... guess who came to dinner ... an alfresco summer evening ...

This week I was so excited to have one of my favorite blogger and her husband over for dinner...

Adrienne of the Rich Life On A Budget and her husband Bill.

Being as it was our first time meeting in person..

It felt like the excitement of a first date...

and

 it called for a perfect table scape.

Dinner was to be a summer barbeque in the backyard...

I knew I wanted to keep with my summer decor scheme of blues and whites..

for the continuity of color flow...

something I think works really well in smaller spaces...

where your eye can travel inside to out with the first step inside.

Styling a party is always my favorite part of the prep.

I start at least the day before
 so as not to feel rushed...

and

 so I am able to enjoy the creative process.

I pull all of the elements I am thinking of using out on the table.

This time I decided to use my white dishes as the basic players...

adding in some spots of different blues...

all to be accented by my Mexican turquoise goblets.

I had almost everything I needed...

but the first set up seemed somewhat flat and one dimensional...

so a quick trip to Anthroplogie...

for some small neutral bowls..

and a couple of accent plates to mix in...

and

 my design was pulled together perfectly for
 a summer alfresco dinner in the backyard.

I chose to layer my colors and textures...

mixing in a different salad plate at each place setting  for visual interest.

Our backyard table is massive...

The 'tablecloth' stays on all summer...

it is made up of several cotton rugs from pottery barn.

Having it always on... we have dinner there almost every night we are home in the summer.

In the morning when I water the garden..

I just hit it with the sprayer... so cleaning it is a  daily breeze.

For this dinner party..

 I  added another layer of color and texture

with bandanas laid  out flat...

to which I added  wicker placemats...

a white dinner plate...

and accent salad plate...

topped off with a small bowl brimming with green grapes.

I chose to use grapes as a pop of natural color...

instead of flowers...

as I wanted to keep the table clean and streamlined...

letting conversations among new friends...

take center stage.

and
  be highlighted by a row of white candles which extend the entire length of the table...

These can easily be rearranged to serve dinner family style in the center of the table.

 Meeting Adrienne was wonderful...

She is even more beautiful, warm and kind in person.

 What great fashion style and intuition she has...

it as though we coordinated ahead of time 

what we were going to wear...

(we didn't)...

it must be the birds of a feather... and great minds thinking alike :))

My husband and I are still remarking what a wonderful couple these two are...

and

like any great date...

we are only lamenting
that they live so far away...
because these are two people ...
we can't wait to see again...

I think a trip to the wine country of Napa and Sonoma

in our Airstream

has just been moved to the top of our next travels list.

Thank you Adrienne and Bill for a most marvelous summer night.

Till we meet up again...

I am so grateful for this wonderful world of blogging...

and the great connecting and friendships that can come from it.

as always my friends

I wish you love and joy

as you style your life