party time, excellent

bonjourno! well, it is raining in new york today, but the sun seems to be shining down on this brooklynite today, no matter the weather. last night i got to attend bulgari's launch party for their new perfume, bulgari mon jasmin noir. yes, that's why i've been chained to my kitchen for the last few nights - they asked me to design four different petit fours, based on notes in the perfume: jasmine, madarin orange, bergamot, lemon, and nougatine. the scents so perfectly lend themselves desserts, and so rarely do i get an opportunity to conceptualize a project and take it all the way through to the end (usually people tell me exactly what they want, and i make it,) that this was really a dream job for me. i decided on making mandarin orange macarons with bergamot infused buttercream; mini lemon meringue tartlets; smoked almond nougatine, dipped in oaky dark chocolate and sprinkled with smoked sea salt; and a jasmine petit four cake, covered in a honey jasmine glaze and drizzled with white chocolate.

somehow i only managed to snag photos of the finished macarons before dropping them off; a professional photographer was there, though, snapping away, and she promised to send me some pics of the desserts once she's uploaded them, so they'll certainly follow. there was also a [apparently fairly well known] photographer, patrick mcmullan, on hand to take people photos, and he took lots and lots of me, sam, my dad and my friends, so hopefully i'll have a couple of those to share as well.





so, more on that to come - i was just so excited to finally share this big secret thing that has taken over my life (and kitchen) for the last couple of days! i have to give so much credit, love, and praise to my saintly fiancé, sam, for all his help - when i'm up until 4 am baking, i don't clean up after myself, and he's the one who gets stuck with the job. he also sifted ingredients, made grocery store run after run, customized boxes for me so everything would fit just so, and helped me painstakingly top one hundred lemon meringue tartlets with a single gold dragee. he is an angel. i couldn't have done it without him.

but enough basking! today at work we're having a party to welcome a new person, say goodbye to someone departing, and celebrate the wrapping of a job; it was for nascar, so there will be a decidedly nascar theme to the evening - pbr, a nacho bar, and pigs in a blanket are on the menu. (my god, i look back on this and see what a chronic hyphen and semi-colon user i am. i think i have a grammar problem.) a party's a party, however low-brow, so i got a little fancied up for the occasion.





top: lilla p (giveaway coming soon!)
skirt: anthropologie
tights: a gift from my sweet little sis! (from aa)
shoes: jeffrey campbell, from oak
barrettes: from ban.do

another lilla p top, another ban.do accessory. i've totally blown my ban.do load now - three items in three days, and that's all i've got. this top is going to get a lot of wear, i can tell - so comfy, and in such a pretty color.

all right. that's long enough for now! i've got a nacho bar to set up! i'll have more details of last night's event soon.

xo audrey

marie antoinette

she's the one who said let them eat cake, right? after weeks of cake-making, i have to say i don't really want to touch one for years, but here are photos from last night's test.





all the decorations are made from fondant, with some royal icing details.