studio rien: ✨Flower Party✨ tickets!, how to arrange, and zhuzhing up dessert

all the candles at all the meals

Hello my plums,

In the spring, we got ourselves a few planters and some seeds and went about haphazardly planting a few things. I splurged a bit on a couple packets of my favorite cosmos, and one on comically cartoon-like zinnias. And then we sort of let things go: the child wandered about plucking leaves, we overwatered and underwatered, we were hesitant to weed what are clearly clovers just in case. There are many things in life I am precious about, but this year the tiny deck garden wasn’t one of them.

And yet, somehow despite all of our best efforts, this week there is a sprig of bright blue forget-me-not and—truly a miracle—two tall and strong zinnias preening from among an otherwise scraggly planter.

July, a time for a bit of laziness but also unexpected beauty, everything bright and nothing too fussy. Sending you a bit of dirt under your nails this week, and hopefully a a surprise bit of luck too.

✨Flower Party✨ early bird tickets!

I couldn’t be more excited to invite you to the next ✨Flower Party✨ on Saturday, September 9th at 4pm! A flower workshop, but so much more — learn how to make beautiful arrangements, eat all the best snackies (should we bring back the chip proscuit tower?! or those brown butter plum financiers…), have a drink or two, and then let loose on a pile of the season’s best flowers. Take home your very own vase arrangement and some new friends. Tickets here!

And if you are the organized type: use the code GETTHATWORM by July 20 for 10% off tickets. Cannot wait to see you all there!

and a weekly flower bouquet just for you (or a friend)

We’re now offering a month-long flower subscription! Sign up to receive weekly flowers. We have wrapped arrangements and vases, with pick up in Fort Greene or local delivery. This is a great way to snag yourself a bunch of whatever looks most glorious that week. Worried you’ll be out of town one week? No problem, we can pause too. Check it out here. (ps, also excellent as a gift…)

around the studio

no cook cooking: When at a loss for dinner in the summer, I forever turn to a deconstructed niçoise: just gather a big platter of little gems, tomatoes (with a bit of vinegar), baby potatoes, maybe some green beans or snap peas. Then open a can of oil packed tuna, plate up a pile of anchovies, throw some olives in a bowl, salt and pepper just-boiled eggs, and, most importantly, set out a super pungent dressing (…shallots, vinegar, lemon, s&p, olive oil and an irresponsible amount of Dijon).  Drizzle, dip, eat. //   light it up: At a recent dinner at Bonnie’s, the shrimp stuffed trout (!) arrived with a candle lit squarely in its eye. There was no birthday in sight, but damn did it feel festive and I am now a proponent of candles on everything. Fussy kid? Candle that dinner! Dessert decor lacking? Candle that cake! No more waiting for occasions, we are living large.   //   while on topic: One of the very friends I had dinner with was also the lovely gifter of a candle from Flamingo Estate for my birthday. I cannot get enough of the gentle sage, and am now spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about their heirloom tomato (a scent of “dinner parties in Sicily,” kill me now). // step by step: When building an arrangement, start with foliage or branches, then place your focal (largest!) blooms, then on to secondary (typically a bit smaller), and then finally all those wispy gestural bits. Easier for creating a natural shape, and most definitely easier to fit all those stems into the vase!   //   another easy peasy one: To zhuzh up a dessert just a touch ~more~, whip creme fraiche with a bit of heavy cream, add a little (just a little!) sugar, maybe some lemon zest. Like whipped cream, but so much tangier, so much better.   //   late to the party, but we here: The child has taken up pretending to play a flute—a loud flute, I might add—despite never having seen or heard one. This obviously led me down a rabbithole, and, well, here we are.

xo from my chilled drink to yours, freyan

ps did someone forward you this little note?