I love admiring all things decor and interior design and am fascinated by the amazing professionals who have such interesting and impeccable taste. I love to dabble here and there and designing my own apartment has been both a fun journey and incredible learning experience, but one design related exercise I really adore is putting together a beautiful table. I can’t cook, but I can set a table like a pro!

My family came together at the end of the year to celebrate my mother’s birthday and I helped my father coordinate an intimate cocktail party and dinner. The room we chose for the dinner at the Fort Orange Club in Albany was a beautiful blue color, so I used that as the initial inspiration. Since we were just coming off of the holidays, I decided to go with the idea of an enchanted winter forest of whites, blues and greens. It felt refreshing.

I ordered the block print tablecloths from Etsy, the taper and tree candles, candle holders and gemstone snowflakes from H&M. The adorable silver mushrooms are from Zara. The place cards are from Minted.com. I rented the Chiavari chairs for a uniform look as the club chairs were enormous.

The specific flowers I had in mind were discussed with a local florist who executed it beautifully. I planned everything remotely and didn’t have time to experiment or place anything in advance, but luckily it all came together in the end!

The birthday cake was devine – carrot cake with cream cheese frosting decorated with fresh flowers.

The candle light cast a warm glow on a cold winter night and the room was full of love and laughter. Happy Birthday, Mom!