Nora, her wonderful Guests and Bridesmaids, and to
Finbury & Stanley for coming up with the perfect way to use her registry to complement her celebration and suit her personality!

Happy planning everyone, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

All the best.

Lanie Finbury  chief  |  Ann Stanley  cook  |  Gail Solomon  bottle washer

Shopping the world in search of thoughtfully designed, artfully crafted, flat-out delightful objects.

On a mission to place them in loving homes. Yours maybe?

visit our website, finburyandstanley.com