THE GOODY BAG: SUMMER PARTY SEASON

Summer party season seems to be in full swing here in Los Angeles! My inbox is overflowing with interior design events. Alissa from The Goods Design here with The Goody Bag, bringing you the best of Los Angeles' interior design events, people, places and things.

Last Thursday night I had a design-party-double-header. First stop: the opening of Rummage, the newest shop to hit the LA scene. The shop is the baby of Kishani Perera - an amazing LA interior designer.

*clockwise from top left - gorgeous pink canopy chair, I got a photo op with the talented owner, a blue armoire that I would have stolen if it fit in my purse.
The shop is just as lovely as Kishani herself. Rummage is filled with treasures that Kishani has picked up from estate sales and other secret sources. All the goodies feel unique and one-of-a-kind. And gorgeous.

Do you spot the celeb party-goer? I'll give you a hint, it's Molly Sims.

Hurry up and visit Rummage before I buy everything in the store.

Rummage: 7374 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, 323.935.5483

My second stop was the Summer Social at Urbanic, the adorable Venice stationary shop. We had lovely drinks (courtesy of Mrs. Lillien), the decor was super cute, and I love our goody bag item - pinwheels we made ourselves at the crafting station!

From left to right that's Alison of Faire Frou Frou (my FAV lingerie boutique), Jessica of Life's Little Jems, and me - all showing off our fancy little pinwheels.

Make your way over to Urbanic for adorable cards, stationary and more.

Urbanic: 1644 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Venice, 310.401.0427

THE GOODY BAG: FROM WESTWEEK

Wednesday was the beginning of Westweek at the Pacific Design Center - a week of lectures, events, parties and more for the interior design world of Los Angeles. And there were parties. And more parties. And did I mention parties?

I'm Alissa of The Goods Design, here to bring you the best of the best of Los Angeles' interior design parties, people, places and things. My first stop for the fabulous fetes was the James Perse outdoor furniture showroom opening. It had the key elements necessary for a fabulous party: margaritas and a ping-pong table. The ping pong table was a huge hit - Jessica of Life's Little Jems dominated!

The furniture was divine. The flowers were gorgeous. The line to the bar went out the door. All signs of a raging success!

Just around the corner was the Elle Decor/Brown Jordan party. Even though it was pouring rain in LA, it felt like summer with all these outdoor furniture fetes!

Me and Michael Boodro {editor-in -chief of Elle Decor} enjoying the gorgeous Brown Jordan showroom.

There were loads of succulents, modern outdoor furniture and fabulous LA designers.

{Brooke Gardner, Amanda Malson of Domicile ID, Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise & Jolene Ballard of Domicile ID}

After all this party hopping, I'm off to soak my feet! It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it!

BLOGGERS BRACKET + AID FOR JAPAN

Every year come March, I put out the call to those of you as obsessed with college hoops as I am to join in my little bloggers pool. Usually a few of you do, and it's all good fun (until I lose).

Well, this year, I'm doing things differently. This year, I'm inviting you to join the pool for fun, but also to benefit relief efforts in Japan. I'm sure many of you have felt as overwhelmed as I have by the images of the endless amounts of tragedy and disaster after the earthquake and tsunami, and have felt as helpless as I have. Usually, in these moments, I try to make a quiet little donation somewhere and hope that it makes a difference. But this time, I want to try for something a little bigger.

This year I'm inviting you and everyone you know to join in on the March Madness and enter the Blogger's Ball pool. The entry fee is $15, half of which will go to a reputable disaster relief organization*, and half of which will go to the owner of the winning bracket. (It's up to them whether or not they'd like to share their winnings by donating more!)

I've created an event page on Facebook with all the details on how to join the bracket (and as a way for you to share the event with your friends as well). For those of you who don't need any further convincing, you can join by clicking here and entering the password gozags to participate in the pool. (You may have to set up an account to login) Don't forget to read the group rules for payment instructions! I hope you all will consider lending a little support while joining in on the fun of the tourney!

*Currently, news sources are recommending waiting for damages to be fully assessed and for disaster relief organizations to be in place before selecting an organization to donate to directly. As soon as I pick one, I will let the group know where the funds will be sent, and how much will be donated. I'm currently looking at The Red Cross, ShelterBox, and Global Giving. If you have further suggestions, I will gladly take them.

**image via domino mag via {frolic!}

DAWNRIDGE + SFERRA: A LUNCHEON TO REMEMBER!

When I opened an email a few weeks back from Ronda Carman of All the Best, I let out a serious squeal of delight at the invitation to attend a small lunch at Tony Duquette's Dawnridge as a part of Sferra's 120th Anniversary Celebration...

duquette's use of mirrors to expand the little jewel box of a home is genius

It was - as we all kept noting - like a designer's Disneyland with rooms so rich in color, texture, pattern, extravagance, glitter, gilding and purely fantastical design I quite honestly didn't know what to do with myself! I could have spend hours (maybe even days!) immersed in all the detail, and found myself in good company surrounded by inspirational designers and bloggers alike.

ronda carman, lori dennis, tracy porter, paloma contreras, anne sage and me!

stacy kunstel, clinton smith, ronda carman, and scot meacham wood. legendary designers barclay butera and suzanne rheinstein

Our fabulous host, Hutton Wilkinson, along with Ronda, set a beautiful table for us to relax and dine at...



The linens were (of course) by Sferra, and provided such a colorful setting in the lush backyard!

tobi fairley and kyle knight. stacy kunstel and the impeccably chic jan showers

On the way out, I stopped for some pics in my favorite room, which I'll post up on the coco+kelley facebook page later this week! Let's just say the amount of green malachite put me over the edge in the best possible way. 

I cannot thank Ronda enough for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only see such a stunning home, but to spend an afternoon with some of my design idols and talented company! It was such a dream. I can't wait to share more of my LA adventures with you too! This trip has been absolutely surreal...

*SFERRA’s 120th Celebration at Tony Duquette's Dawnridge. Photos by Andreas Branch for Patrick Mcmullan

GET YOUR DESIGN (CONFERENCE) ON

Last year was the beginning of something new for me - the opportunity to be a part of a few public speaking engagements where I got to meet so many of you fellow bloggers and coco+kelley readers! And, I discovered that I absolutely love being a part of these events. I'm thrilled to be kicking off 2011 with a couple of events already lined up, so get your calendars out boys and girls!

In February, I will be speaking in Los Angeles at the Design Bloggers Conference with Grace (design*sponge) Paloma (la dolce vita and high gloss magazine) and Tracy (tracy porter blog) in a session entitled "Blogging with the Stars" (and no, I didn't make them call it that, and yes, I love it). We'll be talking about what it takes to have a successful blog and how we've built our own blogs into what they are today. After hearing Grace speak at Lavish in December, I know that we have very similar ideas on the subject, and I can't wait to hear what Paloma and Tracy add to the conversation as well!

The conference has been created with the Interior Design blogger in mind and features a seriously amazing lineup of other speakers as well, including my fellow Rue editor, Anne (the city sage), the ever inspiring Tobi (tobi fairley blog) and the incredibly genuine Ronda (all the best) whom I am so excited to meet. If you're interested in attending, head over to the Design Bloggers Conference site for more information and registration! I hope to be seeing some of you in sunny la la land!

NYC: THE RUE LAUNCH PARTY!

As many of you know, the whole purpose of my trip to NYC was to attend the Rue launch party... never did I dream it would be such a fabulous night!

First of all, I was able to find the most amazing dress by designer Kara Janx that left me feeling like Audrey Hepburn wearing Valentino. Every time I looked down at that big bow, my heart fluttered! Finished off by sparkling heels and subtle jewelry, I was ready to go with my partner in crime, Kelley. (Who says you have to wear black in New York??)

The Rue gals looked every bit as gorgeous, and this happens to be my favorite photo from the evening. The toast in progress! Cheers!

The most fun part, of course, was mingling with bloggers who were old friends and new acquaintances alike! The lovely Laure who I know from back in my LA days, Camila who I was thrilled to finally meet, Mr. Tartanscot who won my award for best dressed that evening (his pants had skulls on them!) and the sweet Julieann with my ever-present bestie, Erin. (Oh, and yes, I have a hand-on-my-hip addiction in photos)

I also got a chance to meet two of my favorites (finally!) - Jaithan and Eddie - who made the time to stop by the party despite their busy schedule.

Not only were the people fabulous, but so were the shoes (or socks, in Jonathan Legate's case!).
Mine are the sparkly pumps!

A few more lovelies - Bri, Crystal and Amy - and of course the fabulous Jaime below.

It's hard to explain the energy and level of talent in that room, but I hope you can imagine it and feel the inspiration that I did after this amazing evening!

NYC: THE DINNER PARTY

It was a warm sunny Saturday when I arrived in NYC with my good friend Kelley Moore who is a fantastic designer here in Seattle. Everything I learned about setting a fabulous tabletop I learned from her. So who better to throw a beautiful dinner party in honor of the launch of Rue and the fabulous ladies and gents who had gathered in the city to celebrate...?
The second we stepped in the door of our SoHo apartment, we set straight to work, rearranging the living room to create this beautiful setting...

Kelley had the linens made especially for this long elegant table, and even packed her antique candelabras to be sure to set the mood right. What made the decor even more stunning was the way the patterns and colors of the room played so well with the tablecloth, dishes, and floral arrangements.

So inspiring! And because Kelley is always one to personalize a party, each guest's 'placecard' was a photo she had made into pop art and placed in these acrylic frames.

As the sun set and our guests arrived they were greeted with a fuschia hallway that was the perfect entrance to this candlelit room (the color inspired the florals, by the way) and the party was underway!


It was such a treat to spend a relaxing evening with the talented Rue team including Crystal (above with Kelley!), Anne, Caitlin, Alaina and Will. Not to mention the lovely Jaime Rummerfield and my bestie Erin.

After a night of champagne, fabulous food, and inspiring conversation, it seemed only natural that we end the evening with an impromptu dance party... and that's exactly what happened just moments after this! (Sorry, loves, no photos of that! A girl has to keep a few secrets.)

If you're dying to see more of the evening, just pop on over to the coco+kelley facebook page later today
for the full NYC trip album!

*all photos by coco+kelley

MARTHA STEWART BLOGGERS' NIGHT OUT

Hello coco+kelley readers - it's your NYC correspondent Crissie - and today I have a very exciting event to share with you! Many of you know that last Thursday was Martha Stewart Living and Omnimedia's Bloggers' Night Out, and I was lucky enough to be invited to cover the event for Cassandra.

The evening was supposed to take place on roof deck of the Martha Stewart building however - in true summer form - Manhattan blessed us with high winds (and high HEAT) so we were moved inside (no complaints here as there was a/c!).

When I arrived, Martha was playing Ping-Pong with Kevin Sharkey (Senior VP, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc)...

And then addressed the assembled bloggers (here's a video  of her talking about turning your blog into a business) before she had to rush off (her dentist was coming to dinner…) The event was beautifully styled with craft tables, wedding vignettes...

And delicious food and drinks.

It was amazing to have so many bloggers in one place. Sometimes I get so caught up in my little fashion niche that I forget about the other types bloggers out there - but the event was filled with Mom Bloggers (and babies) Craft Bloggers, Wedding Bloggers, and Design Bloggers - it was everything you could imagine, and it was so enlightening to get to meet and talk with so many different people.

I spent the evening with Kelly of High Street Market, Camilla of High-Heel Foot in the Door, Deb of Living Livelier and even got to chat with Mr. Sharkey.

I wish you all could have been there. I highly recommend attending a blogger-meet-up near you if you have the opportunity (don't be silly like me and forget blog-business cards…) I hope I get the chance to meet more of you soon!

-Crissie

*photos via Martha Stewart, Living Livelier, and me!   

COCO+KELLEY AT LEGENDS OF LA CIENEGA

Let's just start this post off by saying that I have never felt so lucky to a part of an event as I did with being invited to speak at Legends of La Cienega. The immense number of talented attendees and presenters alone made this such a fun and fabulous few days!
The weekend started off with a cocktail reception where I was lucky enough to bring along Annie - my former colleague and good friend - as my date. We mingled with lots of other designers, and had the chance to meet Christian of Maison21 as well as Jill, the Los Angeles writer for Material Girls. (Just the beginning of me finally being able to put faces to the names of many other bloggers throughout the weekend!)
We ended the evening by meeting up with this beautiful group for dinner - the amazingly talented Ron Woodson (far left) and Jamie Rummerfield (in the black) of Woodson & Rummerfield flanked by Peter Gurski, one of my favorite LA ladies, Suzanne Marques, and Romain Bouticourt.

After a late evening, Friday morning started off bright and early with a panel at Rose Tarlow featuring Mary McDonald, Joe Nye, Virgil McDowell, Lisa Fine and Carolina Irving.

My favorite moments of inspiration were brought on by Joe Nye's quick quips - I cannot wait to dive into his new book, Flair for even more of his tidbits of genius.

After this panel, it was time for my main event!! Hosted by George Smith Furniture & Fabrics as well as Angelino Interiors Magazine, our panel featured the talented bloggers, Gregory Han (Apartment Therapy), Joy Cho (Oh Joy!) and Janet Hall (Remodelista), and was moderated by Alexandria Abramian-Mott, Editor in Chief of Angelino Interiors.

It was such an honor to be amongst the talented company on this stage! I somehow managed to coordinate my colorful outfit with the chairs, while Joy wins for best shoes of the day (fabulous kate spades i've been coveting since the holidays!)

Even more of an honor to have many coco+kelley readers and fellow bloggers approach me after the panel for photos, questions and introductions, including these gorgeous ladies!

Ashlina of The Decorista and one of my favorite Twitter pals Jami Goldsmith - both of which have fantastic blogs (and style!).

It was a packed house all the way to the back, so a huge thank you to everyone who turned out!

I have to also mention a big thank you to some of the people behind the scenes at Elle Decor for their hospitality! I even had a brief little chance to chat with the impeccably lovely Margaret Russell (I don't know how I managed to forget a photo of that moment!) and I have to say that I think it's incredibly wonderful that Elle Decor along with magazines like Angelino Interiors are so supportive of working with bloggers to help us reach new audiences through events like these. I hope to see many of you there again next year!

*photos by mark savage courtesy of elle decor, and coco+kelley

SAVE THE DATE: COCO+KELLEY AT LEGENDS OF LA CIENEGA!

A few of you may have heard by now via my Twitter, but I'm so excited to announce that I'll be joining a panel of talented bloggers for the Elle Decor + the LCDQ Legends of La Cienega event in Los Angeles on Friday, May 6th where we'll be speaking on the impact of blogging in the design world.

The agenda for this year is packed with amazing talent and interesting topics, and you can download it right here! I'm thrilled to be included amongst such amazing company, and can't wait to head to some of the events myself. I hope to see all you Angelinos (and visitors!) at the event! For more information as well as photos and updates, head over to the Elle Decor Legends 2010 page.

See you in LA!

On Vacation With... ME!

Well, my lovelies, I have to start by saying THANK YOU for letting me 'escape' for a month while taking a little blog vacation and time to refocus and rejuvinate! I've been busy busy, re-imagining the blog a bit, working on the upcoming launch of the c+k wedding blog, and catching up on life in general. How great were all the vacation guest posts too? Some amazing places were featured, and I thank everyone who send in a submission - unfortunately there just wasn't room for all of them!

So, to end the week, I thought I'd share a bit of my own recent vacation to San Francisco for the Blog Out Loud event (more on that next week!)...
The Marina area of SF is one of my most favorite spots - quiet, gorgeous homes and apartments, right by the water with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge... and fabulous food and little shops!
The boy and I treated ourselves to some fabulous food around the city. We enjoyed an insanely yummy lunch at A16, wine with good friends at Press Club, brunch with Anne (of the City Sage) and her husband at Absinthe, discovered a new favorite specialty roll at Sushi Groove South, had a wonderful dinner with friends at Maverick and I topped things off with a lunch date on my last day there with the adorable Melissa of Ruby Press at 54 Mint.

Of course, a trip to SF wouldn't be complete without a little shopping! While I was very good at not bringing back any purchases with me (that's right - ANY) I was definitely lusting after a few pieces from the shops we popped into!
One of my favorites was a new shop in town, Seams Boutique, owned by my good friend Stephanie who has done an amazing job putting together a collection of very wearable and stylish clothing, accessories and jewelry. I fell in the love with the necklace (it says besos!), and this oversized bag.

Another shop we popped into after brunch with Anne was Propeller Modern, curated by the owner Lorn who shared with us some the stories behind the amazing pieces he carries. My favorite was this chair that was actually created by a student designer who was chosen to have her piece reproduced by Bernhardt Design. The bowl is also an amazing piece of art - the ceramic flowers are actually 'sewn' onto the bowl with thick thread, and the piece is handcrafted in Peru. I die!
We hit up the farmers market at the Ferry Building, where I was delighted to see the Farmer's Favorite Peach... ;)
And finally, the Blog Out Loud event took place on Sunday evening at BellJar, where we could barely stop ooooohing and aaaaahhing over the the gorgeous shop long enough to hold the panel! The event was fantastic and well-attended, and it was so wonderful to meet some fellow bloggers and readers in person!! Next week, I'll be sharing more on the topics discussed at the event, but for now, I will just say thank you to Rebecca and Megan for putting it all together! (By the way, that's me with Anne and Rebecca!)

Whew! And that's a wrap. I'll be back in full swing next week and I can't wait to share some new features and ideas with you... Have a fantastic weekend all!

xoxo,
cassandra